Seems to me he went another 5F cooler -- but about the same benzotriazole; he used more drops, but his was 1%. Several of his films weren't completely fog free, they were just "usable" as opposed to "fogged beyond all recall."
My method for expired Tri-X has been to keep a couple of bottles of water in the film fridge, which keeps them right about 55deg F. I use either Rodinal or HC-110 for expired film so I just mix that 55deg water with the developer concentrate and if it raises the temperature a degree or two I don't lose sleep. I add three drops of 2% benzo (drops are really technical, huh?) to a two-reel tank and I just about double the developing time. Actually just a little more. That has worked well for me but I've never gotten the fog to clear completely as it does for the author of that article. I guess I just haven't found the perfect recipe yet.
The amount of benzo I'm using is directly due to his article. "Usable" is about as good as I've gotten with the old Tri-X I've been using up but it was also stored as badly as possible (in an attic) for years. To be fair, I also haven't done a whole lot of experimenting to see if I could improve the results further. One thing I have found is that the fog is just about the same using either HC-110 or Rodinal. I think the temperature and benzo have a lot more effect than the choice of developer. Also, I went back and looked at my negatives after I posted yesterday and I suspect my development times might be a little on the long side. A reduction in time might, perhaps, also improve the fog.Seems to me he went another 5F cooler -- but about the same benzotriazole; he used more drops, but his was 1%. Several of his films weren't completely fog free, they were just "usable" as opposed to "fogged beyond all recall."
Why buy garbage?
Buy fresh film and enjoy life.
It's the other way around; My times are too long now. Reducing them should reduce fog as well if I'm not mistaken. Adding more benzo, a restrainer, would then just require more developing time.Overdevelopment does nothing good for either fog or grain. If the fog is still high, up your benzo a little -- four drops instead of three, perhaps.
The two aren't mutually exclusive. One can buy expired film and still buy fresh film. I buy plenty of each and get great results from lots of expired film. Like you, I want to see the companies that make film prosper and I buy fresh film to help support that but I also don't want to see perfectly good expired film (and much of it is, in fact, perfectly good) get tossed in a landfill simply because of the idea that only fresh film can produce worthwhile images. There's plenty of room for both ideologies to coexist.Exactly. Have fun and experiment with fresh film so we still have some 5 or 10 years from now.
It's the other way around; My times are too long now. Reducing them should reduce fog as well if I'm not mistaken. Adding more benzo, a restrainer, would then just require more developing time.
I think we were actually saying more or less the same thing from two different directions. I misinterpreted your first post - sorry.You can probably do either. Upping the BZT is equivalent (more or less) to shortening your development time. Shortening doesn't cost as much in speed, so try that first.
I think we were actually saying more or less the same thing from two different directions. I misinterpreted your first post - sorry.
Why buy garbage?
Buy fresh film and enjoy life.
Film is like cheese, wine and prosciutto.
I love using filmpacks. Shanghai should reintroduce them with 400 GP3
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