B&W developing help for a film newbie

Hi all,

I posted this in "the other" forum yesterday, I'm hoping to get some responses here too, especially as members here may be more familiar with Ilford chemistry than our American cousins.

I've recently acquired a few 35mm film cameras and I've run a few films through them (colour & B&W). The problem is that here in Spain, developing black & white film is extremely expensive, and it's primarily B&W I'm interested in. I wasn't planning on home development until I realised what it would cost me to get it done in a lab.

So, I'm looking into a basic setup for developing it myself, I'll then get the negatives scanned or printed elsewhere. I've been looking into what I need and I won't list it all. I do have some questions though.

I will be using Ilford HP5+ initially, simply as I got a good deal on a few rolls. Later I'm sure I will experiment with others. As regards the chemicals, my plan is to get hold of the following, all of which I believe I can get from a local supplier:

Paterson developing tank with two 35mm spirals.
Ilford ID-11 / Perceptol
Ilford Ilfostop
Ilford rapid fixer
Ilfotol wetting agent

Does that sound ok for a beginner?

1. Development is supposed to be done at 20ºC. I live in Madrid, where the summer days will hit 40º (or more) and the nights will drop to 32º. So, maintaining things at 20º will be difficult in the very near future. Will I be able to accurately calculate the development times for temperatures that are several degrees above what's recommended?

2. I've read that developing chemicals go off quickly, but I haven't been able to determine how quickly. Should I worry about this? Is powdered developer better? My current plan is to use Ilford ID-11 and I won't be doing a huge amount of developing. Will the high summer temperatures of where I live make the chemicals even more short-lived?

3. The ID-11 is apparently not recommended for pushing films, something which I might want to do in the near future. I think I can also get Perceptol. Which is better?

4. One link I found recommends a water pre-soak for a minute before developing, but I haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere. Opinions?

Many thanks for any help or advice you can offer.

I've developed a few rolls in the past and found it very rewarding. A couple of extra bits of equipment may be helpful (I appreciate you may have these planned):

- A changing bag to load the tank.
- A couple of funnels.
- A couple of measures.
- A couple of hooks to hang the film with.

I've only used liquid developers (Ilfosol), the thought of trying to mix powder accurately put me off using it, but it may help you. I kept the fixer and stop bath in collapsable bottles (these are re-used).

It's the water/chemicals temperature that matters, I used a washing up bowl as a water bath. If you haven't already looked, the Ilford website has some data sheets on films and their development.

I have heard you can simply use a couple of drops of washing-up liquid instead of the wetting agent although I haven't tried it. I was also told not to use a squeegee to wipe the water off, just run the film through your fingers.

So is powder harder to measure? Is it done by weight or volume?

I've seen collapsible (accordion-style) bottles. Are these to exclude air to keep the chemicals fresh?

By weight I'd assume, but I was most concerned about dissolving it completely and not ending up with the gloop at the bottom like a cuppa-soup

That's the theory, I don't know how effective they are.

Temperature is your biggest problem, it really should be at 20c

The instructions will give times for different temps I think, your choice of equipment and chemicals is very good, washing the film well is essential

I totally agree with most of the above.

Us a washing up bowl and get the temperature slightly above or below the correct temperature then use ice or hot water. It it not quite as critical as you might think. The developer is the most important thing and you can ignore stop if you don't need to reuse the fixer.

When rinsing the film try not to change the temperature too rapidly, but it won't matter if you end up using tap water.

I also add a drop of washing up liquid and use my fingers as a squeegee.

But I also have never used powder. Nothing against it but never tried it.

Incidentally, there is nothing quite like the first time!

Thanks for the advice so far, I'll try to keep the temperature constant. I plan to use a cheap, unused film for a dry run without chemicals (just water), just to practice the process. I don't want to risk an actual exposed film on my first time.

I've recently started developing black and white film again too. What you NEED are a developing tank, developer and fixer, a thermometer and a sink. Stop bath and wetting agent are optional in my view and leaning them out for the first few attempts will make life easier and less stressful as you get to grips with timings and temperature. Oh yea, you will need a timer of some sort too.
Highly recommended extras would be pegs to hang and weight the drying neg afterwards ( clothes pegs will do but the Patterson weighted film clips are very good - heavy one at the bottom!) and squeegee tongs to wipe water drips away and prevent drying marks.
Check what temperature your cold tap water is. Often it is surprisingly close to the recommended temps and that will make life much easier. All the chemical makers websites have temperature adjustment graphs. These show how much you need to adjust timings depending on temperature.
The hardest part is loading the film spiral in the pitch dark and under a duvet!
Best advice I can give is get everything prepared first and don't panic too much over temperatures and timings.

OK, little tip, look on ebay for an AGFA Rondinax 35u developing tank.

It's a 'daylight' tank and works well, a few of us on here use them.

Powder AFAIK should be mixed to make a 'stock' solution, but I use Ilford Ilfosol S diluted to suit.

You will need a bowl of water at the dev. temp. to keep the tank at the correct temp. For that reason a stainless steel tank is the best for heat transmission.

Most developers give times for 68degF and 75degF (+ degC equiv.)

I used to use 75degF for shorter dev. times, always in a
bowl of water at 75degF.

The developer goes off mostly due to oxidization so store it in
a plastic squeezey bottle or use a wine vacuum pump and stopper.

Powder chemicals are mixed to whatever working volume is given
on the pack i.e. 1 Litre 2.5 Litre etc.

Keep it simple, take your time, with practice repeatablity is the key. Read my blog entry here for a cautionary tale: http://www.ephotozine.com/user/johnriley1uk-22471/blog/keeping-life-simple-5120
Liquid chemicals are easier than trying to make powders dissolve. Working at room temperature means little variation, so if everything is around 20C that's fine. Developers will give a graph or table showing revised times for different temeperatures.
Paterson stuff is simple and effective.
Here's a final wash routine that's effective and saves huge amounts of water: Fill tank with water. Do five inversions, Empty. Repeat with fresh water doing 10 inversions. rpeat with fresh water doing 20 inversions. Job done.

I agree, I think concertina bottles are a must for storage, but you could also use glass beads or marbles to increase the volume in rigid containers, keeping the air out is 90% of the battle in preserving chems.

All this talk has got me wanting to dust my Darkroom gear off

All this talk makes me wish I had the room to have some darkroom stuff...

Developing the film yourself is fun, but the real pleasure is printing. Nothing quite like watching the image appear in the tray and trying to judge when to transfer the print to the stop bath!

K.

Make sure you've got all you need in the changing bag/under the duvet before you start (tank, reels, lid, scissors/cap opener). If you have any problems loading the film you can put it in the tank, put the lid on and carry on after a break. If the reel is adjustable, check the spacing is correct before you start.