Film Development

I will eventually post this on its own page. But here are the gory details:

Ilfotec DD-X and Tri-X @ 400.

Exactly as the Ilfotec Instructions recommend. However, I got better results using the times for 68F degrees rather than 75F which were too contrasty. Whatever the temperature - I use a cold water bath (the sink). I keep a gallon jug of ice cold water in the fridge and I keep the water bath about 4 degrees lower than the temp. of the developer. Basically this keeps the temp of the developer where it is supposed to be. When you add DD-X (1:4) and I think due to the air-temperature, or maybe the chemical reaction, without the water bath the temp. at the end is a few degrees higher. I suppose that if you are developing film in the Alaskan winter, your water bath might need to be warmer.

Agitation has a tremendous effect on the contrast and appearance of grain. Stirring is a bad way to go as you can't keep repeat it accurately. A number of inversions of the tank within a set amount of time is the way to go. The agitation for the above combination I use is 4 inversions per minute (within 10 seconds).

Keep your time exactly the same by pouring out the developer 10 seconds before the allotted time. And then straight into stop bath. Stop bath has two purposes: stop development and to some extent lengthen the life of the fixer. Everything I use is one-shot - so the latter bit about the fixer doesn't matter. But stopping development - that does. (There are many discussions about whether this stopbath is necessary or not. I don't know. It's cheap and I use it.)

HP5+ @ 800. This will produce more pronounced grain than Tri-X @ 400 but it's got an excellent tonal range and really does pick up shadow areas well and curbs highlights. Instructions are what the manufacturer says they are, though again, best results at the 68F time.

Today I shot one roll of HP5+ at 400 (will try it later in the DD-X); and one roll of HP5 @ 1200 ASA (which honestly is all the speed I need). More later...

I can tell you that 1200 ASA with the F2 summicron was plenty fast for shooting in the subway which I did. I sincerely hope the roll turns out okay because there are good shots on it.

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Developed the HP5 @ 1200 for 11 minutes at 68F. Results were pretty bad. Most of the highlights blown (didn't matter whether this was done in low-light in the subway or outdoors in bright sunlight). Shadows - fair. Not the way to go for me.