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06/10/2008 17:54:44
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prezntime
Posts 45
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On the recommendation of Alain (Alsom) I wanted to open a forum for any darkroom discussions or questions...I have some experience, Luko has quite a bit...so.
I use various films...mostly Tri-x 400 and Ilford Delta 3200. Usually I develope film in D-76 stock solution, stop with old kodak stop and fix with ilford rapid fix. Right now I use plastic reels, agitating for the first 45 seconds, then 15 seconds every minute thereafter. I give the film a 1 minute filtered water bath, then one minute in Permawash...followed by an additional minute in water...I also just started using photoflow to eliminate watermarks...it works extremely well, for me at least.
In the darkroom I'm currently using Ilford Warmtone Paper (RC right now until I have a more suitable darkroom for fiber based paper). I develope in Dektol and use the same stop and fix as the film. I'm fairly happy with what I have going right now, but as Luko will point out (has pointed out) I tend to like darker prints. That's my gig in a nutshell...
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07/10/2008 17:07:36
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Luko
Posts 101
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Yeah... and probably Steve might drop in, and Nono and Animesh will also write a word or two.
prezntime wrote:
I give the film a 1 minute filtered water bath, then one minute in Permawash...followed by an additional minute in water...I also just started using photoflow to eliminate watermarks...it works extremely well, for me at least.
Jeeze.. you're even cutting down the wash time more than I do... not good, you know... they say 10 minutes at least even with the washing quickener too. What is Permawash? I suppose it might be a Lavaquick equivalent, right?
Personally I've stopped film processing it brings nothing but streaks, dust and bother, although I would have recommended some time ago Kodak Xtol, shaking thoroughly and keeping sure that the different baths temperature doesn't exceed a 1-2° variation. You wouldn't believe how easily film reticulation happens.
Favorite BW films are :
- Pan F 50 for studio work
- Tri X for general shooting
- TMAX 3200 rated at 1600 ISO for low light situations.
Smell like sh*t films : Kodak CN chromogenic BW, Tmax400, Delta 3200 (sorry Chris...)
Printing papers, all FB : Forte Polywarmtone and Forte museum graded paper at the time it still existed (also packed as Bergger or Moersch). Must live on new Bergger CM now. Sterling Lith (also branded as Fotospeed) and the old Kentmere Kentona or Art Classic formulaes, with plenty of cadmium inside for lith prints.
Puking papers : RC papers no pasaràn! Adox brand, Oriental (bought in NYC, what a disappointment!), all "cold" papers.
Chemistry : the old Agfa Neutol Warm rocked, Tetenal is Ok. Moersch and Fotospeed developpers for lith.
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08/10/2008 04:17:55
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prezntime
Posts 45
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Luko Wrote:
All that stuff above....
Yes, yes...I do cut down on the washing time in water, only because that is recommended with the Permawash...which is a washing quickener. God, I hope I'm not shankin' on my negatives; I'll be pretty depressed when they disolve in a few years.
As for the dust, streaks and bother...since a few months, I really haven't had any problem with dust and scratches etc...even though my circumstances are less than ideal. As I think Animesh will express, the current labs aren't much better than the do-it-yourself process.
Obviously I'm biased towards film...so, I'm biased...I will not deny it.
Smelly Delta 3200...man, that hurts.
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08/10/2008 11:25:15
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stevev1
Posts 32
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Ok I'll play...
Let's start with the beginning: exposed film, sicers,bottle opener, Paterson tank. Take a last drag from that cigaret and prepare to face the dark....
I always rewind the film totaly into its canister. If you have some dirt or sand on the film cushion and start to wind it on the film reel scratches are inevetable...so I rewind that film. In the darkroom I make the filmreels wet (makes it easier to wind) crack open the film canister with the bottle opener, take sicors and cut of the filmlead and cut of the edges of the film. Now I gently wind the films on the reels and put them in the Paterson tank.
I prep my chemicals at the very last moment. I used ID-11 (powder) and T-Max developer (liquid). For T-Max films the Kodak develper is great. ID-11 is my developer of choice for Agfa and Ilford.
Mostly I develop at 20°c. Shake for 1 full minute and then for 5 seconds every 30 seconds until the end of the developing time.
Once the developer is out of the tank I quickly put the tank under the water tap and run approx 20°c water for about 15 seconds then change to cold water. I let the water run for about 10 minutes and start to prepare the fix ( Agfa's Agefix solution) that I use both for films and paper. I do not use any stop.
It needs 1+9 solution and I fix for 10 minutes (shaking the tank for 5 seconds every minute)
I then take the reels out of the tank and put them in the sink and fill the sink with running water and I leave it gently running for about 30 minutes.
I then turn of the tap completely and add a few drops of agepon (agfa) but you can also use any soap to do the dishes (no joke it works perfectl).
Then hang the film to dry. If you don't have dedicated hooks with weights I use AA bateries that I attach with tape at the end of the film.
I no longer print myself so I won't give a write-up on how I did it but I totally agree with Luko...Neutol WA tone rocks!!!
I'm a bit biased though as the Agfa-Gevaert factury is located in Mortsel (less then 5km away from where I live...so I support the local economy
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08/10/2008 14:06:55
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prezntime
Posts 45
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One other thing. Luko is absolutely correct when indicating his preference of fiber paper over RC; there is no question of the superior textures and depth of fiber paper. With that in mind, I will one day print only on fiber...but that will need an additional tray and a proper area to dry the fiber flat; I don't have the room right now. With that in mind I'm stuck with RC as of this moment. I found that the warmtone Ilford RC paper with the Pearl finish creates a texture that comes as close to fiber as I've been able to achieve so far. I do not like the Pearl finish under any other situations, but found that it satisfies my need for texture on the prints...in truth this texture isn't something that can be conveyed by a scanner...
To Steve: What was your method when you did make your own prints. I tend to not pay too much attention to the temp when printing, contrary to the OCD crowd...I find that I can judge the develope by eye under the darklight.
I heard somehwere that Winogrand would expose a bunch of paper, put it in some light tight box and go to another location to do his wetwork. When there he would just eyeball the developement...
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08/10/2008 23:39:36
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Luko
Posts 101
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prezntime wrote:
...I find that I can judge the develope by eye under the darklight.
I reckoned I had the biggest step forward on my print quality at the moment I realized I had to keep the prints a longer time in the dev bath than I assessed at first hand. It happens that there actually IS spectacular developping in the highlights, 2-3 minutes after soaking time in the developper.
You simply CAN'T see it under the red light. I insist, you simply CAN'T. (do you remember when I told you you need to have a daylight bulb in your wet room so that you can assess correct density, red light and tungsten light tend to cut details in the highlights when they are there).
...BUT you may not see it beacuse you are now printing on RC paper and developping time is not that critical, because RC develops very quickly in less than 1 minute, it also displays less detail and depth than Fiber. When you'll switch to fiber don't ever cut short your dev time, take it from 10 years experience, I am not joking, really ...
One more thing Chris : I have never used drying tray for fiber paper I'll give you a hint to get flat FB papers. You need a really flat and regular surfaced vertical material with no texture on its surface. A mirror or a glass pane is excellent, I was using the side of a water proof bathroom shelf, then stick your print face up on the surface, push the full throttle, hot air button of your girlfriend's hairdryer and dry it blowing air around 5 cm from the print, don't worry... when the print is half dry (some 5 minutes air blowing), turn it face down and dry the back of the print, the print will start to stick to the surface, don't worrt again but don't try to remove it, dry it very hot agiant the back of the print until the borders are dry, when it is ok, the print will fall on the ground.
Put it flat between two books for the night. collect it the day after and then let the cloth iron warm up to the "colder" temps (around 70-90°). Iron your print face up and down. put it between two books again, you'll have a perfectly glowing and flat fiber print.
edited by Luko on 08/10/2008
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09/10/2008 11:36:15
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stevev1
Posts 32
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To Steve: What was your method when you did make your own prints. I tend to not pay too much attention to the temp when printing, contrary to the OCD crowd...I find that I can judge the develope by eye under the darklight.
Temperature and mixture determine the developing time. Min. time is very important to get total blacks. You can however not really overdevelop RC paper so you can leave the paper in the tray longer then necessary if you want. You can use pure developer locally, rubbing it on the print with your fingers creating friction (heat) and this can help to bring out just that little extra detail in the highlights.
You say you can develop by eye? I sure can't....I always took the proof strips outside to check if time under the enlarger was set correct. Once you know the critical areas of that particular print you can more or less see if you got it right in the development tray but you will have to check the proofs in natural light!
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