AluminumStudios
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2005
- Messages
- 99
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Pennsylvania
- Website
- www.aluminumstudios.com
Hi everyone.
I've shot only digital for a few years but have started experimenting with film. I bought a cheap development tank and have started to develop (and then scan) my own black and white film.
The results are OK, but not the same as the same film I had done by a lab. My negatives are a bit light. The dark areas on the negatives aren't very dark and the light areas are very light. I noticed around the film's track holes that my negatives aren't as dark as the ones I had done by a lab.
I'm shooting Fuji Presto Neopan 400 and 1600 Neopan on a Nikon N601 (the Japanese version of the n6006). I bought some Fujifilm microfine developer and Super Fujifix-L.
I mixed my dilutions precisely according to the directions. The developer has a chart of times and temperatures on the back for different films. I put the developer in a plastic bottle and put that in a bucket of water until it is at a temperature listed near the middle of the chart (around 22-24 degrees C.)
I agitate slowly for the first minute, then 5 seconds for every minute afterwards. I usually begin pouring it out 10 seconds before the timer is up to account for the time it will take me to pour it out and pour in the fixer.
My tank has a rod that I can turn which turns the reels and raises and lowers them some as they turn. I do this as opposed to inversion.
The fixer has no specific time printed on it. I keep it at the same temp as my developer (around 22-24 degrees C.) I put it in and agitate the same as the developer and leave it in for about 8-9 minutes (the fixer says 5 to 10 minutes.)
Then I pour that out and rinse the film for 10 minutes in water the same temp as the chemistry, then I hang it to dry.
Any advice on why my negatives aren't as dark as the ones from the lab? Highlight areas aren't over blown out and there isn't too much contrast like sample over-developed photos I saw on-line. Perhaps I'm under developing? Often my temp is .5 to 1 degrees higher than the chart says, but I figure that during development it will cool a bit so being 25 degrees and using the time for 24 degrees isn't too big of a problem.
Perhaps I'm not agitating enough?
I can scan the photos and with some level adjustments get them to look OK, but they aren't great like a few of my lab done photos.
Thanks!
I've shot only digital for a few years but have started experimenting with film. I bought a cheap development tank and have started to develop (and then scan) my own black and white film.
The results are OK, but not the same as the same film I had done by a lab. My negatives are a bit light. The dark areas on the negatives aren't very dark and the light areas are very light. I noticed around the film's track holes that my negatives aren't as dark as the ones I had done by a lab.
I'm shooting Fuji Presto Neopan 400 and 1600 Neopan on a Nikon N601 (the Japanese version of the n6006). I bought some Fujifilm microfine developer and Super Fujifix-L.
I mixed my dilutions precisely according to the directions. The developer has a chart of times and temperatures on the back for different films. I put the developer in a plastic bottle and put that in a bucket of water until it is at a temperature listed near the middle of the chart (around 22-24 degrees C.)
I agitate slowly for the first minute, then 5 seconds for every minute afterwards. I usually begin pouring it out 10 seconds before the timer is up to account for the time it will take me to pour it out and pour in the fixer.
My tank has a rod that I can turn which turns the reels and raises and lowers them some as they turn. I do this as opposed to inversion.
The fixer has no specific time printed on it. I keep it at the same temp as my developer (around 22-24 degrees C.) I put it in and agitate the same as the developer and leave it in for about 8-9 minutes (the fixer says 5 to 10 minutes.)
Then I pour that out and rinse the film for 10 minutes in water the same temp as the chemistry, then I hang it to dry.
Any advice on why my negatives aren't as dark as the ones from the lab? Highlight areas aren't over blown out and there isn't too much contrast like sample over-developed photos I saw on-line. Perhaps I'm under developing? Often my temp is .5 to 1 degrees higher than the chart says, but I figure that during development it will cool a bit so being 25 degrees and using the time for 24 degrees isn't too big of a problem.
Perhaps I'm not agitating enough?
I can scan the photos and with some level adjustments get them to look OK, but they aren't great like a few of my lab done photos.
Thanks!