Saving under-developed negs

i have a roll of Adox 100 that I developed in pyrocat-hd. however, because i'm an idiot, the developement time i used was bewteen 1/3 and 1/2 of what it should have been. is there any way to 'save' these negs?

thanks,
bob k.

If they were correctly exposed, you should at least have enough shadow detail. I think the only thing you can do is to intensify the negative to increase the contrast some. Selenium toner should work for that purpose, but I don't know how much extra contrast that will give you.

Others might have better suggestions, but intensification seems like a good suggestion assuming you exposed the film correctly.

Thomas Bertilsson said:

If they were correctly exposed, you should at least have enough shadow detail. I think the only thing you can do is to intensify the negative to increase the contrast some. Selenium toner should work for that purpose, but I don't know how much extra contrast that will give you.

Others might have better suggestions, but intensification seems like a good suggestion assuming you exposed the film correctly.

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About a grade if you're lucky, there are better intensifiers though. A Potassium Bichromate/ HCl bleach followed by redevelopment in Pyrocat will give far better intensification, Ilfird IN-3 is the formula (my books are back in Turkey) but the Pyrocatgives additional staining as well as redevelopment used at double the usual strenght.

It does work well, I've used it.

Ian

I am always surprised at the amount of detail which it is possible to print from thin negatives having done it myself a few times. Give it a go and see what you get.


Steve

I have used chromium intensifier once or twice, and it does work to some degree, available from fotospeed,Richard

I can second the pyro intensification routine. You could also follow that up with selenium if you need more, but I haven't ever need to try that fortunately.

I recently worked on a PolypanF film I'd done in Pyrocat-M-C and either I or the developer failed miserably. Couldn't even remember what was on it and it hung in the dryer for ages. I finally rehalogenated it with copper sulphate / sodium chloride and redeveloped in HC-110 (B). All in broad daylight.
Managed to scan it and get quite useful prints off it. I've never done this before but it all went quite smoothly. The bleach was very slow to work but I had plenty of time.
Murray

Bleach, redevelopment, like Ian suggested is safe, easy and gives good results.

I use a different bleach than Ian though. Mine is a simple rehalogenating bleach made from potassium ferricyanide and potassium bromide

Try
15g potassium ferricyanide
15g potassium bromide
1 liter of water

or a similar formula with a smaller volume. The proportions are not critical as long as there is enough bleach and bromide to do the job.

Everything can be done in daylight. Toss the neg in the bleach, and watch till all but the very faint stain image is gone. Drain and transfer to the developer. Use your pyrocat or other staining developer. Develop to completion (I use my "Normal" time).

What you are doing is redeveloping the silver (which the bleach changed back to silver bromide) and adding another layer of stain (read contrast) at the same time.

It is possible to repeat this process another time, but the emulsion gets progressively more brittle with repetitions, so try to keep it to a minimum. Each BRD cycle will add another layer of stain and contrast.

I recently salvaged a negative I inadvertently developed at N-2 instead of N+1 with this method.

Edit: I guess I should mention that, as mentioned above, you can often get good prints from an underdeveloped negative. Sometimes I try to print first (if the neg is "on the edge" of being printable by my judgment. If the neg is really too thin, though, I usually just bleach-redevelop during development, when it's easy. Do try to print it first if you think it's possible.

My use for this technique is for salvage reasons, i.e., when I somehow give a negative the wrong development, as in the case above (mysteriously, my filmholders sometimes change positions in the dark all by themselves... either that or the Gremlins switch them...). I also use this technique to simply help get the print I want. Sometimes the extra zip is just what an even well-developed negative needs to make the print sing.

Hope this helps,

Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com

The importance of the Bichromate re-halogenating bleach is that unlike a Ferricyanide bleach you get additional staining from the chromium, this boosts the density and contrast considerably.

Ian

Doremus, thank you for the detailed description.

Ian, what is the formula for the bleach you are suggesting?

thanks all.

Here you go Bob, I realised I have a PDF of the Ilford formule here@

Ilford IIn-3 Chromium Intensifier
For controlled intensification of negatives. This intensifier is not liable to produce stains.

BICHROMATE STOCK SOLUTION
Potassium bichromate 100 g.
Water to make 1000 c.c.
This solution keeps indefinitely.

BLEACHING SOLUTION A
Bichromate stock solution (as above) 100 c.c.
Hydrochloric acid (conc) 2·5 c.c.
Water to make l000 c.c.

BLEAcH1NG SOLUTION B
Bichromate stock solution (as above) 100 c.c.
Hydrochloric acid (conc) 12·5 c.c.
Water to make 1000 c.c.


Bleaching Solution A gives more intensification than Solution B.
Whichever solution is selected should be freshly mixed. Immerse the washed negative in the bleaching solution selected until it is completely bleached, then wash until the yellow stain is removed and re-develop, by white light, or after exposure to light, in an M.Q. or P.Q. developer. Wash the negative thoroughly before drying.

Ilford's IT-8 toner is similar using a Bichromate bleach then a Pyrocatechin re-developer, which is why I suggest using Pyrocat HD.

Ian

thank you Ian.

Victor`s intensifier is a gem. Art Craft chems for supplies. Look up formula on internet.

If you got too far, then fix will remove the excess. It is magic stuff, but toxic, so mix outside and keep your hands out and you will be fine.

Duplicate your mistake and experiment with that first.

Can I replaced potassium bichromate with potassium dichromate Ian? it's hard to find potassium bichromate in my country, thanks

Ronald Moravec said:

Victor`s intensifier is a gem. Art Craft chems for supplies. Look up formula on internet.

If you got too far, then fix will remove the excess. It is magic stuff, but toxic, so mix outside and keep your hands out and you will be fine.

Duplicate your mistake and experiment with that first.

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IIRC, Victor's is mercuric chloride intensifier. Used it way back when as well as uranium nitrate -- not so easy to obtain either substance around here anymore

-Ian

haryanto said:

Can I replaced potassium bichromate with potassium dichromate Ian? it's hard to find potassium bichromate in my country, thanks

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Same compound Di & Bi mean 2, so just an alternative name for the same thing..

Ian

Thanks Ian