I have a questiom on the developing times

I use delta 100 film, the developing time for delta 100 is 6 minutes should I be pouring out the developer before thr 6 minute mark to allow time for the pouring out and putting in the stop bath. I understand that the developing stage is the most important to have exact timing. after that do I have some leway from stop to fix to rinse to permawash

If I am off a few seconds after the stopbath on each one and in between each on Will it affect my film?

-- chris leblanc (cal@uslink.net), December 14, 2000

Answers

chris if you wanted to be extremly anal you could time how long it takes to pour out the chemistry and use that time as to when to start pouring out the developer.will it effect the film? yes. how much? probably not that much you would have to have a pretty critical eye to tell the difference between 6 min and 6 min 30 sec. what i do is pre soak the film for 2 min in water then process as usual i would start pouring the dev out at 6 min knowing that it would take about 20 sec to pour out. that is time enough to adjust for the fact that it took the developer 20 sec to displace the water presoak in the emulsion. a pre soak also prevents uneven developing.-J

-- josh (devil_music@usa.net), December 14, 2000.

In about twenty years of doing this I find that it comes out OK if I aim at having all the developer out when the developing time expires. Try to get the stop in as soon as possible. I think the biggest errors come with using the wrong temp. or the wrong dilution or of course being way off on the time, like more than 30 sconds off. Once, when not working in my own darkroom, I didn't have any stop so I used water. I was very worried about this, but it worked out OK, OK for my purposes that is.

-- Jim Shields (jim.shields@tasis.ch), December 14, 2000.

Chris, I think the most important thing is that whatever you do, you do it consistently. That way you can make adjustments as time goes on. For now, a few seconds either way does not matter.

BTW, I never use a stop bath, only use water for a film stop. I think Ilford even recommends that.

chris

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), December 14, 2000.

I agree, pick a method and stick with it. It doesn't matter if you start pouring 20-30 seconds early or right at the time, or pour early enough to start or finish pouring in the stop.

BTW when do you start timing, when you start pouring in the developer? Or after it is all in?

Again, as long as you do it the same way every time you will be fine.

Realize that the published times for B&W developing are recommended starting points. They are not exact nor will the work for everyone. You will have to adjust things to make them work right for you.

This is why it is commonly suggested to use only 1 film and 1 developer for at least a year. That way you learn that combo and figure out how to make it work. It also gives you the experience to quickly adjust to a new film or developer.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), December 14, 2000.

If you have a darkroom, you can prefill the developing tank; then after you have loaded the reel, start the timer and plunge the film into the tank. Give the tank the usual raps to knock the air bells loose. If high precision is needed, move the reels to a vessel containing the stop bath at the end of the developing time. Once in the stop bath, you can take your time to get the film into the fixer. In the book, The Theory of the Photographic Process, the authors cite two major factors that contribute to grain clumping (besides the choice of film and developer). They are sudden changes in pH and sudden changes in temperature. Some photographers like to use a water rinse rather than an acid stop. I've not seen much difference in my work either way. I keep the the temperatures in all the chemicals and the wash withing 2 degrees F. Have fun!

-- Andy Eads (eads@3-cities.com), December 28, 2000.

What Christian said...

-- Nigel Smith (nlandgl@unite.com.au), December 28, 2000.