# First time developing done!



## burtharrris (Jan 7, 2007)

For everyone who's helped me so far, thanks.  For those about to rock, I salute you...

I finally got developing gear for Christmas, and I developed my film for the first time tonight.  I ran two reels of T-Max 100, one 120 and one 135-36(one at a time).  I used HC-100 (B), Kodak Stop, and Heico NH-5 Rapid Fixer.

At first, I pre-soaked the rolls with water to soften them up and remove some of the red dye (as told by the guy at the camera store).  It was 68/69 degrees in the room, I developed for 6 minutes as directed. I did 15 seconds of stop bath, 3 minutes of rapid fixer, 5 minutes of final wash, and a quick 3 drops at the end of wetting agent.

I'm pretty happy with my timing, everything looks properly exposed.  I'm just concerned with some small details:

1. Both rolls have a _slight_ red tint to them.  More final rinsing?
2. For the 135-36 roll, there is lack of development at the top of the film strip, _only_ at the interior of the spool.  In other words, the interior 10 frames aren't developed at the top of the film strip.  I used 400mL even though the canister recommended 375mL. 

Any ideas?


----------



## ThomThomsk (Jan 8, 2007)

burtharrris said:


> For the 135-36 roll, there is lack of development at the top of the film strip, _only_ at the interior of the spool.  In other words, the interior 10 frames aren't developed at the top of the film strip.  I used 400mL even though the canister recommended 375mL.
> 
> Any ideas?



Interesting. Did you agitate the tank during development, or let it stand for the whole 6 minutes?

Thom


----------



## ferny (Jan 8, 2007)

burtharrris said:


> At first, I pre-soaked the rolls with water to soften them up and remove some of the red dye (as told by the guy at the camera store).


 That's an interesting one. Now surely if that was to get rid of red-eye it'd also reduce the other reds in the image? Also, can't you get problems with the way it develops if the emulsion is wet? I'm sure I've seen it said that it'll either take up the developer quicker or slower. I can't remember which.





> I'm pretty happy with my timing, everything looks properly exposed.  I'm just concerned with some small details:
> 
> 1. Both rolls have a _slight_ red tint to them.  More final rinsing?
> 2. For the 135-36 roll, there is lack of development at the top of the film strip, _only_ at the interior of the spool.  In other words, the interior 10 frames aren't developed at the top of the film strip.  I used 400mL even though the canister recommended 375mL.
> ...



I guess #1 could be from the pre-soaking? That's an assumption and me mumbling to myself out-loud.
#2 sounds like lack of agitation. Fresh developer didn't get to that area often enough.


----------



## ksmattfish (Jan 8, 2007)

ferny said:


> Also, can't you get problems with the way it develops if the emulsion is wet?



You are more likely to have problems pouring developer over dry emulsion.  Pre-wet (an initial water bath) clears out some of the anti-halation dye, and primes the emusion to take the developer more evenly.  It also helps in avoiding air bells (bubbles stuck on the film that don't get developed, leaving pinholes).


----------



## ksmattfish (Jan 8, 2007)

burtharrris said:


> 1. Both rolls have a _slight_ red tint to them.  More final rinsing?
> 2. For the 135-36 roll, there is lack of development at the top of the film strip, _only_ at the interior of the spool.  In other words, the interior 10 frames aren't developed at the top of the film strip.  I used 400mL even though the canister recommended 375mL.
> 
> Any ideas?



Kodak films, particularly the Tmax varieties, are notorious for leaving a red/purple dye.  It's harmless, and may fade over time.  Fixing and washing again may help some, but maybe not.  I don't worry about it.

I'd guess that you may have misloaded the reel so that the top of two layers of film were pressed together, keeping one layer from being developed properly.


----------



## burtharrris (Jan 8, 2007)

I feel like an idiot. Those frames that were apparently undeveloped? At first glance looked they like they were developed wrong but thats just the image itself. They're developed fine. Once everything was dry this morning I looked at them with a loupe and they're fine. 

I guess that redness is the only problem now.


----------



## burtharrris (Jan 8, 2007)

Actually, how long should I be fixing?  I read in a book that old fixers took 10 minutes, but rapid fixers take 2-4 minutes.  I split the difference and went with 3.  What would be the results if I went for 4 minutes or more?


----------



## ksmattfish (Jan 8, 2007)

Take the bit of film leader you cut off to load the film onto the reel, and dip it halfway into your fixer.  Time how long it takes to go transparent (it still might be a bit red or purple, but you can tell when the emulsion is gone).  This is your clearing time.  Fix for twice the clearing time.  When clearing times start getting longer than 6 minutes or so, you should probably get fresh fixer.  Most BW films will clear in about 3 minutes with fresh fixer, so a fixing time of 6 min would be good.  T-grain (Tmax and Delta) emulsions can be a bit more stubborn, and may take longer.  If you pull your film out, and it hasn't cleared, just put it back in the fix for longer, or get fresh fixer, and re-fix.

You would have to fix for a very long time to damage film or prints, but the longer you leave it in the fixer, the more time it may take to wash the fixer out.  This is less of a problem for film than prints.  Fixer left in the film or prints will slowly eat it away (it's acid, usually).  it may take years or even decades, but it'll be there, eating...


----------



## burtharrris (Jan 8, 2007)

Thanks everyone.  What's T-grain?


----------



## ksmattfish (Jan 8, 2007)

It stands for "tabular grain", and refers to the shape of the silver crystals.  It's sort of lozenge or coffin shaped rather than the round shape in traditional emulsions.  It tends to look less grainy.


----------

