Wayne, the RA-RT you refer to is a replenisher, not a regular straight developer, but works well as a developer, at least at room temperature and is endorsed by PE. For some reason, Kodak does not promote this capability. It is officially known as Kodak Ektacolor RA Developer Replenisher RT, often referred to here on APUG simply as RA-RT. Mix as directed; no starter is needed. Use at 68F for 2 minutes. My guess it is cheaper per liter than the Arista, which I have never used.
The RA-RT is what I use. I keep it in glass canning jars filled and tightly sealed. After a printing session I pour the used amount back into a jar the size of which will fill up, for later use. It then keeps very well, even after use. I don't know the exact capacity of a liter of it, but it has an excellent preservative in it, and I wouldn't be surprised, given my experience with it, if you could get the same capacity out of it per liter using trays that you would get using a liter of it one-shot in a drum.
In tray processing, you do not need a stop, but use of one will extend the life of the blix due to a pH rise from carryover developer.
The process I use is 2', 2', and 10' for Dev, Blix and wash at 68F. I usually extend the wash a bit.
I usually do not need to readjust the color balance, and I think that is what you are seeing.
PE
Ron, can you comment on capacity or (tightly bottled) shelf life of either Kodak solution once used?
The figure I used to use was 25 8x10 sheets / gallon. I think that is right. One package per gallon using the older kits, and it projected into all later kits.
PE
Oh, wow. That's only a fraction of what I get doing 1-shot. Yet somehow unless my math is off its still much cheaper than using the Arista kit 1-shot. I come up with about 45c/print vs 79c/print
Now I see why people buy the 100 liter.
And is this lower capacity primarily because its being partially reused, or is it just a property of the Kodak chemicals?
Oh, wow. That's only a fraction of what I get doing 1-shot. Yet somehow unless my math is off its still much cheaper than using the Arista kit 1-shot. I come up with about 45c/print vs 79c/print
Now I see why people buy the 100 liter.
And is this lower capacity primarily because its being partially reused, or is it just a property of the Kodak chemicals?
I think PE means "Matt"Michael
It recommends for tubes minimum solution volumes of 110 ml/ft2.
Which works out to 61ml per 8x10.
With respect to trays, it says:
Solution Capacity
You can reuse the chemicals without increasing the time in the developer for subsequent processes. The recommended number of 8 x 10-inch (20.3 x 25.4 cm) prints is 15 per quart (946 mL) or 16 per litre (33.8 fl oz).
However, do not use developer that has been in an open tray for more than 4 hours.
Well whatya know. I just picked up a couple of these for processing 11 x 14 prints tonight. Now that I've discovered the joy of trays, I expect my color developing sessions will be getting longer. Having to muck around with drums and hair dryers and heated chems always bored me out after just a couple hours.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?