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Gulp!
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:43 pm    Post subject: Gulp! Reply with quote

Ok, my chemicals arrived this morning; stop, wetting agent & fixer, all by Ilford, along with some HP4 125iso.

I now have no excuse. I really want to get the ball rolling but I'm more than a bit nervous. Guess I should load up a camera with film and get shooting. I also have 2 rolls of Neopan 400 which I may keep for the darker months.

I'll not shoot anything important on the 1st roll as I can see disater looming as I start my steep learning curve in developing negs. Shocked


PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just dive in Martin. I don't mean that literally or you'll get developed yourself (now there's a thought.... NO! NO!). Just be as careful as you can with temperature and timing, that way you'll know what to do if things aren't quite right. As with anything, the more you do the easier it gets and results improve.

You did get the developer as well I take it? What are you using?

Good luck!


PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am in almost same situation - I am during process of collecting items to "portable" darkroom. Go ahead Martin, I will cross my fingers Smile


PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good news ! i was also very scared with my first development, but what a joy it was when i saw images on the negative Laughing

i think the most difficult part is to put the film into the reel properly. apart that its relatively an easy procedure. good luck and hope to see your results soon Very Happy


PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The thing to remember - precision here is only in service of repeatability... not getting something developed. The process itself is very robust and will produce a developed film even if the temperatures are wrong, the dilutions are wrong, the times are wrong, the agitation is all wrong.... as long as they are approximately right, you'll get a result.

Just don't do what I did - develop two rolls using wetting agent Laughing


PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nesster wrote:

Just don't do what I did - develop two rolls using wetting agent Laughing


The positive side to it, your film will look very clean! Laughing


PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

peterqd wrote:
Just dive in Martin. I don't mean that literally or you'll get developed yourself (now there's a thought.... NO! NO!).


I know I guy that jumped into a tank of developer and it dissolved his clothes. When he came out he was........overexposed. Laughing

peterqd wrote:
You did get the developer as well I take it? What are you using?

I decided to be really original and get Ilford Ilfosol 3. I really don't know good from bad or what suits so I just bought the same brand for everything in the knowledge that Ilford are probably pretty good. I have read that Patterson Aculux 3 is better for scanned negs which is what I'll be doing initially but I may decide to get some prints if things go well.


PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nesster wrote:
The thing to remember - precision here is only in service of repeatability...

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Also, if you know you have the dilution, temperature and timing about right when developing then you can be sure that any exposure problems were caused in the camera.

I found it very useful to experiment on gash film with different timings and temperatures to see what effect they had.

I found a shop that stocks washing soda crystals yesterday so I'm going to try developing with coffee shortly. Smile


PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

martinsmith99 wrote:
I decided to be really original and get Ilford Ilfosol 3. I really don't know good from bad or what suits so I just bought the same brand for everything in the knowledge that Ilford are probably pretty good. I have read that Patterson Aculux 3 is better for scanned negs which is what I'll be doing initially but I may decide to get some prints if things go well.

I think that's very wise for your first go. I did the same, except I used DD-X. The 1 litre bottle of concentrate became stale before I used it all, so I've been trying out powder (Perceptol) because I can keep it for longer, but I think I preferred the liquid. I see Ilfosol comes in 500ml bottles, so I might give it a try next time.


PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ilfosol 3 is surely good as are most of ilford stuff, the problem is that this developer does not suit much films ( like 10 or more ) when a most general developer like Tetenal ultrafin or Rodinal gives you a choice between 50 films ( almost 100 with Rodinal ).


PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hexi wrote:
Ilfosol 3 is surely good as are most of ilford stuff, the problem is that this developer does not suit much films ( like 10 or more ) when a most general developer like Tetenal ultrafin or Rodinal gives you a choice between 50 films ( almost 100 with Rodinal ).

According to the web it suits the film that I bought Ilford HP4) and also the couple of rolls of Neopan that I have.

I think that when I become more confident, I'll try a few others. The powder products probably make more sense.


PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have not tried Ilfosol 3, having had some bad experiences with Ilfosol S, which had a terrifying habit of suddenly dying in the bottle without notice. But then, the results I got from Ilfosol S was pretty much indistinguishable from ID-11, so it can practically be considered as a liquid one-shot version of it. On the other hand I quite like LC39.