Reversal processing of T-grain films

[avortex]

Very interesting link, mrred. Thanks! I see that an Stannous Chloride foggant is very hard to mix. What's the advantage of using it instead of light fogging? I would prefer to avoid an extra chemical, but if there's inherent advantages to it, I'll give it a try...

Well, last night I processed another fragment of T-Max 100 (exposed at 100 ISO).
Developer ORWO 249 (Replenisher formula). 10' @ 35ºC.
Now the picture becomes clear with the higher temperature, but there are some flaws:

- Still a bit underexposed, but very near to the desired results (I'll extend the processing time a bit)
- Contrast is excessive (perhaps I should come back to the original ORWO 249 formula)
- There's a slight olive tint. I've read that this happened also with the Kodak's T-Max kit, but I have no clue about the solution to this problem...

Check this quick scan. There's still some work to do:

 

[mrred]

I was a rough time for me......lol

I looked for a long time to find a source for the Stannous Chloride and was generally pleased with my exposing to light. I just got a lot of teasing from my wife about the dance I did. When I got some (Ebay, GB) I was surprised to find out my reversals from flashing were not as dense as they should have been. It was around this time that I also found some iron-out, which made them even denser and allowed me to skip the fix step. That in it self was a time saver.

You should note that the iron-out builds up density enough that I had to increase my 1st dev times. They were coming out darker.

I have not tried the recipe on the link. I just have not gotten around to it. What I did was add some to a bit of E72 aka Dektol with ascorbic acid/Metol ....my favourite 1st developer.

Sometime a couple years ago, I was chatting with a guy from England and he had sourced some from an online store there. I'll have to look around for his contact info. I assume if he can get it, you should be able too.


Your photo looks great. You are on the road.



This was done from Foma100 with no silver solvents and the iron-out for the 2nd dev/fixer steps.

 

[mrred]

In my gallery, they are all reversals.

 

[avortex]

That's also interesting. I've been searching the forum looking for more info about Iron-Out (or Sodium Dithionite) and I'm quite surprised. Perhaps I should pause my experiments till I find the correct chemicals for testing it, as well as the options described by Athiril.
Speculating a bit, perhaps chemical fogging could be a solution to the olive tint in the images...

About Iron-Out, I'm worried about excessive density, and the elimination of the fixer step: I made the test with a clear strip of Silvermax, fixing just a part of it, and the non-fixed fragment was a bit yellow...

Your Flickr gallery is very cool! I'm intrigued about the "developer-X" you mention on some pictures. Oh, and the dog is really lovable

 

[mrred]

Using iron-out is pretty strait forward. The reaction doesn't last long enough (2-3 mins) to be watched. I use 5 mins to make sure it's finished. As far as the fix aspect is concerned, I left a reversal strip hanging in my window.....must have been 6 months. No ill effects.

The big thing about 'tint' is cleanliness. If you washed well after every step, it's usually about as neutral as it gets. Exception is the base. Foma is still blue.... What you tried with the silvermax stuff may be just residual things from a not-fully-processed strip of film. Remember the bleaches used are quite strong.

[RANT]
Canada is a bit of a forgotten wasteland with regard to photo related chemicals. Unless you are a registered company, traditional chemical distributors have a hard time supplying anything to you. 911+ It might be even harder than you. The big thing when Kodak pulled out was they also pulled out their big distribution network. HASMAT is a dirty word for chemical suppliers. Simple things like Hydroquineone were next to impossible to get, which is insanely stupid considering how many skin products it's used in.
[/RANT]

This led me to have to make due with what I can get. So I experiment with developers to see if something can take me where I need to go. My search is to make a highly concentrated 1st dev, so I can not have to resort to using hypo again.....except for curve correction.

 

[Athiril]

Try to use Ascorbic Acid (add alkali to neutralise the acidity - bicarb soda, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, etc) or Ascorbate salt in place of hydroquinone, catechol can be used too (with sulphite so it doesn't stain).

 

[mrred]

I am antiquated with the chemistry. I was just ranting...lol

 

[avortex]

Guys, the Sodium Dithionite arrived yesterday. Pretty cheap stuff at 6,70 € for 1Kg.

So I made another experiment last night:

- I modified the ORWO developer, adding much more sulfite and a bit of extra phenidone.
- Processed another fragment of T-Max at 35ºC, cutting small pieces at 12, 14, 16 and 18 minutes using a stop bath.
- Did the chemical fogging and redeveloped using only 5 grs/l of Sodium Dithionite, prepared just before use. 6 minutes.

I think the sweet point is at 17', between the two last slides. Again, the slides had a strong yellowish cast after drying, so I decided to fix them for 5 minutes. And then... BINGO!
The cast disappeared leaving only a clear neutral slide

Here's a scan of the 18' slide. Sorry for all the dirt, but this fragment got seriously injured during the process:

Quite happy with it, but there are still some issues:

- I believe it's a bit grainy for this kind of film, possibly due to the processing at very high temperature.
- Contrast is a bit heavy. It looks more like a E-6 slide. Imagine Velvia in B&W.

Should I dilute 1:1 the developer to lower the contrast? Process at 30ºC instead of 35ºC?
Perhaps the Dithionite gives an exaggerated density, but I still don't know because it's my first time using it...

What do you think?

 

[mrred]

Looks good.

One of the beneficial uses of the solvent is it can tame the contrast...a chemical curve enhancer. I usually make a "hypo solution" of 8g/500ml. That way I can dial it in by just adding it to the 1st developer at the time of developing. You can try 1-6 ml, but you will have to compensate that dev time.

 

[mrred]

And that was based on my drum taking 175ml of solution, and penta hypo.

 

[avortex]

After some more experiments, I decided to discard the Dithionite: results are too harsh and not controllable.
Waiting now for the Stannous Chloride to keep on testing.

About the hypo, I found that leaving the film longer in the clearing bath (the Dr5 formula) clears the highlights and reduce the density, helping with the excessive contrast.
Results with Ilford FP4+ with no hypo are excellent, by the moment...

I'll keep you updated as soon I re-start the experiments!