Mixing half batches

[Grandpa Ron]

I am playing with some of my old cameras, just for the sheer fun of it. I expect to use up at most, a half a dozen rolls of 120 film.

I have ordered the D-76, and Fixer in powdered form. According to the usage charts I would need only half the amount of material for the number of rolls.

So the question is, can I just mix half the amount of powder and water and seal up and save the rest for a later time?

 

[Derrel]

I do not see any reason why not.

 

[ac12]

In the past, it was NOT recommended to split a powdered package. The issue was that there was no guarantee that the chemicals were/are mixed evenly in the bag; you could get more of chemical A, and less of chemical B. So you had to use the entire bag.
This is why for small batches, we used liquid chemicals, so that we could mix small volumes of working chemicals.
The other issue is HOW would you split the dry chemicals. You would have to do it by weight, as any handling will pack it, so volume measuring could be inaccurate. BTW, this is the same issue that cooks have with measuring flour.

As I can remember, unlike developer, fixer has a long mixed life. So you could mix a gallon of it and take a few months to use it up.

 

[Tim Tucker 2]

This is one of the reasons why I use HC110 liquid concentrate. It keeps very well and can be mixed accurately in litre batches by using a syringe.
It is similar to D-76, in fact there is far less of a distinction between many of the standard developers as many seem to think. I find that you can achieve far better control, variation and understanding of the process by sticking to one developer and varying the way you use it than you ever do by chopping and changing to achieve result you perceive should be defined by the chemical formula.

 

[wsetser]

You could mix it all and shoot more film.

 

[Derrel]

....I have used more HC-110 and Rodinal (both liquid concentrates) than I any other film developer(s)...Good stuff, HC-110. Keeps concentrated,in the bottle, for years,literally.

 

[480sparky]

If there's no pressing need to soup it, just store it until you get more celluloid run through the camera and mix the whole batch to develop everything.