Storing Diafine

BetterSense · Apr 10, 2009

I just bought some Diafine in anticipation of low-light shooting. I have heard that TriX (my main 35mm film) works well in diafine at about EI 1200. I suppose it might also come in handy if I ever get two precious exposures on the same roll that are oppositely mis-exposed.

Anyway, I normally store my developer in wine boxen, and print developer in soda bottles, but I need to pour the diafine back so the wine boxen are out, and finding 1 gallon PET bottles is not easy either. The box does not say what kind of containers to use, but I have heard that Diafine is nealy immortal if you do not mix the two baths. I was thinking of either mixing up half the powder, or just using empty milk jugs. 1Gallon of each baths seems like a lot. What do you store Diafine in?

thebanana · Apr 10, 2009

I use light proof 1 Gal. plastic jugs. I've had a mixed batch of Diafine for 8 months so far, and all's well.

Paul Verizzo · Apr 10, 2009

Almost anything will work. Being a DD, you virtually can't use it up. Unless you are developing a bunch of rolls a week, I would put Bath A into glass wine bottles or a wine bladder, evacuate air or add CO2 or Freon from an "air" can. That should keep nigh unto forever. Bath B is forever all by itself.

Or put it in milk jugs, keep in a mostly dark place like under the sink.

Michael W · Apr 10, 2009

I store mine in black plastic 5 liter containers that originally held Printspeed paper developer. I got them from a B&W lab that would have just thrown them out otherwise. I just rinsed them thoroughly first. I'm on my second batch of Diafine, first lasted for about one year.

Mixing only half the powder is never recommended as far as I've read.

ntenny · Apr 11, 2009

I used to keep Diafine in empty DIH2O bottles, but eventually one ruptured while I was out of town. (It was the B bath; it turns out sodium metaborate does a bang-up job of cleaning the tile in the darkroom!) I've now switched to opaque 5L containers intended for chemical use---they're relatively cheap (mine came from Freestyle). I think it's worth the few bucks (especially given that you only have to buy them once) for the confidence that the bottles won't fail.

-NT

RobertV · Apr 11, 2009

I store my Diafine in two coated Schott glass bottles (1ltr.) but I am using the 1 Quart/950ml version.
I can keep the Diafine working in it for about 2 years but glass is 100% diffusion tight which is for plastic (polymer) not the case. HD-Polyethylene is however a good compromize.

I am working with 35mm and roll film. Tri-X (400) in Diafine I rate at iso 1250 and 3+3 minutes development.
Further I can recommend:
Acros 100 (E.I. 160) 5+5 minutes
Neopan 1600 (E.I. 1600) 3+3 minutes
Neopan 400 (E.I. 640) 3+3 mintes

Best regards,

Robert

Dave Martiny · Apr 11, 2009

I can also recomment Daifine with FP4+ @ 250, 3+3 -- looks great.

Regards

Dave

fschifano · Apr 11, 2009

I keep mine in clearly marked 1L soda bottles. One set is a working batch and the other I use as a replenisher. The working batch is going on 2 years old now and it works as it did when fresh. It is, of course, quite discolored; but that is of absolutely no consequence.

Replenishment is the way to go with this developer and the routine is dead simple. Most replenishable developers rely on a constant turnover to keep the solution in spec. You need to keep track of how much film you've run, and carefully replenish with a special replenisher at measured rates. This doesn't usually work to well for the home worker whose output is typically not nearly enough to provide a rapid enough turnover. Not so with Diafine. Replenishment for Diafine consists of replacing the volume of solution lost to use and not much else. Losses to Part A are higher than to Part B. To start draw off enough of Part B to equal the remaining volume of Part A. Then simply top off parts A and B to their original volume and you're done.

like2fiddle · Apr 11, 2009

I keep my Diafine in the plastic photochemical bottles B&H sells.

Anybody used Diafine with 135 APX 100? Diafine box says EI 320, the little I've found online says not more than 200.

RobertV · Apr 11, 2009

APX100 / Rollei Retro 100 E.I. 200

See also our Diafine Film combinations, recommendations:

http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Diafine-data.pdf

Best regards,

Robert

like2fiddle · Apr 11, 2009

Thank you Robert for the link. That looks like an official Diafine data sheet so I must be remembering the Diafine box recommendations incorrectly. I probably looked at the wrong film name or something. I'll check when I get home tonight.

RobertV · Apr 11, 2009

Yes, it's an official document I received 2 years ago from BKA, Chicago, USA.

Happy shooting!

Robert

PS. I made some personal notes of highly recommended combinations of this nice 2-bath developer.

ghost · Apr 11, 2009

Anyone ever tried Delta 3200 in Diafine? Would that be the highest EI possible for extremely dark situations?

jim appleyard · Apr 11, 2009

I got 1600 with Diafine recently shooting in an old barn. If you need a higher EI, I would suggest Acufine or maybe UFG. I've used quite a bit of Acufine and you can get a higher EI by extending the dev times. Diafine is really good for only 1 stop.

Paul Verizzo · Apr 11, 2009

Diafine and Tri-X is a wonderful fluke. It is the only film that has that much speed increase in Diafine.

Steven Schaub is loving TMY in Xtol at 1600: http://figitalrevolution.com/2008/0...x-400-tmy-2-pushed-to-1600-processed-in-xtol/

Although Kodak doesn't give specs for Ilford 3200, their own film of that speed has ratings to 25,000 EI with Xtol. Contrast Indes of 1.05.

ntenny · Apr 11, 2009

ghost said:
Anyone ever tried Delta 3200 in Diafine? Would that be the highest EI possible for extremely dark situations?

Doubtful. Delta 3200 isn't actually a 3200 ASA film; it's something like 1000, I believe, but designed to be optimised for pushing. I don't know if it gets a full stop of speed, but if so it would only come to around 2000.

Diafine also has the rep of not working well with T-grain films, but I've never tried so I'm just passing on hearsay.

-NT

Metroman · Apr 12, 2009

I use the quart pack and kept in black Jobo 1L bottles. Current batch is 18 months old. I use it for 35mm.

Plus-X @ 400 is nice and so is Fomapan 100 @ 160. Both 3 + 3

I prefer Tri-X @ 1250.

Michael W · Apr 12, 2009

I agree, Plus-X looks great at 400.

fschifano · Apr 12, 2009

That's interesting. I've tried Plus-X at 400 in Diafine and wasn't happy with it at all. I thought that the shadows were far too thin and the highlights all blocked up. Of course, it didn't help that the light was very hard when I exposed the film. An overcast day might have changed my opinion of the combination, and I might give it a whirl next chance I get. Lord knows I have plenty of that Plu..., er Arista Premium 100 to try it out on.

On the subject of Foma 100, I liked the way it looked when exposed at EI 100 and then developed in Diafine. The negatives were dense and needed about a stop extra exposure in the enlarger, but there was plenty of shadow detail to play with and the highlights were not so dense that I couldn't work with it.

dynachrome · Apr 12, 2009

I stored Diafine in clear 1 liter soda bottles. I only used it a few times, not long after it was mixed. At the end of a year it was dead. My next batch will be stored in brown glass bottles.

Paul Verizzo · Apr 12, 2009

fschifano said:
On the subject of Foma 100, I liked the way it looked when exposed at EI 100 and then developed in Diafine. The negatives were dense and needed about a stop extra exposure in the enlarger, but there was plenty of shadow detail to play with and the highlights were not so dense that I couldn't work with it.

Frank, from what you describe you need to up your EI.

I played with a 100' roll of Foma 100 last year. It was fun, forgiving, and cheap. But bottom line is that it is old Plus-X, if you know what I mean. RMS granularity is 13.5, halfway to Tri-X from Plus-X's 10. With the Arista Premium so cheap, there's no need to suffer old technology.

Foma 100 is one of the most developer reactive films out there. Just compare D-76 developing times. In some aborted experiments, Foma gave a full quality image when the same process gave a thin one on TMX and zipola on Forte 400. You could also try cutting Bath A to 2 minutes.

BetterSense · Apr 12, 2009

dynachrome said:
I stored Diafine in clear 1 liter soda bottles. I only used it a few times, not long after it was mixed. At the end of a year it was dead. My next batch will be stored in brown glass bottles.

I just pillaged the fridge and managed to come up with 2 gallons worth of PET containers in the form of 2 2L bottles, one spaghetti sauce bottle and a juice bottle, and mixed up my gallon. I will keep an eye out for 1gal glass bottles and transfer over, because I don't want mine to go dead.

Paul Verizzo · Apr 13, 2009

BetterSense said:
I just pillaged the fridge and managed to come up with 2 gallons worth of PET containers in the form of 2 2L bottles, one spaghetti sauce bottle and a juice bottle, and mixed up my gallon. I will keep an eye out for 1gal glass bottles and transfer over, because I don't want mine to go dead.

I don't know where you live, but I haven't seen a glass gallon container is at least a decade.

PET is not an ideal long term storage. You will do better looking towards wine containers. Your options are 750ml bottles with artificial corks, 1.5 liter with screw caps, or the mylar bladders of box wine. Obviously I am using consumer articles and not including "real" stuff you can buy.

Storing Diafine

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