My first roll

[Rick-in-LB]

Hey All
I need a little advice. I just developed my first roll of True B&W film. Now I am going to take a class on B&W film later this month but I thought I would try it myself. Here is what I used Developer 76 made by Accurate Custom Blending and Fixer with Hypo Eliminator, made by the same company(cheaper). I did not use any stop bath because the workers at the local camera shop said I really don’t need any. Here is my Question(finally).After the developer 7.5mins with agitate every minute for 10 seconds I dumped the developer and rinsed for 3 minutes( without exposing the film, very hard) then I used the fixer and dumped that and rinsed again. Does that sound sort of close? The completed negatives are drying now but the look darker than other lab processed negs. Is this normal. I know I should of waited for the class but I had the chemicals and was ready to go. The Container was the Paterson Super System.
Did I blow it , do OK or what. Yes I can take all criticism, but be gentle.:mrgreen:

Thanks
Rick

 

[ann]

well, it is close. never head of D76 being made by anyother company than kodak which is another issue (patent problems)

the use of stop bath is or isn't important depending on one's thought process. frankly it is cheap and it stops the development of the film faster than does just pain water.

rinsing should not be an issue, just fill the tank and dump.

how long in the fixer, how long did you wash the negatives after fixing?

darker negatives , print them and see what is happening.

darker could mean several things, over exposure, or over developed, or both.

you didn't say what type of film your using, so it is hard to know if the times are too long, etc.

 

[Rick-in-LB]

I used Ilford HP5 Plus. I was thinking of getting some fixer today and some “ Named Brand “ chemicals. I could then shoot another roll of film to develop. I had the film in the fixer for 3 minutes, The bottle said 1-3 minutes, I figured more could not be bad. I rinsed for about 5 minutes.
I scanned the negatives and the pictures came out really light. I was using the meter on the camera and a separate exposure meter, doing a comparison.

Before I forget the temp of the solution was around 76-74 degrees, depending how you held the thermometer.

Thanks
Rick

 

[JC1220]

can you post the scans of the negatives?

 

[Rick-in-LB]

Here is a link for a few pictures. I have to start keeping data on the settings on the camera,I just got used to digital. I hope it works

http://rick-in-lb.smugmug.com/gallery/5607009_kGjA8/1/344164570_tgQvJ

Rick

BTW how critical is time and temp. Do they have to be exact?

 

[christopher walrath]

Your water stop bath shouldn't have to be more than a minute or so. As to the length of time in the fixer, I would open the tank after three minutes and see if the film has cleared (you can expose it to light at this point). If so then double that time and do not fix longer than that. To rinse go 5-10-20. Quicker, easier, more seductive (sorry, gratuitous Star Wars quote). Fill with water, invert 5 times, dump. Fill, invert 10x, dump. Fill, invert 20x, dump. Saves time and water.

If your negs are dense there was to much exposure/development. If you're sure of your on-camera process then curb your processing time by 10% and go from there.