Developing Film Part 2 - The Development - In the Dark Room

Developing Film Part 2 – The Development. http://markpeetersphotography.com/video This video is part 2 of the developing film series, and it’s all about the actual development of the film, which includes the chemicals used, mixing ratios, testing of the fixer, and timing. We first start out by testing the fixer, the reason we have to test it, is because it has already been used 8 times, and we want to make sure it still does its job. To test the fixer we use a piece of film that was cut off when we loaded the film onto the reel in Part 1. We place this piece of film into a small beaker, and poor the fixer onto it. Normally the fixer should clear this piece of film in about 1:30 to 2:00. When developing the entire reel later on, you would want to at least double this time. I usually fix film for 5 minutes. For the developer I am using the HC-110 developer, I use this because this developer is a highly concentrated liquid that does not oxidize when exposed to the surrounding air. This means that the HC-110 will last a very long time, unlike the ID-11 or D-76 from Kodak which are powdered developers, which makes it easy to ship, but when mixed into the concentrate has a very limited shelf life, which can be improved by storing it in an air tight container. I know that when using this Patterson System 4 tank that holds 1 roll of 35mm film I need 300ml of solution. When using the HC-110 at Dilution E I will need 6ml of HC-110 and 294ml of water. The total development time at 20C will be 7:30. I always agitate the tank 4 times in 10 seconds, every minute until the time is up. Once the development has been completed I use a water rinse for the stop bath, which works great for me. Once the water rinse is done, I poor in the fixer for 5 minutes using the same agitation cycle as the developer. Once that is done the film can now be exposed to light, but will still need about 10 minutes of water rinse to clean it up. After the water rinse I will do a final rinse with a photo-flo solution mixed 1:200 for about 10 seconds. Photo-flo is a type of soap that will break the surface tension of the water, causing the film to dry evenly. This is not a necessary step for development and the use of it depends on the water quality you have available to you. Once the rinse if completed, you just unroll the film from the reel, and hang it to dry. Credit to the music: MuLexic & Nekihirst - Sapphire Shine    / mulexic