OP
OP
yeh, I can repost the process.
This is a process that mrred, aka peter C gave me so he gets all the credit for doing the heavy lifting. I just played with it a little to tweak it for the different films I use.
................
This post is aimed specifically at small tank developing. If you have never reversal processed film before, this may be a good controlled start. The novice also needs to relax about exact timings as it is less of a factor with this stuff.
The steps for development are 1st dev, bleach, clear, 2nd dev. If you have done slides before, you may think I have skipped a few steps. We will use a 2nd developer that performs fogging, developing and fix, all in one.
Chemicals:
Dektol paper developer
Hypo (Sodium Thiosulfate)
Sodium BiSulfate
Potassium dichromate
Sodium Sulphite
Super Iron Out (No, I'm not kidding)
Distilled water
1st Dev:
1st dev is Dektol, the paper developer. Don't substitute as we need an aggressive developer.
The hypo we use to make a base solution. Mix 8g in 250 ml of dist water. We will add this to the developer at dev time.
Bleach:
The bleach will be in an A/B format and only mixed together when needed. It is unstable and will only last hours at a time
Part A: 6g of Potassium dichromate. Mix with 1l of distilled water.
Part B: acid mixture, Sodium Bisulphate. 25g in 1l distilled water.
Note: You cannot use any acid here. It's not the fact that it is an acid that is at work. It's food for the dichromate reaction (H3O+) that will not alter the how the dichromate works
A and B are mixed in equal parts for development.
Clear:
30g of Sodium Sulphite per 1l of distilled water.
2nd dev:
Iron Out! This is a rust remover that contains sodium hydrosulfite aka sodium dithionite. 1 tablespoon for every 200 ml of distilled water and it is one shot. The stuff dies on completion, but it does smell pretty! You can get this at Lowes or home depot hardware stores. The "Iron Out" step replaces flashing (re exposing), developing and fixing. It really simplifies everything.
So now lets go have some fun!
fill your tank according to normal fill levels with every step
Step 1:
1st developer
1+2 dektol to water dilution
Add 5 ml of the Hypo mixture. you need to experiment with different amounts for different films. Foma 100 needs no hypo, while tmax 400 needs 9ml
Dev for 12 mins, constant smooth agitation. We are building up contrast.
Dump this when done. It is exhausted (for our purpose) when done.
Do ilford wash (10,20,30 inversions for 3 changes of water)
Step 2:
Mix equal parts A & B in a temporary container. We can reuse this 4-5 times.
Bleach is 1/2 strength of what is normally recommended as we are trying NOT to wash our image down the drain.
Gently agitate for 8-10 minutes.
Your leader (when complete) should be clear. if not, you have not bleached enough.
Drain and save.
Do ilford wash (5,10,20)
Step 3:
Put clear in a temp container. You can reuse this.
Gently agitate for 5 minutes. You need to remove all the "chrome" bits left over from the bleach. Longer than enough is just longer. If you see black spots in light areas of your image, try increasing the clear time.
Do ilford wash (10,20,30 inversions 3 changes of water)
Step 4:
Mix 1 tablespoon of Iron Out in 200 ml DISTILLED water. This is a rust remover and WILL react to iron and other stuff in the pipes. DO NOT USE TAP WATER or even filtered water.
You probably do not need to agitate, but I do anyway, twice every 2 minutes. 5-6 mins is the ballpark.
Dump it, it's only good once.
Do a long ilford wash (10,20,30,40,50 very gentle inversions with 5 changes of water)
Step 5:
PhotoFlo and DO NOT USE A SQUEEGEE! The emulsion is soft from all the acid. Let dry for at least 3-4 hours to let what is there harden.
Step 6:
Marvel in your wonder......
The bleach is good for 4-5 uses and the clear could be used for much more. However you should mix the clear and the bleach before dumping, to neutralize the bleach.
Some of these chemicals have inherent handling and safety concerns. Please follow all manufacturers recommendations. MSDS documents may be obtained from all suppliers.
This is a process that mrred, aka peter C gave me so he gets all the credit for doing the heavy lifting. I just played with it a little to tweak it for the different films I use.
................
This post is aimed specifically at small tank developing. If you have never reversal processed film before, this may be a good controlled start. The novice also needs to relax about exact timings as it is less of a factor with this stuff.
The steps for development are 1st dev, bleach, clear, 2nd dev. If you have done slides before, you may think I have skipped a few steps. We will use a 2nd developer that performs fogging, developing and fix, all in one.
Chemicals:
Dektol paper developer
Hypo (Sodium Thiosulfate)
Sodium BiSulfate
Potassium dichromate
Sodium Sulphite
Super Iron Out (No, I'm not kidding)
Distilled water
1st Dev:
1st dev is Dektol, the paper developer. Don't substitute as we need an aggressive developer.
The hypo we use to make a base solution. Mix 8g in 250 ml of dist water. We will add this to the developer at dev time.
Bleach:
The bleach will be in an A/B format and only mixed together when needed. It is unstable and will only last hours at a time
Part A: 6g of Potassium dichromate. Mix with 1l of distilled water.
Part B: acid mixture, Sodium Bisulphate. 25g in 1l distilled water.
Note: You cannot use any acid here. It's not the fact that it is an acid that is at work. It's food for the dichromate reaction (H3O+) that will not alter the how the dichromate works
A and B are mixed in equal parts for development.
Clear:
30g of Sodium Sulphite per 1l of distilled water.
2nd dev:
Iron Out! This is a rust remover that contains sodium hydrosulfite aka sodium dithionite. 1 tablespoon for every 200 ml of distilled water and it is one shot. The stuff dies on completion, but it does smell pretty! You can get this at Lowes or home depot hardware stores. The "Iron Out" step replaces flashing (re exposing), developing and fixing. It really simplifies everything.
So now lets go have some fun!
fill your tank according to normal fill levels with every step
Step 1:
1st developer
1+2 dektol to water dilution
Add 5 ml of the Hypo mixture. you need to experiment with different amounts for different films. Foma 100 needs no hypo, while tmax 400 needs 9ml
Dev for 12 mins, constant smooth agitation. We are building up contrast.
Dump this when done. It is exhausted (for our purpose) when done.
Do ilford wash (10,20,30 inversions for 3 changes of water)
Step 2:
Mix equal parts A & B in a temporary container. We can reuse this 4-5 times.
Bleach is 1/2 strength of what is normally recommended as we are trying NOT to wash our image down the drain.
Gently agitate for 8-10 minutes.
Your leader (when complete) should be clear. if not, you have not bleached enough.
Drain and save.
Do ilford wash (5,10,20)
Step 3:
Put clear in a temp container. You can reuse this.
Gently agitate for 5 minutes. You need to remove all the "chrome" bits left over from the bleach. Longer than enough is just longer. If you see black spots in light areas of your image, try increasing the clear time.
Do ilford wash (10,20,30 inversions 3 changes of water)
Step 4:
Mix 1 tablespoon of Iron Out in 200 ml DISTILLED water. This is a rust remover and WILL react to iron and other stuff in the pipes. DO NOT USE TAP WATER or even filtered water.
You probably do not need to agitate, but I do anyway, twice every 2 minutes. 5-6 mins is the ballpark.
Dump it, it's only good once.
Do a long ilford wash (10,20,30,40,50 very gentle inversions with 5 changes of water)
Step 5:
PhotoFlo and DO NOT USE A SQUEEGEE! The emulsion is soft from all the acid. Let dry for at least 3-4 hours to let what is there harden.
Step 6:
Marvel in your wonder......
The bleach is good for 4-5 uses and the clear could be used for much more. However you should mix the clear and the bleach before dumping, to neutralize the bleach.
Some of these chemicals have inherent handling and safety concerns. Please follow all manufacturers recommendations. MSDS documents may be obtained from all suppliers.
