What's a good, non-temp dependent dev for shooting @ box speed?

chip j · Apr 28, 2018

Or near box speed. I don't want to have to maintain temperature in my groggy old age, and don't need huge speed like Diafine gives. PROS & CONS please? Thanks.

R.Gould · Apr 28, 2018

don't know of one, but pretty much any developer can be used at any temperature between 19 and 25 buy adjusting the developing time, ad the temp won't vary that much when develping a film or a few films at one time, Ilford, on it.s website do a chart giving the developing times from 10 to 25 from every time you are likely to need, as my temperature can vary depending on the time of year, at the moment it is coming out of my tap at 23 to 24 the chart is a godsend to me

bdial · Apr 28, 2018

Kodak Xtol is good for working at box speed. As @R.Gould suggests, you just need to check the temperature and process according to the published chart.

Neal · Apr 28, 2018

Dear chip j,

+1 for Xtol. The times in the Kodak data sheet have never failed me. As for Diafine, simply choose film that does not have much of a recommended exposure difference.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra

WilmarcoImaging · Apr 28, 2018

You want to avoid temperature control, is this correct?

Try D-76 1+2 with Tri-X or TMY.

Pros: you don't need to control temperature. If I understand correctly, this is your goal.

Cons: not aware of any.

removed account4 · Apr 28, 2018

if you get a greenlight and learn the basics of developing by inspection you will never have to
worry about temp again
http://michaelandpaula.com/mp/devinsp.html
i use caffenol or ansco 130 or dektol and never worry about temperature ...
never have bad film ..

darkroommike · Apr 28, 2018

Panthermal? No such thing exists (not even Diafine). You can process at existing room temp, just check your temp before you start. If you can't read your dial thermometer get a new one with a larger face or buy a digital. In the winter my dark room is about 60 degrees F. so I temper everything in a water bath. In the summer it can get warm I then use the water bath to cool things off a bit.

darkroommike · Apr 28, 2018

jnanian said:
if you get a greenlight and learn the basics of developing by inspection you will never have to
worry about temp again
http://michaelandpaula.com/mp/devinsp.html
i use caffenol or ansco 130 or dektol and never worry about temperature ...
never have bad film ..

Having actually developed roll film and 35mm by inspection let me just say "NEVER AGAIN"!

(try getting the film back on the reel after you unwind it to inspect, on my Hewes reels it can be done but Paterson is at least one order of magnitude trickier)

I should add that I would never develop roll film in a paper developer.

ic-racer · Apr 28, 2018

If you have access to an assortment of graded paper or multigrade paper, and your temperature swings are not too wide during negative processing, you could be OK with just about any negative developer.

removed account4 · Apr 28, 2018

darkroommike said:
Having actually developed roll film and 35mm by inspection let me just say "NEVER AGAIN"!

(try getting the film back on the reel after you unwind it to inspect, on my Hewes reels it can be done but Paterson is at least one order of magnitude trickier)

I should add that I would never develop roll film in a paper developer.

sorry to read of your troubles darkroom mike..
you don't need to remove all the film from the reel just the end to look at a couple of frame ..
and it really isn't hard to slip a couple of frames ( the tail end of the film ) back on the reel ( at least for me )..
regarding paper developer, been doing it successful and continually ( except for a few instances )
since the 1990s, probably 1996 when i ran out of $$ and found a red and white can of "gaf universal"
on the drafty windowsill of the studio i was renting. it was probably 20 years old at the time .. ( or more )
and won't go back, unless it is caffenol, and even with that i put print developer in it
and split bath process it between caffenol 130 ( or 72 ) and print developer ( either 130 or 72 )
and get great results .. sometimes i use sprint film developer but i won't use anything else.

Bill Burk · Apr 28, 2018

If your goal is to never have to maintain temperature, you could use what I use... CompnTemp, http://curtpalm.com/Software.html

If the temperature drifts higher, the clock runs faster... if it gets colder, the clock slows down.

RalphLambrecht · Apr 28, 2018

Neal said:
Dear chip j,

+1 for Xtol. The times in the Kodak data sheet have never failed me. As for Diafine, simply choose film that does not have much of a recommended exposure difference.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra

I don't think this will help the ope still needs to control temperature an it still is temp dependent but , I also know of a process where you wouldn't have to anyways.

BradS · Apr 28, 2018

For B&W you do not really have to maintain temperature during the development itself...it really will not change much in the 10 minutes or so that the developer is in use.

If the ambient temp is not optimal - either too hot or too cold - then simply fill a basin with water and either hot or cold water as needed - it need not even be close to 20 degrees C.
Then measure out the desired amount of developer into a beaker, add a thermometer and set the beaker in the basin full of water. Stir and watch the thermometer...when the temp of the developer gets "close enough" to 20 degrees C. Remove the beaker from the water bath and pour thedev into the film processing tank.

I've done this hundreds of times. Hot summers, when the water coming out of the tap is too hot, just fill the basin with tap water and ice cubes....in the winter heat the bath water on the stove a little (not too much!)

pentaxuser · Apr 28, 2018

WilmarcoImaging said:
You want to avoid temperature control, is this correct?

Try D-76 1+2 with Tri-X or TMY.

Pros: you don't need to control temperature. If I understand correctly, this is your goal.

Cons: not aware of any.

What is it about this combination that allows proper processing with no control over temperature?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Raghu Kuvempunagar · Apr 28, 2018

How about stand or semi-stand development with very diluted (say 1:150 or 1:200) HC-110 or Rodinal?

faberryman · Apr 28, 2018

chip j said:
Or near box speed. I don't want to have to maintain temperature in my groggy old age, and don't need huge speed like Diafine gives. PROS & CONS please? Thanks.

For black and white, you don't have to "control" temperature. You just have to measure it and follow the chart to determine the development time. Any developer will do.

DREW WILEY · Apr 28, 2018

I'd recommend ordering developer from the same website that sells lead into gold solution. Getting a water jacket to hold reasonably consistent temp for awhile really isn't that difficult.

Bill Burk · Apr 28, 2018

DREW WILEY said:
I'd recommend ordering developer from the same website that sells lead into gold solution.

Used to get that at Radio Shack... had lots of fun as a kid copper-plating 1943 steel pennies to try to trick the neighborhood coin collectors.

Be careful which way you hook up the wires though, would hate to have your pile of gold turned into a mass of lead.

Billy Axeman · Apr 28, 2018

Raghu Kuvempunagar said:
How about stand or semi-stand development with very diluted (say 1:150 or 1:200) HC-110 or Rodinal?

That is a good idea, I suppose if you develop a film long enough by means of stand development with a low concentration of the developer, the developer becomes depleted at some point, and temperature and developing time (beyond that point) become irrelevant.

Paul Howell · Apr 28, 2018

Divided D76, 3mints in part A 3 to 5 in part B, box speed or perhaps somewhat higher, I just developed my first roll of Ultafine 100, shot as 100, shaper than Diafine, not temp depended, or for that matter all that time dependent.

chip j · Apr 28, 2018

THAT sounds good. I was thinking of checking into that. Thanks, Paul

Arklatexian · Apr 28, 2018

Bill Burk said:
If your goal is to never have to maintain temperature, you could use what I use... CompnTemp, http://curtpalm.com/Software.html

If the temperature drifts higher, the clock runs faster... if it gets colder, the clock slows down.

By golly Bill, that is the answer! Show the film who is boss. Does it work with most film developers? Fred Picker had a similar device for print developers if my memory is correct. Never bought one. Spent the money on a small air conditioner for the darkroom. Already had a electric heater that did not put out any light. Using either one of those made the darkroom 20C and after a while, so were the chemicals. Still works in my grumpy old age......Regards!

Doremus Scudder · Apr 29, 2018

Older, but similar to what Bill suggests is the good old Zone VI compensating developing timer. They change the length of "seconds" depending on the temperature, which is monitored by a probe that goes in the developer tray/water bath. They come up for sale used from time-to-time. I have two and like them very much.

The next best solution might be divided developers like divided D-76 or divided Pyrocat. Do a bit of research on these.

Best,

Doremus

pentaxuser · Apr 29, 2018

I may be just getting impatient in my old age and maybe Wilmarcolmaging in #5 will respond to my request but just in case not, has anyone ideas as to what he means?. I doubt if he is really saying this is a combo that requires no temperature control in the literal sense of the phrase but what might he mean?

pentaxuser

BradS · Apr 29, 2018

pentaxuser said:
I may be just getting impatient in my old age and maybe Wilmarcolmaging in #5 will respond to my request but just in case not, has anyone ideas as to what he means?. I doubt if he is really saying this is a combo that requires no temperature control in the literal sense of the phrase but what might he mean?

pentaxuser

The question you asked in post #14 was answered in post #16 (and in the first sentence of post #13).

What's a good, non-temp dependent dev for shooting @ box speed?

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