Temperature changes while developing - has anyone experimented?

[Andrew O'Neill]

Sorry for resurrecting this one. Andrew - I'm having a crack at divided D-23. Do you have any idea how much borax is meant to go in per litre for bath b? I've found wildly varied results - Anchell and Troop indicated 18g for 500mL, but I've seen as low as 2g/L. I have 36g in a litre of water per Anchell and Troop, but that seemed excessive on reflection. My borax is granular, so that might explain some of the variation in weight if anhydrous is expected.

I've only ever used 2g/Litre of Borax in bath B.

 

[saffewsad]

Thanks for the advice! That graph sets it out really well koraks - and good to know 2g/L works for you Andrew. Since I now have a litre of 36g/L solution... it's going to be relabelled as stock and diluted 1:9 or so for 4g/L. Can't imagine it deteriorates rapidly so it should last a while.

 

[koraks]

Yeah, I think a borax solution should be stable. It's convenient to have a concentrated stock at hand since it takes some time to dissolve the crystals anyway.

 

[saffewsad]

Gotta say, Andrew and koraks in particular, but in general everyone who chipped in - scholars and gentlepersons; thank you so much. Divided D-23 gave me fantastic results. Cannot wait to print these.

 

[koraks]

Cool, looking forward to seeing any prints if you end up sharing them (no pressure though)!

 

[saffewsad]

Cool, looking forward to seeing any prints if you end up sharing them (no pressure though)!

Alright then. I've been printing two weeks and these are photos of prints hanging to dry, so if you know how to fix any of the obvious issues with print technique let me know this Brovira RC Grade 3 stuff is weird to work with though. Had to severely drop exposure and double development time to put the contrast in from the flat negs... Maybe I'll just buy some multigrade in a proper size.

 

[Don_ih]

Had to severely drop exposure and double development time to put the contrast in from the flat negs

A print should stay in the developer long enough to reach apparent "finished" development (the print will start to fog if left in too long). The contrast should drop as a print develops - the blacks appear in a field of blank white first, then the remaining tones come in - in order from darkest to lightest. You should develop until all highlight detail is fully developed.

You need to clean the dust off your negatives.

 

[snusmumriken]

A print should stay in the developer long enough to reach apparent "finished" development (the print will start to fog if left in too long). The contrast should drop as a print develops - the blacks appear in a field of blank white first, then the remaining tones come in - in order from darkest to lightest. You should develop until all highlight detail is fully developed.

You need to clean the dust off your negatives.

To give some idea of the time frame, Ilford states that for Multigrade, development for up to 6 minutes will not produce any noticeable change in contrast or fog - presumably once maximum black has been established, which is around the 2 minute mark in Multigrade developer.

 

[saffewsad]

You need to clean the dust off your negatives.

Yeah, the dust is the bane of my life. Any advice on the best methods? I've tried several recommended ones and none seemed particularly effective

 

[MattKing]

May we see a backlit digital image of your negatives, with the edge printing and space between the frames visible?
I ask because the issues with your prints could be due to a number of things, but it would help eliminate some if we can have some information about the negatives themselves.
Also, what type of enlarger and light source are you using?
Your prints look like the paper may be fogged. Your paper is old, so the fogging could be due to that.
Are you using a safelight? If so, what type, where is it positioned in respect to the paper and have you performed a safelight test?

 

[Don_ih]

Any advice on the best methods?

You need to find out where the dust is coming from. If the dust is getting on the negatives when still wet, it can be practically impossible to remove it. Dust that settles on dry negatives can be blown off. Some needs to be brushed off. You may need to examine the individual frame you are about to enlarge with a loupe to see how much dust is on it. If the dust is stuck to the film, you can try soaking it a while in distilled water with photoflo.

Also, make sure your enlarger is fairly free from dust.

 

[saffewsad]

Cheers Matt and Don - this is really helpful feedback! I'll have a crack at a backlit image later - currently at work. The enlarger is a Durst M601 with a 75w opal bulb (I'm kind of tempted to get a lower intensity bulb). The paper does look fogged in the photo, but that's because it was a photo of a print hanging to dry and I didn't correct for the whites as much - the border is white. If you were referring to the effect of fog on contrast (pre-flash equivalent I guess) - you may have a really good point, but other papers I've used (MGIV and Kentmere VC) have responded really well in terms of contrast. I have some fogged Ilfospeed and the effect of fog there is really prominent.

Safelight is a Paterson model, and I have done some testing with a coin - didn't see the effects of fogging in those tests. It's fairly close to the enlarger though, mainly due to space concerns.

Don - I think you have a point re dust on the negatives while wet. They were hung to dry in a bathroom but it's not exactly a dust-free environment, so I may look at alternative spaces to hang. The dust does seem to be a bit stuck on and resisted removal attempts so that's a good starting point for me.

 

[MattKing]

Safelight is a Paterson model, and I have done some testing with a coin - didn't see the effects of fogging in those tests. It's fairly close to the enlarger though, mainly due to space concerns.

It is really boring to do, but I strongly recommend using the full Kodak safelight test, found here: https://www.kodak.com/content/products-brochures/Film/KODAK-A-Guide-to-Darkroom-Illumination-K-4.pdf