# photo developing too fast (8sec..)



## lieven van meulder (Oct 3, 2018)

hi all,

I'm pretty new to film photography.
My first prints were very greyish. Then i reduced the developing from 1 minute, normally , to just 8 seconds...
Then i get a more or less descent print out of it.
But in only 8 seconds i have no real blacks and still bit grey.
I also can't dodge and burn , because of the very limited time i get to develop my photo.

Furthermore i completely darkened my room . Even put the safelight off.
What could be the reason i have to develop so short?
If i do a proper exposure of 60 seconds in the enlarger with the light , i get black photos..


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## lieven van meulder (Oct 3, 2018)

lieven van meulder said:


> hi all,
> 
> I'm pretty new to film photography.
> My first prints were very greyish. Then i reduced the developing from 1 minute, normally , to just 8 seconds...
> ...


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## dxqcanada (Oct 3, 2018)

So, you say you got printing issues.
What aperture did you set the lens to?
What kind of paper are you using?
If it is multigrade, what filters are you using.
Did you run some test strips on it ?
Is your developer exhausted ... etc, etc ... more data needed to compile answer.


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## 480sparky (Oct 3, 2018)

Your developing time should always be the same.  What should change is the _exposure time_ in the enlarger.

I'm thinking you're not stopping your enlarger lens down.  Yes, open it up to compose and focus.  But then stop it down 2-3 stops below maximum.  Run some test strips and see how long a 'good' exposure should be.


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## lieven van meulder (Oct 3, 2018)

hi dxqcanada,

Yes i have printing issues.
Aperture lens F 11 to f22.
Ilford multigrade black and white
i 've put the filter on the enlarger. the magenta filter to 60.
didn't do test strips yet as i suspect it will lay in the same range as my exposure of 8 seconds.
I used Ilford Multigrade developer.

thx for your help.


dxqcanada said:


> So, you say you got printing issues.
> What aperture did you set the lens to?
> What kind of paper are you using?
> If it is multigrade, what filters are you using.
> ...


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## 480sparky (Oct 3, 2018)

lieven van meulder said:


> .........
> didn't do test strips yet as i suspect it will lay in the same range as my exposure of 8 seconds.
> ..........



Developing time has zero to do with exposure time.  You should be developing your paper around 60 seconds regardless of exposure time.

Do some proper test strips to get your exposure time down first.


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## Derrel (Oct 3, 2018)

You can _NOT_ develop enlargements for 8 second sin the paper developer--the quality will be very poor. You really, really need to develop an enlargement for at least 60 seconds, and I think 90 seconds is better. That means that the under-enlarger exposure time needs to be much shorter than what you're currently exposing for.


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## webestang64 (Oct 4, 2018)

First time in a darkroom? Need info on printing....?? Buy old darkroom books. Cheap and full of info you need.

I got these for $2 each.


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## lieven van meulder (Oct 4, 2018)

hi all

I did the test with the coin.
I put a coin on the RC paper and turned off the light even de safelight for 90 seconds. The paper i developed was complete white.
So this proves there's no extra light coming into the darkroom. It is now completely dark.

But i did a nomal test (60 sec exposure with test strips)and with paper and developed it.
20,40 and 60 seconds bands.

Why are the whites , after certain time getting black as well??

You can see the image is still very dark.
The exposure must have been too strong. 
Also used the magenta filter on my Enlarger . Did put it to 100/of the max of 130.


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## 480sparky (Oct 4, 2018)

You need to redo the test strip.  20 seconds is still too overexposed.  Try 5 10 and 15 seconds.


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## lieven van meulder (Oct 4, 2018)

480sparky said:


> You need to redo the test strip. 20 seconds is still too overexposed. Try 5 10 and 15 seconds.



Sorry , i want to have or achieve the proper exposure of 60 seconds or 90 seconds. 
For future photos i want to have a good basis to dodge and burn... I can't do that in 5 or 10 seconds..


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## dxqcanada (Oct 4, 2018)

What enlarger head do you have ?


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## 480sparky (Oct 4, 2018)

You'll need to either:

1. stop the lens down further
2. use a different paper
3. use an ND filter in the enlarger
4. use a lower wattage bulb in the enlarger
5. use a dimmer on the enlarger bulb


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## lieven van meulder (Oct 4, 2018)

My enlarger is a Durst M605 .
the enlarger has a set of 3 color filters: Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.


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## dxqcanada (Oct 4, 2018)

You printing 35mm negs ? with a 50mm lens and single condenser ?


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## webestang64 (Oct 4, 2018)

Enlarger manual if needed.   

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/durst/Durst_M605.pdf


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## lieven van meulder (Oct 4, 2018)

dxqcanada said:


> You printing 35mm negs ? with a 50mm lens and single condenser ?



Don't know what you mean by that.. single condenser?


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## 480sparky (Oct 4, 2018)

lieven van meulder said:


> My enlarger is a Durst M605 .
> the enlarger has a set of 3 color filters: Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.




Dial in equal amounts of C, M and Y.  That will effectively be an ND filter.


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## lieven van meulder (Oct 4, 2018)

Hi Sparky,

Thank you sooo much . Didn't know that you could make your own ND filter like that...

Will try it tomorrow...


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## ac12 (Oct 5, 2018)

I agree with Sparky about the CMY filters to create an ND filter.

I have a Durst M600, and like you the exposure time was way too short, with the standard 150w bulb and the lens closed down all the way.  I replaced the 150w bulb with a lower wattage 75w bulb, to reduce the light.  But the light was not reduced enough, I still had relatively fast exposures of about 10 seconds.  I really needed a 30w bulb, to get to a 20+ second exposure.  That enlarger was BRIGHT.
Next step would have been to screw a 2-stop ND filter onto the lens, to get the light level down further.


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## compur (Oct 6, 2018)

Enlarger brightness can be reduced with a variac or auto transformer.


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## ac12 (Oct 7, 2018)

compur said:


> Enlarger brightness can be reduced with a variac or auto transformer.



Won't that also change the color temp of the bulb.


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## compur (Oct 7, 2018)

ac12 said:


> compur said:
> 
> 
> > Enlarger brightness can be reduced with a variac or auto transformer.
> ...



Yes, it can and you may have to compensate via filtration when using VC papers.


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