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Taming contrast during development for (double-sided) X-ray film?

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PhotoPham

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Joined
Aug 17, 2022
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31
Location
California, USA
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I was wondering if people would like to share their experience of what developers, time, and temperatures are used to reduce contrast when it comes to X-ray film.
 
Do you mean reduce the excess contrast that x-Ray film can be prone to?
For that, I use Pyrocat 1:1:200 with extreme minimal agitation. Rodinal 1:100 is also supposed to be good.
 
One data point ...
I have been working my way through some Fuji HR-T green sensitive x-ray film and have settled on shooting it around EI 50 and developing about 3:30 in HC110 1+63 ("Dilution H"). For comparison, using that dilution on regular photo films times fall in the eight to fifteen minute range. Since I'm tray developing 8x10, I use steady agitation. (And of course, one can develop by inspection under a deep red safelight, though I find that not as simple as it sounds!)

In general it seems workable to burn enough exposure to get shadow detail then pull development, using a dilute developer to spread out the process time-wise.
 
Ample exposure, highly dilute developer.
And then figure out an agitation routine that will give even development and not scratch either side of the film.

My personal view is that there are ways of self harm that are better understood by the psychiatric community than using double-sided x-ray film and hence should be tried first in a search for redemption of the soul.
 
It's a very long thread, but very complete.
 
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