Film Developing Question

[PhotoTurtle]

Can I process Kentmere 400, Kentmere 100 and Ilford 400 all together in the same developing tank?

I am fairly new to film processing (I've done it four times on my own so far) and want to continue to improve.

I am not sure if Kentmere and Ilford have the same developing times at 70 degree temps.

Also I've never used the 100 ISO, I bought the film before class started and didn't know the ISO made much of a difference.

Since the 100 ISO is more sensitive than the 400 ISO, does it have its own developing time?

Anyone have experience with these films and can give me a few tips and tricks to get the most out of my photos?

 

[PhotoTurtle]

BTW so far I've developed the Kentmere and the Ilford separately. I've never processed the Kentmere 100 yet as I only have the one roll.

 

[limr]

I've used both those films and would not process them in the same tank. I couldn't anyway, since my tank only takes two 35mm rolls at a time. But yes, the 100 ISO vs 400 ISO would have different developing times at the standard 70 degrees F for black and white. So you can do the Kentmere and Ilford 400 ISO at the same time, but do the Kentmere 100 separately.

What chemistry are you using?

 

[Light Guru]

As long as the development time and temperature matches you can. As for those specific films I don't know the development times and temps they need.

 

[PhotoTurtle]

Sprint Standard Developer is what is available in class.

 

[limr]

According to the calculations on this site: The Comprehensive Development Times Chart Kentmere 100 and Kentmere 400 in the same developer/same temp require at least a 1 minute difference in developing time with many different developers.

For Sprint Standard, Kentmere 100 needs 7:45 minutes (no push or pull, 1+9 dilution, 70 deg.F, I minute agitation.) Kentmere 400 - same conditions - requires 10:15 minutes.

As for the Ilford - is that HP5+? Pan 400? Delta 400? That will make a difference, too.

 

[PhotoTurtle]

Ilford HP 5+

 

[PhotoTurtle]

The water at school seems to like to come out of the tap at 75 degrees and I get the fun of trying to make it 70 degrees by getting cold water out of the drinking fountain and mixing it together. I have a hard time getting the water at exactly 70 degrees.

I am thinking on Monday I will fill a water bottle at home and let it sit out all day so it's at room temp and take that with me to develop the film.

How much of a time difference do I need if the temp is a couple of degrees off from 70 in either direction?

 

[limr]

That site gives a developing time for HP5+ as 9:00 for 70 deg.

As for temperature, warmer=shorter development times. Seems to be about 45-60 seconds less per degree higher than 70. Temperature can also affect contrast.

When you go to the website I listed above, you'll see a chart on the bottom of the middle column. Click on that and it will bring up the chart. Plug in the relevant film size (135mm I presume), type, developer, temperature, dilution. agitation scheme, and it will spit out a developing time for you. So if you end up not being able to get to 70 deg, but only to 72, you can still figure out the time you need.

 

[PhotoTurtle]

Thank you that really helps. I will mark that site so I can find it easily and refer to it while I am at the school getting ready to process if I need to.

 

[PWhite214]

Yes you can develop different films in one tank using 'stand development'. There is plenty of information on the 'net.
This article is where I started: Workflow Tutorial #2: Stand Development with Rodinal | J B Hildebrand Photography
I pre-wet the film, then use Legacy L110 (Equivalent to HC110) diluted 100:1, one hour develop with agitation for 30 seconds, set the tank in a water bath for the rest of the hour. Then water rinse for stop and normal fix.

For temperature control, a plastic container, water and ice works. I mix my developer from stock then immerse the working solution and fix in an ice water bath before loading the film into the tank(s).

During the long development time, I periodically add ice to maintain the water bath between 67 and 70 deg. F.

My latest experiment was shooting one roll of fresh Tri-X at ISO 400, 1600 and 3200 and stand develop. Some results posted on Flickr: Tri-X + Stand Develop Test - an album on Flickr. I would suggest testing before using this process for class projects or important shoots.

Phil

 

[Josh66]

You could do stand development in Rodinal. Or use something like Diafine where time and temperature don't really matter all that much.

I don't really like Diafine, but K400 actually looks OK in it.

If you absolutely have to develop all of them together, I personally would get some Rodinal and stand develop for 1 hour with a dilution of 1+100.

With other developers, if the times are close I have just averaged them and gotten acceptable results before. That wouldn't be ideal though, especially if this is something for school.

edit
With most developers, the times are going to be too far apart to do them at the same time. Stand developing in Rodinal, or developing in Diafine are a little different. There aren't really different times for different films. And both are much more tolerant to warmer temperatures too. I love Rodinal, but Diafine is ...meh..., IMO. I mainly only use it when I don't know what ISO the film was exposed at, or when I know I will not be able to maintain anything close to room temperature. It works well for that, but as a normal developer I just don't like the look of it enough to use it instead of something else.

 

[limr]

The OP said that Spring Standard Developer was the developer available to the class. Not sure if that means they don't have access to other developers or maybe are not allowed to use others while in the class.

 

[Josh66]

Why is it that almost every B&W class uses that developer (and *only* that one)? I've never heard of people using it except in class, and D-76 is the only other developer I've even seen someone mention their class having - that seems to be the only rare exception.


Rodinal and Diafine are the only ones I can think of where you can basically just throw a bunch of random rolls in the tank together. Anything else, you'd have to get pretty lucky for the times to match. If it was only like a 30 second difference I would just use the average of the times, but with only one developer to choose from I doubt the times will be that close. If you had a bunch to pick from, you might be able to find one that just happened to have the same (or close) times for those particular films.

 

[limr]

I'm not sure. I've been meaning to take a class at my college but haven't had a chance yet. At this point, a lot of it would be an interesting review of basics, but mostly I'd take the class to learn how to wet print. If I ever do, I'll answer that question for you

As for the OP, perhaps she'll stick to film after the class and get herself some Rodinal!