Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/01/12
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At 9:50 AM 1/12/97, Michael Hintlian wrote:
>Chris Fortunko wrote:
>
><<I am now considering developing Tmax3200 in HC110, dilution B. - I was just
>informed at the local drug store, which is also a full-service Leica dealer,
>that this combination should work just fine. Normally, I use Rodinal and
>TriX.>>
>
>Chris;
>
>HC-110 is a tricky devloper, Kodak's times are inaccurate for real world
>applications so a process of experimentation is what you can expect before
>"ideal" results are achieved. Begin by cutting back Kodak's times by
>10%...some
I expose and process several thousand rolls of B&W film... 35mm and 120...
and, depending on what goes on in any given year, up to several hundred 4x5
sheets of B&W film. I am a specialist in the dying art of producing B&W
images for publication... mostly editorial, often for
advertising/brochures.
I use HC-110 for EVERYTHING, as I have found it to be the MOST PERFECT
developer around.
The key to using HC-110 is that you must be ABSOLUTELY CONSISTENT in your
processing habits. You MUST do everything the same way, tank after tank.
Your temperatures must be "dead on"... from the start of development,
through the end of the wash... as well as your agitation habits.
First... don't make stock solution, and then mix developer, as the
instructions on the bottle suggest. Make "one-shot" developer, by mixing to
dilution at each developing session. This is a guarantee of consistency,
because the concentrated HC-110 "goo" does not deteriorate as quickly, in
air, as stock solutions do... and will give you good, "potent" developer
for every session.
Mix dilution "A" by putting one part of HC-110 "juice" into fifteen parts
water, at your favorite temperature (I recommend 75 degrees F.), e.g....
one ounce HC-110 to fifteen ounces water, to make one pint of developer.
Mix dilution "B" (a generally better choice than "A") by putting one part
HC-110 "juice" into thirty-one parts water, at your favorite temperature...
e.g., one half ounce of HC-110 to fifteen and one half ounces of water, to
make one pint of developer.
If I may digress for a moment... the biggest, and most popular, Bad Habits
that affect the development of film are processing at low temperatures, and
washing the film in water at "tap temperature".
Kodak, Ilford, and Agfa all recommend that you process modern films at 75
degrees, to lessen the amount of time in developers... and that you use a
Rapid Fix WITH NO HARDENER added, to reduce the time in the fixer, and that
you wash FOR NO MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES. Modern films all have "thin"
emulsions that will be adversely affected by prolonged wet times.
Use a water stop (at the same temperature), rather than an acid stop... it
will be kinder to your emulsions. Sudden radical dilution of the developer
will just as effectively stop development as a chemical destruction of
developer will... and it is less jarring to the emulsion to NOT be suddenly
confronted with an intensly acidic environment.
Wash water MUST be kept at the same temperature as the developer, water
stop, and fixer. If you wash in water at "tap temperature"... which is
usually around 20 degrees cooler than developer temps... you will suddenly
contract the thin gelatin emulsion, and that will cause grain clumping. If
you want the finest grain available in a modern film... then temper your
wash water.
Undigressing... Second... a good T-Max negative LOOKS ABOUT A STOP THINNER
THAN A GOOD TRI-X NEGATIVE. The thinner-looking negatives PRINT THE SAME,
but there is a knee-jerk reaction to want to develop them more, next time.
This is the reason why a lot of Old-Timers don't care for T-Max films...
they think that they have to develop them to a greater degree to get
"negative density", and wind up blocking the living s**t out of the
highlights, and increasing the apparent granularity in the mid-tones.
It is a failing of Kodak, that they didn't/don't EXPLAIN this to
photographers, who regularly develop their own B&W.
Third... don't agitate too much. Agitation increases contrast... in the
highlights... by moving fresher, unspent developer into contact with the
film emulsion. I, personally, only agitate one or twice during development,
because I want to be gentle to my precious film.
If you are a constant or frequent agitator, your times will need to be
signifigantly shortened, and your overall contrast may be "skewed"... with
your film exibiting high contrast in the highlight areas, and low contrast
in the shadow areas. I like my negatives to have higher contrast in the
shadows, and lower contrast in the highlights... so I don't agitate very
much. If the negatives are too thin, then I extend the overall time... I do
NOT increase agitation.
Fourth... EVERYONE'S water is NOT the same, and EVERYONE'S thermometer is
not the same. If you develop ANY amount of film over time, you need to
programmatically adjust your developing times, temperatures, and dilutions
to fit YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES.
I used to work at a small daily newspaper, with another photographer, who
lived about eight miles from me. We would take film from the SAME hundred
foot roll, expose it and develop it for RADICALLY different times 'n
temps... in HC-110 developer provided by the newspaper (bottles out of the
same case), to get similar results. Just for laughs, I took MY thermometer
and tanks to HIS house, and developed film as I regularly do... and IT WAS
ENTIRELY DIFFERENT! It was 'way overdeveloped.
Obviously, the water coming into his house was RADICALLY DIFFERENT than the
water coming into my house. This was proven when I moved to another town,
next to the town in which I had been living, and had to adjust my times to
be shorter, in order to acheive the same level of development.
What I mean to say is... that the time/temp combinations recommended by a
manufacturor are ONLY A STARTING POINT in determining which time/temps will
work for YOU... with your unique combination of water, thermometer, and
agitation.
To do good darkroom work, keep a log of each session, and carefully notate
the problems that you are having, what you do about them, and how those
changes have affected your negatives. This will give you a good "road to
follow" while making the various adjustments that are neccessary to get
good, repeatable results in each and every unique darkroom.
Finally... HC-110 was developed (pun intended) to provide professional
finishers and photographers with a developer that gave SHORTER times to
complete development. If you're developing film for only 5.5 minutes, EVEN
SMALL CHANGES IN YOUR DEVELOPING TIME WILL PRODUCE RADICALLY DIFFERENT
RESULTS... an extra 30 seconds is roughly 1/10th more development... a
signifigant number.
Again... absolute consistency (I admit to being Very Fussy about my B&W
film... although I'm not particularly fussy in any other area of Life...)is
VITAL to getting the most out of this wonderful "soup".
Greg.
Greg Mironchuk
409 Central St, Saugus, MA 01906
617-941-8030 * 617-362-7417 page
gregm@world.std.com