Help, I blew everything up!

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I've been strugling for about three weeks trying to learn how to develop b&w films. I was getting reasonable results, but yesterday I tried to process two rolls of Tri-X Pan 400 using TMAX developer using the fabricant's recomended times/quantities(1:4 for 6min at 21C). I read in an article sugested in this forum that you should not use acid stop bath. Using water would be more gentle with the film. Well, so I did. I washed for about 30sec to 40sec in water at the same temperature and proceeded with the fixing stage. As a result, my negatives are so dense that they have to be exposed for 1min to produce a print where normally would take 15sec. Is there a way to fix what I did? Is it really better not to use an acid stop bath, if so, how much should I cut in the developing time to compensate?

-- Herbet Camerino (hbrasileiro@cihi.ca), May 03, 2000

Answers

Herbet, I don't think the water bath is the problem. I generally only use water for the stop bath. Have you developed Tri-X using this developer and time/dilution/temp before and got a better neg? BTW, 1 min for a print is not unusual for a large print and a little enlarger... more importantly, was the print any good? I don't use that film/developer combo so can't compare times but someone here might.

Nige.

-- Nigel Smith (nlandgl@eisa.net.au), May 03, 2000.


Good point. Maybe that's my problem. This was the first time with Tri- X I was using TMAX. The negs looks fine. I mean, all the details are there, but the emulsion is much thicker than the TMAX ones. Besides, it looks more grainy. Is that a characteristic of this film?

-- Herbet Camerino (hbrasileiro@cihi.ca), May 03, 2000.

Tri-X sure is one heck of a lot grainier than T-Max 100, & 1:4 T-Max Developer at the recommended time is pretty strong stuff. I NEVER use stop bath - only water - with my films. That should not have been the problem. I do give it a couple of minutes in the water stop though.

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), May 03, 2000.

Kodak recommends 6 minutes at 20 degrees C for Tri-X in T-Max 1:4. Probably you should have used 5 minutes at 21 degrees. You can still reduce the film in Farmers Reducer.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edbuffaloe@unblinkingeye.com), May 03, 2000.

Yes, stop-bath or no stop-bath wouldn't cause dense negatives. But are they really too dense? Tri-X needs more density than T-Max.

If he negatives have come out too contrasty as well as dense (maybe they need a grade 0 or 1 to print succesfully), you could reduce the development. Or if the contrast is fine, you could in future reduce the exposure a little.

-- Alan Gibson (Alan@snibgo.com), May 03, 2000.



You don't have to give up stop bath just dilute it, your not stopping a tank, just development. 1 oz. of household vinegar to 15 oz water works great. I find that 1 minute for exposure is excessivly long, most of my exposures run from 14-26 seconds on a grade 2 paper. I use HC-110 E (1-11) x 11:00 @ 68-F for Tri-X PEI 200. Great negs. Regards, Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), May 03, 2000.

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