I was using the emofin 2 bath developer. In the 2nd bath I didnt agitate at all and got flow marks near the sprocket holes. I have used emofin often before but always agitated one every minute in the 2nd bath. But on re-reading the instructions they dont say to agitate the 2nd bath. Also I read a post on a German language newgroup where someone mentioned using "stand" development for the 2nd bath. This should give better compensation as the developer exhausts in the highlights... So what is the proper what to agitate and/or how do I get rid of these flow marks but still keep best compensation?

-- Russell Brooks (russell@ebrooks.org), September 28, 2001

Answers

I found the German post:
ein wichtiger Tip, der in der Anleitung nicht so klar gesagt wird wie es sein sollte: Waehrend der zweiten Entwicklungsstufe NICHT kippen oder sonstwie bewegen, sonst geht der ganze schoene Ausgleicheffekt floeten.
Basically he says to not agitate at all in the 2nd bath. This kind of makes sense but when I did this I got the flow marks.

-- Russell Brooks (russell@ebrooks.org), September 28, 2001.

Russell,

try emailing Tetenal directly. They are very responsive to questions and should be able to provide the 'official' recommendation re agitation. I think the address is technicalservice@tetenal.com

-- George Paltoglou (stellar@optusnet.com.au), September 28, 2001.

I imagine that you are confusing two separate issues here: sprocket rush and bromine streaks. The former is due to extra development during inversion agitation when the sprocket holes allow for an extra rush of developer over the negative surface, and it looks like extra density coming out of the sprocket holes across the negative width. The latter is due to the bromine produced during development sinking, and looks like lower densities streaking from high density areas.

I have used various two-bath developers including Heinrich Stoekler and Emofin, and discovered that the best way to banish both problems is to use rotary processing with a Jobo processor. The compensating effect is still present to a large degree, but then printable negatives are assured.

-- Samuel Tang (samueltang@austarmetro.com.au), September 28, 2001.

I think it is more like the one poster said - bromine streaks. I agitated for 10 sec after the 2nd bath and then one up/down every minute for the first 3 minutes. The remaining 6 minutes I just left it sit... It looks like the streaks are gone but I am going to have to check carefully with the densitometer

-- Russell Brooks (russell@ebrooks.org), September 29, 2001.

Tetenal answered my email and said that you agitate the 2nd bath the same as the 1st. They also said that this doesnt kill the compensation effect... So now I dont know what to think.

-- Russell Brooks (russell@ebrooks.org), October 01, 2001.

The compensating effect occurs within the gelatin layer so it is not dependent on agitation, but you still need even agitation for the second bath to get eveness in density, which is particularly critical in the case of two-bath development as you know so well.For me the only way to do it properly is to use Jobo machine processing.

-- Samuel Tang (samueltang@austarmetro.com.au), October 01, 2001.

I don't think stand development is a good idea with Emofin, since its second bath is a quite strong alkali that will surely cause uneven development if it gets exhausted in some places and still works in other. Soft agitation might be the answer for increased edge effects and not partial stand development (that might work well with other developers). I have also tried diluting Emofin more that tha recommended dilution (twice as much) and it works pretty well (you have to adjust the development time of course and not underexpose your film as you are told to do normally). The edge effects might work better in this case too.

-- George Papantoniou (papanton@hol.gr), October 04, 2001.

Tetenal is right with their response: Agitate moderately and this will not affect the compensating effect. The alkalinity is too high for stand development without bromide streaking.

-- Volker Schier (Volker.Schier@fen-net.de), October 05, 2001.