First Film and Developer (Yes, I know, I've asked a million questions)

randerson07 · Jul 21, 2008

I cant get over that $7 a roll stuff, TriX at my local CVS is cheaper than that, $5.49 a roll.

I too picked up some Arista ii, Ive only shot one roll, and I butchered the development time, but it turned out ok anyways. Here are the results http://www.flickr.com/photos/randerson07/sets/72157606083277675/

Good luck, looking forward to seeing your results.

elemental · Jul 21, 2008

randerson07 said:
I cant get over that $7 a roll stuff, TriX at my local CVS is cheaper than that, $5.49 a roll.

I too picked up some Arista ii, Ive only shot one roll, and I butchered the development time, but it turned out ok anyways. Here are the results http://www.flickr.com/photos/randerson07/sets/72157606083277675/

Good luck, looking forward to seeing your results.

Those look great- can't wait to share mine.

And yes, central PA is apparently a terrible place to have hobbies other than riding ATVs on the road while drinking (literally saw this yesterday) or shooting guns.

Oh, and I hate you for being able to get Tri-X at CVS. Where do you live, an art museum?

elemental · Jul 21, 2008

Helen B said:
Sorry, a slight miscommunication - an RO/DI unit will indeed remove stuff that simple filtration won't. I use DI water without Photo-Flo, but for the low cost you may wish to get some and try with and without.

I've used plain water for the stop and washes, and a non-hardening alkaline fixer for a long time, and don't have problems. Some very soft emulsions may need a hardener before washing, but none of the films that you have mentioned are in that category.

Best,
Helen

Edit: Figured out why I don't want hardener. New question: Freestyle isn't carrying the alkaline, just the neutral fixer. I can't seem to find the practical difference anywhere. Looks like the neutral might have replaced the alkaline, which neither digitaltruth nor Freestyle has in their catalog.

If I go without, do I just run a lot of water through it? I've never seen instructions that don't use a stop bath.

Thank you so much for your promptness- order due in not so many hours!

Helen B · Jul 22, 2008

The neutral and the alkaline are probably the same in terms of practical use. When I couldn't get alkaline fixer I used to use neutral fixer, which is commonly used for colour.

I use two quick washes between the developer and the fixer - maybe about 10 seconds for the first and 20 or 30 seconds for the second, with continuous agitation.

Best,
Helen

elemental · Jul 22, 2008

Alright, checking out with F76+, Clearwash (Neutral), 20 rolls of "Arista II" APX 400, tank, some sleeves to store the negatives in, a thermometer, some clips, and a film squeegee.

Thank you so much for the help!

randerson07 · Jul 22, 2008

Sleeves? I searched over and over on Freestyles site and could only find sleeves that came in a student kit with other items I didnt need, do you have a link to them?

I skipped on the clips, but now wish I had something to prevent curling. I also skipped the squeegee, and use photo flow. The negs take forever to dry since I hang them straight out of the tank, I should probably get a squeegee at some point too. but I haven't seen a spotting problem yet

elemental · Jul 22, 2008

randerson07 said:
Sleeves? I searched over and over on Freestyles site and could only find sleeves that came in a student kit with other items I didnt need, do you have a link to them?

I skipped on the clips, but now wish I had something to prevent curling. I also skipped the squeegee, and use photo flow. The negs take forever to dry since I hang them straight out of the tank, I should probably get a squeegee at some point too. but I haven't seen a spotting problem yet

Here
I had to do some searching to find them. They are under "Presentation and Storage" > "Negative, Slide, Print Files."

For those who are interested, the Freestyle rep said that the Silvergrain Clearfix Neutral has replaced the Clearfix Alkaline.

KD5NRH · Jul 22, 2008

elemental said:
Oh, and I hate you for being able to get Tri-X at CVS. Where do you live, an art museum?

I can get it at the grocery store for under $5/roll

compur · Jul 23, 2008

Freestyle carries Formulary TF-4 which is an archival alkaline fixer. It is very
good. It doesn't require a stop bath or hypo clear. Details here.

flipsidestudio · Jul 23, 2008

christopher walrath said:
Keep it simple. For 120 I use TMX. For 35mm I use Neopan 400. For 4x5 I use Arista. So I have a process for each format. I use HC110 Dilution 'B' (1:31). Easy to use. Lots of film/dev times and data on digital truth. Hit the Massive Dev Chart link in my sig. Pick a film and a dev and keep it there for starters. Then branch out once you get the hang of it. Don't want to be thinking 5.5 minutes when you need to develop for 7.

HC110 Dilution B with TMX film is going to provide you with a decent result and lots of room for error. I personally use FP4+ for 35mm B&W as I've been using it for years and know how to manipulate it, it's also a good starter film.

Kodak chemicals are all pretty straight forward and easy to use so I would start there and branch out once you get the hang of things. Eventually you'll learn that HC110 is not the best developer but it is easy to learn on.

Spend the extra money for PhotoFlo and you'll be glad you did. Wash the film in there last and (after dipping your fingers in photoflo) run the film between your middle and index fingers to remove excess liquid.

epatsellis · Jul 28, 2008

I'd expect to hear some glowing reports from Chris about D76 soon....

elemental · Jul 28, 2008

Thank you all for the advice.

The F76+/Clearfix Neutral/APX400 combo arrived today and I ran through a roll of the Agfa ("Arista II") in the N75 just so I'd have something I didn't care about to play with. After some scares and bumps in the road, it's upstairs drying in my shower (squeegee + clips = best $10 I've ever spent), and it looks like it came out jut fine. Other than the awkwardness of loading the film onto the reel (there were a few stray touches and I almost fell over backwards once which pushed the closet door open a little), the only real hassle was getting the chemicals to temperature (I ended up doing 75 degrees, and even that took some time in the freezer). Lesson learned: Next time I'll be getting the water temperature where I want it before mixing the chemicals.

Anyway, hopefully the results will be in tomorrow (once I either scan the negatives or have a few that look good printed).

Thanks again for all of your help, it's even more fun than I anticipated!

In addition to my 20 rolls of APX400, I have rolls of T-Max 400 and Tri-X 400 from D.C. and another roll of Tri-X from earlier in the summer to develop (holding off until I'm reasonably sure I won't ruin them), and an unshot roll of the T-Max waiting in the wings.

randerson07 · Jul 28, 2008

About Temps, I know I should pay closer attention but I dont. I keep my chems in my basement which is usually right around 72-75degrees in the summer months. When I bring them in the kitchen to Dev I typically turn my faucet on cold until it hits right in that 72-75 window and mix the Developer(everything else is pre mixed) from there I dont touch the thermometer again.

Looking forward to seeing your results.

elemental · Jul 29, 2008

For those of you following the unfolding drama, I picked a few of the negatives and had them printed at Ritz this morning, and the results are here. Thanks for all of your help (as if I don't need it anymore)!