A puzzle

I developed three rolls of film this evening. All were disappointing. It seems like all three were underexposed by about 1 to 2 stops. That's odd because I don't think I've changed my metering. Two rolls were Arista 200, one was Neopan 100 so it's probably not film related. The only other thing I did differently this time was use Xtol stock rather than 1+1. Whether they are too thin to print I don't know yet, but there's obviously a lot of shadow detail that will be lost. I hope it's not my handy calculator. Two steps forward, one step back... or is it the other way round.

devtime widget

The developing time widget seems to work. Here are two pics of the same subject, one developed for 10:25 at 19.5°C, the other for 6:25 at 25.5°C. It would seem that regardless of whether my understanding of the chemistry is right or not, the calculation does produce the right result.

10:25 @ 19.5°C	6:25 @ 25°C

Although there are some differences between the two images, the upper and lower bounds of the density histogram were about the same for both negs. I suspect the differences are mostly to do with the change in the ambient light (there were some fast-moving light clouds that came and went as I was shooting).  

Cloudy Xtol

Tonight I was developing a role of film and having a really hard time getting the second powder to dissolve. Xtol Part A produces a nice brown color when dissolved and this clears when you add Part B. The first batch I made up remained cloudy and brown and I couldn't get Part B to dissolve. After some Googling, I decided to discard that batch and make up a second using warn instead of room temperature water. Same problem. Perhaps I wasn't storing the powders correctly? Could it oxidize in powdered form rather than after mixing? I decided to take a chance and develop the film. Nothing. The entire roll was as empty as if I'd taken all the pictures with the lens cap on. The emulsion was completely transparent, nothing but film base from one end to the other.

Somewhat disheartened I decided to try another roll. I quickly shot 15 frames of 6x4.5 and went back to mix some more developer. No distilled water this time; hot water from the tap. Maybe it wasn't warm enough (though I've never had that problem before, even with water at room temperature). Part A: measure out 8.81g. Part B... then I realized that I'd got the wrong jar. What I thought was Part B was actually fixer! So I'd just fixed the film for 6 minutes and then fixed it again.

Fetching the right jar, I mixed another batch which all dissolved perfectly. The 6x4.5 (4:46 at 29C - the first tentative test of my time temperature calculator) roll has just come out of the fixer and there's something there - so the Xtol's fine!

Going to be interesting to see what I have. 15 shots with complete guesswork on the metering - all exposed at f5.6 with bounced flash. If I get anything I'll be pleasantly surprised...  




And here is one of them (admittedly one of the better ones: some were fairly thin).

This is Puggles, enjoying a late supper.

It's also my first roll of Arista 200. I'll probably use that over the Arista 100 since it appears no more grainy and gives me one more stop.    

Two films

Arista EDU Ultra 100 and Fuji Neopan Acros 100, both developed in Xtol 1+1.

Fuji Neopan Acros 100	Arista EDU Ultra 100

Xtol

I took this yesterday evening. The sun was catching the leaves in the Aspens whose leave had turned a wonderful bright yellow. Unfortunately there's a bit of what looks like (I hope¹) lens flare in the top of the trees on the right. I should have had a lens hood, but I have to figure something out when I've got the Cokin filters on the front of the lens (which is all the time).   

The pic was taken at about 4pm and developed by 5:15; by 7:30 it was scanned and spotted. Not only is this a bit more fun than waiting three weeks for Fuji to return the film (which they no longer do), but I like the results better. There is less grain, particularly in the sky. Since the film still Fuji Acros Neopan 100, the difference must be the developer (Xtol).

I will probably also try Eco-Pro which is supposed to be the same formulation.

¹ Because if it isn't lens flare it's a developing problem; and I'd rather it wasn't.

Home darkroom #3

My third darkroom is much like the second, but smaller. Certainly not enough room for the enlarger, but just about enough to mix the chemicals and shake the tank. There've been several "innovations" since the last time I developed any film. First, I now have a handy calculator to match time to temperature, film, and dilution. It makes the assumption that the relationship between temperature and time is a function of activation energy for whatever reaction is going on and that a log function is a reasonable approximation of the number of molecules with sufficient energy to take part int he reaction. The real answer involves integrating the area under a Boltzman distribution which I haven't yet been able to do. A quick look at the three films I just developed suggests it works.

The second innovation is not storing mixed developer. It's going to be easier to keep (I think) in power form, and mix only as much as I need just before processing the film. In order to do this I bought a jewellers scale.

Proper laboratory grade chemical balances start at about $850 for the most basic unit. Instead I found the little scale in the picture above for about $12, which was advertised as being accurate to one hundredth of a gram!  Just to make sure, I also bought two calibration weights and, astonishingly, the advertised spec was accurate (error < 0.01g).        

Another novelty are the measuring jugs - I was about to buy some Paterson measuring cylinders or similar, when I found these plastic measuring jugs at the Dollar Store. They are perfectly adequate for gauging the 12 fluid ounces the tank takes.       

The last innovation is Xtol, which according to Kodak delivers the second finest grain, the second most shadow detail and the highest actuance of all Kodak's developers. This looks like an unbeatable combination, and if it lives up to Kodak's marketing material, this will be my developer of choice. (I used to use D-76 which has been Kodak's workhorse developed for more than half a century. Xtol is apparently Kodak's latest - and its last - innovation in black and white film processing. 

The films is currently hanging up to dry. Apart from a few snafus (the clip covered some of the last frame, the first film was kinked and has a spot where the developed seems not to have reached the film),  not bad for my first film in over 10 years and my first roll of 6x7.

The next post, once the film is dry will report the results. Stay tuned.            

Replacing Walmart

Since the demise of the Fuji-Walmart service, I've been looking for another solution. I've found a small lab in San Jose near the university that will do both C41 and black and white. My first roll of color is ready tomorrow.  I've decided to go back to developing my own black and white. Tuolumne county runs a hazardous waster disposal program so I need to be able store the spent chemical for 3 to 4 months; but I think that's doable.