For example, in order to have proper amount of an undiluted developer per film I need 1 liter of the diluted developer, but the tank capacity is only 0.5 liter. The idea is to develop half of the full time in first 0.5 liter of the solution, then the rest of the time in the second 0.5 liter. Has anybody tried it? Any special considerations? E.g. has the full time to be split in equal parts etc?

Thanks

-- Andrey Vorobyov (AndreyVorobyov@yahoo.com), November 30, 2001

Answers

Yes, er, on second thoughts, no.
Is this a riddle Andrey?
Why not reduce the dilution, so that you can get the recommended amount of concentrate into the 0.5 litre tank, and adjust the time accordingly? The result should be identical to the 'normal' dilution, but the time will have to be got by trial-and-error......probably, or not.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), November 30, 2001.

Pete, my understanding was (and still is) that with high dilution I can get a compensation effect if agitation is not too vigorous. And that reducing the time in stronger solution cannot give the same effect. Am I wrong?

-- Andrey Vorobyov (AndreyVorobyov@yahoo.com), December 03, 2001.

Higher dilutions will give a compensating effect but through testing and documentation you can pull your film and get your highlights where you want them. Why not just get a larger tank. If you have two tanks with the same dilutions, you might risk over development due to the added time in between each step... You could just throw the extra developer away or wait till you have a few more rolls to develop or get smaller graduates to mix up smaller amounts. I don't know but it sounds like your making this way to difficult... no offense. Cheers

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), December 03, 2001.

Why not just get a larger tank: what if I want to develop 5 films at once? 5-liter tank is not a common accessory. About time: I always do testing before processing important films, thus no problem with trial and error. I actually ask about any extra consideration I can be not aware of. For example: can it affect fog level? – When I drain the first "half- bath" I remove also the reacted development products that slow down the development, so the second half bath can be more efficient. I don't know how it can affect the fog. Etc etc. In any case I will make tests. If there are no special warnings, please take it easy, i.e. ignore my question. In any case my thanks to Pete and Scott.

-- Andrey Vorobyov (AndreyVorobyov@mail.ru), December 04, 2001.