Warning. processing newbie looking for chemical recommendations

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Gerald Koch

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RalphLambrecht said:
I would start with the old development standards (Rodinal (1+25 up to 1+100) or ID-11 (same as D76) both at 1+1). Any stop bath will do. For a fixer, use any rapid fixer but not the slower sodium-based fixers.
I would add to this Kodak HC-110 since it too is a concentrate and perhaps more readily available than Rodinal. I would suggest diluting the concentrate 1:50 and developing for 2 times the dilution B recommended times. Don't bother with the label instructions about making a stock solution as it does not keep. Look at http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110
 

fschifano

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Too many different films. Not all of them are really good in Rodinal, despite what the Rodinal lovers say. Indeed, Rodinal concentrate lasts practically forever and a little bit does go a long way, but that's not all there is to the story. The combination of fast film (ISO 400) + Rodinal is usually not all that good. More often than not, you'll not be able to exploit the film's native speed and you might not like the overly grainy look that Rodinal imparts. HP5+ and Rodinal, especially in small formats, is especially bad. In skilled hands, almost anything can be made to work well. By your own admission, you are not there yet. The good news is that all the films you've mentioned will easily perform superbly in D-76. HC-110 might be similar, but I don't care for it too much because it requires very short development times unless you use it at very high dilution ratios.

While you can get away with not using a stop bath, I've got to ask why? The arguments often given for eliminating an acid stop bath are specious at best. At worst they are the result of misinterpreted or plain old bad information. Yes there are times when you don't want to use an acid stop, but not often. Your film will not suffer pinholes and your fixing bath will last longer if you use one. It's a cheap chemical that lasts a long time and doesn't go bad with age.

Any brand of non-hardening rapid fixer will work just fine with most of the films you've mentioned. The only exception is in the case of Efke films. While I don't personally use these films, they are reported to have rather soft emulsions and are prone to damage when wet. The fixer will work, but the emulsion will be very fragile until it dries. You'll need to be especially careful about handling these films if you don't use a hardener. A good and very inexpensive fixer is Kodak's Flexicolor Fixer and Replenisher. The product is designed to be used for C-41 process films, but it works very well for traditional B&W films and papers. It has a nearly neutral ph which makes it incompatible with hardening additives. It washes out very quickly, doesn't smell much, and has immense capacity compared to most B&W fixers currently on the market. Did I mention that it's cheap? I haven't yet found a fixer that is less expensive to buy and use.

Photoflo is a very good wetting agent that should be used as a final rinse before hanging your films to dry. Any other brand should be just as good. It's another of those really cheap chemicals that lasts forever and it very economical to use. Used properly, it eliminates the need for any sort of potentially damaging squeegee to remove the excess water from your film.
 
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