Warm Weather Film Developing

Jack Bulkley · Mar 21, 2020

I am considering developing my own black and white film, but I am wondering about one thing. I live in NC and already this year the inside temperature is above 20° C which seems to be the recommended temperature for developing black and white film. I have seen lots of posts about warming the chemistry but nothing about cooling it. My lovely bride likes to keep the AC only cooling to about 25° C. Is this a problem and if so how do people handle it?

Jack in North Carolina

BrianShaw · Mar 21, 2020

I use the temperature compensation chart provided by the developer manufacturer. In my case it is Ilford and the temp nomograph is easy to use.

abruzzi · Mar 21, 2020

I live in New Mexico where the summer get so hot (really) that the cold water frequently comes out of the tap at close to 90 F.

so after I mix the developer, it goes in the freezer for long enough to get it down to temperature. The fix and stop are at room temp which is somewhere between 75-80 F, but I have read anything about temp requirements, so I use them as is.

Jack Bulkley · Mar 21, 2020

Thanks @BrianShaw I suspected it was straight forward. Having not bought anything yet, I had not dug that deep into the instructions yet.

Alan9940 · Mar 21, 2020

Similar to abruzzi, I live in the desert southwest where much of the year is warm to pretty dang hot; indoor ambient temp during the late spring through fall typically runs from 75-80F. I routinely process film at 75F and have gone as high as 80F. Just adjust development time per a temp compensation chart, as mentioned above.

BrianShaw · Mar 21, 2020

What I do to combat the variability of tap water is fill jugs the night before. That lets them temper at room temp and gives air time to come out. Right now house kept at 72 during day but 68 at night. I process as early in the morning as possible. This morning I didn’t need compensation at all...

138S · Mar 21, 2020

Jack Bulkley said:
I am considering developing my own black and white film, but I am wondering about one thing. I live in NC and already this year the inside temperature is above 20° C which seems to be the recommended temperature for developing black and white film. I have seen lots of posts about warming the chemistry but nothing about cooling it. My lovely bride likes to keep the AC only cooling to about 25° C. Is this a problem and if so how do people handle it?

Jack in North Carolina

Use Ice cubes from refrigerator, they won't dilute much your chem, You also may use reusable Ice cubes to not add any water:

Sirius Glass · Mar 21, 2020

BrianShaw said:
I use the temperature compensation chart provided by the developer manufacturer. In my case it is Ilford and the temp nomograph is easy to use.

When the temperature shortens the development to near 5 minutes, I put cool or cold water in my Jobo processor and develop at the lower temperature.

MattKing · Mar 21, 2020

Look for developers and dilutions that have manufacturer's recommendations for 24C and/or 27C that permit reasonable development times. The X-Tol recommendations for most Kodak films are an example.

BrianShaw · Mar 21, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
When the temperature shortens the development to near 5 minutes, I put cool or cold water in my Jobo processor and develop at the lower temperature.

I’d probably chill down my chemistry a bit sooner than that.

ic-racer · Mar 21, 2020

Tmax developer works well at 25C.

takilmaboxer · Mar 21, 2020

I keep my jug of D76 in the basement, on the concrete floor. Can't use tap water as it is too hard. Only a problem in June and July, here at 7000 feet.

138S · Mar 21, 2020

Another convenient way is purchasing a (perhaps used, $50) wine refrigerator, quite convenient, you open the door and chem is at the right temperature without doing anything, if wanting to dilute developer then you may keep also some water inside.

jeffreyg · Mar 22, 2020

It's almost always down here so our ac is on auto at 76-77F. I keep a gallon of distilled water in the refrigerator all the time and a couple of gallons in my darkroom. I blend them with developer to get a 68F solution each time (fresh mix each time) I develop film. It's possible that by the time development is finished the solution is a degree/two warmer but that has never presented a problem. I print with an Aristo VC lamp and eyeball the settings from test prints. Since everyone has their own best way find one that gives you the results you like and stick with it and tweak as needed.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

http://www.sculptureandphotography.com/

Maris · Mar 22, 2020

There is a case for not doing temperature control for black and white processing. Time control is better.
Temperature control (except at ambient) is a technical challenge, a chore, difficult to get precise, and unstable in its adjustment.
Time control is as easy as looking at a clock, it's precise to the second, and good clocks do not run significantly fast or slow for the few minutes of developing time.
When my darkroom is hot, say 28 Celcius, my developing time for FP4+ in Xtol is 5 minutes. When the darkroom is cold , say 18 Celcius, my developing time is 14 minutes. Both negatives come out the same.
Modern black and white films can be developed at almost any reasonable ambient temperature if the developing time is adjusted. The tradition of working at 20 Celcius or 68F is, I reckon, a historic hangover.

Fraunhofer · Mar 22, 2020

Maris said:
There is a case for not doing temperature control for black and white processing. Time control is better.
Temperature control (except at ambient) is a technical challenge, a chore, difficult to get precise, and unstable in its adjustment.
Time control is as easy as looking at a clock, it's precise to the second, and good clocks do not run significantly fast or slow for the few minutes of developing time.
When my darkroom is hot, say 28 Celcius, my developing time for FP4+ in Xtol is 5 minutes. When the darkroom is cold , say 18 Celcius, my developing time is 14 minutes. Both negatives come out the same.
Modern black and white films can be developed at almost any reasonable ambient temperature if the developing time is adjusted. The tradition of working at 20 Celcius or 68F is, I reckon, a historic hangover.

That’s what I do, your film data sheet usually has a table for adjusting time to a given temperature. Very easy, just need a decent thermometer and clock; which you will need in any case

Agulliver · Mar 23, 2020

Try to use films and developers that still give you more than 5 minutes development time at a temperature you can expect (eg 25C). The data is available from manufacturers of film and chemistry and on something called the "massive development chart". There are also useful phone apps which have this data - the caveat being that the massive chart is compiled from user data not manufacturer data.

If you choose a combination where the development time is under 5 minutes then you're in a situation where a degree C or 15 second mistake will probably matter. In such instances I'd suggest using one of the methods to cool your developer down to 20C to bring the development time back up.

Obtain a decent thermometer and timer - remember most digital watches and smart phones have timers...also the apps some of us use for timing darkroom tasks often have built in timers with audible alerts to agitate/invert.

Luis-F-S · Mar 23, 2020

I use a chiller. Not the cheapest but it works. Cranked it up Yesterday for the first time this year.

Sirius Glass · Mar 23, 2020

BrianShaw said:
Sirius Glass said:

When the temperature shortens the development to near 5 minutes, I put cool or cold water in my Jobo processor and develop at the lower temperature.

Click to expand...

I’d probably chill down my chemistry a bit sooner than that.

I am retired so I use cool or cold water, besides I do not like putting photo chemicals in the refrigerator.

138S · Mar 23, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
I am retired so I use cool or cold water, besides I do not like putting photo chemicals in the refrigerator.

Well it has to be a refrigerator dedicated to photo !!! it can be an small used one...

Saganich · Mar 23, 2020

My solution to this problem was to mix a one shot developer using 20C water temp. The increase in temp in the tank while developing isn't critical. I don't recommend using a refrigerator, but rather if temps get too high making a temp controlled running water bath for the chemistry containers. It takes about 30 minutes to get the temp down to a usable range. 25C isn't too bad but keep times above 5 mins

James Bleifus · Mar 24, 2020

It gets pretty hot here in Viet Nam. I keep jugs of water and mixed chemistry in an air-conditioned room. To get my developer to 20C I taken a frozen Gatorade bottle and place it in a graduate with my water (I use PMK, so I add parts A and B afterwards) and thermometer. I get down to precisely 20C pretty quickly.

Cheers, James

Disconnekt · Mar 24, 2020

I use the Time/Temp Converter thats on the Massive Dev Chart site (here: https://digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?doc=timetemp), which is pretty quick & easy to use.

Warm Weather Film Developing

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