underexposed negs

[Jarvman]

can you help me troubleshoot here, I shot 3 pics with my newish chamonix earlier and they've all come out underexposed, even the one I thought was 4 stops overexposed. I'm using HP5 and am pretty sure I loaded the film the right way, i.e when I look at the first two sheets I put through the camera, this time FP4 which was exposed perfectly, the two lots of images are in the correct orientation held towards me, emulsion side up with the notches in the top left corner. The shots were taken with a 5x red filter. The meter, rated at ISO 400 suggested f/22 and a half at 1/125th, so to compensate for the filter I exposed at f/22 for 1/30th which should've been correct. The bellows were only extended to the first notch and the scene was fairly distant. Then I devved it in HC-110 dilution b for 5 mins, albeit dev thats been used once before for two previous sheet films then bottled. The second shot was taken with the same suggested combo but accidentally at 5.6 which you'd expect to be overesposed but its still thin. I'm confused, hope its something simple and obvious :confused:

 

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, is it possible that the HC110 is diluted improperly?

Jon

 

[Jarvman]

It's the same stuff I used for the last negs which were fine, but its been bottled and left for a few weeks, only 2 sheets have gone through it. Is it likely its spoiled even though its in an airtight bottle upto the brim?

 

[David William White]

"top left corner"?? With emulsion side up, notches should be in top right corner.

 

[Uhner]

"top left corner"?? With emulsion side up, notches should be in top right corner.

Yes.

 

[Jarvman]

Just checked the other half of the darkslide and they're in the top right and I loaded them all the same. They should be dull side up in the holder, shiny side down? they're definately loaded right I'm sure.

 

[Peter Spangenberg]

Not sure what your subject was, but your suggested exposure seems pretty short for what I normally shoot. I remember as a rule of thumb that I used to shoot Tri -X (at ISO 200) landscapes in average sunny California weather at f-32 for 1/4 sec. Could be your metering technique. Not sure why previous shots came out fine.

 

[Jarvman]

but even the shot at f/5.6 for 1/30th, the one i expected to be totally overexposed came out thin

 

[Peter Spangenberg]

Good point. I failed to consider that. I also use HC-110, but I don't save it after it is in a working solution, so I can't speak to what happens if you do. In fact, it's so cheap and easy to mix, I mix up directly into a working solution from the bottle, avoiding the whole middle step. Then, after done, regardless of # of sheets processed I toss it. Temperature also could effect results, but I wouldn't expect the results to be as significant as you described. Too many variables here without further testing (developer, film, temperature, filter, meter).

 

[David William White]

Okay, so let's talk about your developer. You've said you've reused. What was your total volume of prepared dilution B? And how many sheets have you put through that batch? I normally use 1 litre of B for every 8 sheets of 4x5. And that is freshly mixed, too. How many sheets have you done and it what volume of B?

 

[Jarvman]

500ml and 2 sheets have gone through it, then its been bottled upto the neck and screwed up tightly and put on a shelf for a few weeks. I've never kept it before and will chuck it if developing 35mm or rollfilm, but seeing as I only put 2 sheets through I was expecting to get 6 out of it before throwing it out and so kept onto it. Now come to think of it you need a litre of fresh solution to fill a combi tank which devs 6 sheets yeah? Perhaps I should only expect to get 3 sheets from such a small volume. The film is also about a year old but I can't imagine that'd have alot of effect would it? It's been kept in the fridge. I got it as a freebie of my tutor. I'll try devving one sheet with fresh chemistry tomorrow. Gonna take a pad and note the exact settings next pic, could help.

 

[MartinB]

if you still have the developer you used for the sheets

you could try throwing a bit of exposed leader (or any other piece of undeveloped film laying around) into a container with some of the developer and see how long it takes to go completely black. Might give you an idea if the used, re-bottled working strength dev is "off"

Martin

 

[Jarvman]

Just popped a piece of Pan-F in that I never loaded properly and has been sitting exposed coiled up on the shelf in my bedroom for months. Should've been completely developed in dilution b at 4 mins and its still grey at 7 mins. That'll be the problem! Cheers Martin, it's definately the dev. I'll have to get a proper tank and only use fresh stuff from now on. I just even squirted some undiluted dev onto it and it seems to be struggling a bit to get the film black even though theres a darker patch in the middle, its the very dregs of the bottle.