I've been trying to make up my own developers as of late. I started with D-76 and I ended up with super underdeveloped negatives. Then, I tried D-23 and ended up with the same thing. The edge markings on my film are pretty much nonexistent. I feel like I've dotted all my i's, I use distilled water, I add the pinch of sodium sulfite before the metol to prevent oxidization. I use quality chemicals from photographer's formulary. It's so strange because I've had great success making D-19 and D-72 myself. Is the fact that these developers have more hydroquinone disguising the fact that my metol is bad? I know it's hard to gauge a problem from a post like this, so I suppose I'm wondering what you all would recommend I try to get to the bottom of this?
Thin negs in home-mixed chemistry, bad metol?
-
A
- Thread starter sydwhitaker
- Start date
Recent Classifieds
-
For Sale Leica M10 24MP Black Body Only
- Started by nateo200
-
Sold Ilford HP5 Plus 400 4x5 Film
- Started by Barlow
-
For Sale 4 Toyo 4x5 Film Holders
- Started by Barlow
-
Want to Buy Mounting Flange for Compur 2 Dial Set Shutter
- Started by ivan35mm
-
Sold SOLD!
- Started by B.S.Kumar
Forum statistics
How old is your metol? What color is it? How was it stored? Those are all things that can cause or tell you what condition your metol. is in. I have metol that is at least twenty years old and it still works just fine, but it's stored proper.
Does a test film strip turn black in the developer after a while? If so the developer is good and the development time was too short. If not, then the developer is bad.
What is good storage for Metol (and Hydrochinone)?
It's actually not all that critical. It just needs to be kept dry and preferably dark, that's all.
Yes, a bit. A few things do come to mind.
Try to do A/B testing with a known-good developer and film you know is in good shape and well-exposed so you can exclude with all certainty a film-related problem. What film have you been using, and is it (reasonably) in date?
With the self-made d76, verify you're using the right amount of carbonate. If you use e.g. decahydrate in the quantity the formula gives for monohydrate, the resulting developer will be too weak.
As to your metol, if it's white, off-white or light tan, it's probably fine. Dark brown or black is not good. Metol keeps pretty well and doesn't go bad easily. In case of persisting doubts, acquire a second (test) batch of metol from another source. Even a tiny quantity like 5g of known-good metol begged off a photographer friend will allow you to do a comparison test and exclude this factor.
Verify your scale; ensure it's calibrated and that it's not used at the very extremes of its scale. E.g. using a scale that can weigh up to 1kg / 2lbs to weigh a 0.5g quantity is evidently a risky endeavor. I assume you use a jewelers scale or something similar for the small-quantity chemicals. The digital kind are cheap, pervasive and generally plenty accurate enough for our purpose. Some swear by triple beam Ohaus scales etc and that's fine, but not a necessity.
In other words, it's a matter of dotting some more i's in the hope you'll hit upon a previously missed parameter. Systematically go through the entire process of raw material to finished negative and take stock of all factors influencing the outcome, and theoretically and experimentally cross each and every one of them off the list.
That's weird. I've tested a 30+ year old Metol - works like new. In general, there may be more problems with hydroquinone. But there is no hydroquinone in D-23. I think the problem may be sulfite - these two formulas contain a lot of it. In addition to being a preservative, it also serves as an activator. In the other two formulas D-19 and D-72 there are carbonates that take over this role. If you can measure the pH of the problem solutions...
sydwhitaker, John Finch makes D23 with kitchen measuring spoons that measure in tablespoons and teaspoons including half and quarters so I presume that sufficient accuracy can be achieved that way. His D23 certainly seems to works well. As there is only 2 ingredients and assuming you use the correct amount of metol and sodium sulphate then the problem has to be quality or quantity, doesn't it?
Try the spoons method and see what happens after you try Sirius's suggestion and find it doesn't turn the test strip black
With failure at D23 and D76 could it be that it's the same camera and there is a problem with its exposure rather than a failure of the chemicals?
pentaxuser
Try the spoons method and see what happens after you try Sirius's suggestion and find it doesn't turn the test strip black
With failure at D23 and D76 could it be that it's the same camera and there is a problem with its exposure rather than a failure of the chemicals?
pentaxuser
There's no carbonate in D76. The amount of Borax is just 2g/L. There could be zero grams of Borax and D76 would develop film (D23 with hydroquinone).
You're using sodium sulphite and not sodium sulphate?
Oops, sorry about that. I misremembered it to be a carbonate buffered developer.
OP's D23 works fine apparently, and there is no sulfate in any of these developers. Don's suggestion to verify OP is using sulfite is appropriate, although it would be odd if they used sulfite for the D23 and then erroneously sulfate for d76...
I suggest posting the formula you used for D-76 and D-23. IMO that is likely where things went wrong.
Yes my fault for mixing up sulphate with sulphite but the OP, sydwhitaker, mentions sulphite so he appears to be using the correct stuff. In his first post he says "I ended up with super underdeveloped negatives. Then, I tried D-23 and ended up with the same thing. The edge markings on my film are pretty much nonexistent."
I thought that indicated his D23 wasn't working fine at least as far as he was concerned. So he ended up with super underdeveloped negative with home mixed D76 and D23 but he obtained both sets of ingredients from Photographer's Formulary. Yes both sets of ingredients from Photographer's Formulary could be fault but the odds maybe suggest that the problem might also lie elsewhere such as with his camera, if it was the same camera for both sets of negatives. Hence my suggestion about the camera being a possible cause
pentaxuser
True and until syd replies and helps us to eliminate some or any sources of problems with more information about what he has tried to do a propos our suggestions, we are "largely punching the air"
pentaxuser
Speculation is useless until the OP does a side-by-side comparison with a known good (e.g., commercially-packaged) developer. If the results of this test show the home-made developer to be not working well, then the OP's formulae and individual components would need to be checked.
Best,
Doremus
Best,
Doremus
if everything else is 100% good, maybe its temperature? your environment is too cold maybe?
i remember when my heater broke and i couldnt maintain a 20C for a few months and all my negs were hella thin.
use a thermometer in your liquid developer to see, and use like a time/temp converter on the massive dev chart website to find out what approximate up/down time.
i remember when my heater broke and i couldnt maintain a 20C for a few months and all my negs were hella thin.
use a thermometer in your liquid developer to see, and use like a time/temp converter on the massive dev chart website to find out what approximate up/down time.
Do you have a spreadsheet running? You never greeted me, either.
This greeting came to be long after you joined, but sure why not.
Welcome to APUG Photrio!!
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2005
- Messages
- 648
- Format
- Multi Format
What's false?
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2005
- Messages
- 648
- Format
- Multi Format
The response he gave you.
I'm ok with it. I'm actually surprised he's still talking to me.
| Photrio.com contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. To read our full affiliate disclosure statement please click Here. |
PHOTRIO PARTNERS EQUALLY FUNDING OUR COMMUNITY:  |