I am new to this B&W developing and would like to get some help on one of my first print that I made that came out really overexposed(dark). I just got Omega B22 enlarger with Nikkor 50mm f2.8 lens with it and had a Tmax 3200 negative film already processed from local lab and decided to make a print. I followed some of the book and instructions on the print paper(Ilford) and chemicals(Ilford) that I got from local shop. I have exposed at f8 for 10sec and developed for 1min and 15sec on the stop bath and 30sec fixed. the picture is very dark, almost black. I can see that it only take may be less than 10sec to develpe from the developer, so I did not need to even go for full 1 minutes. I don't know what I am doing wrong, since this is the first time ever I made the print, there maybe something that I am not doing right... please advice why is the print so dark....

thanks

Jin

-- Jin Kim (jkim693433@yahoo.com), June 27, 2000

Answers

f8 for 10 seconds (on my enlarger) would be a bit long. Did you do the test strip thing? You know, dark card, wave it over in steps. 5/10/15/20/25 -- or what ever you want. I'd try f11 at 5/10/15 etc.

Also, does 30 seconds fix seem short? Anyone know?

Dean

-- Dean Lastoria (dvlastor@sfu.ca), June 27, 2000.

you should make tests on the strip of photographic paper to choose proper time for your picture print. development time should be always the same (recomend by producer). if you make develop time short then recomended your print will be pale without blacks. I hope you know how to make this time tests on the strip of paper. Let me know if you dont. sarnaa@polbox.com

-- anna (sarnaa@polbox.com), June 27, 2000.

You are right, your print is definitely overexposed. Where did you get that knowledge from? You should refer to the same source to have some more info on the most basic darkroom procedures such as preparing a test strip. Your question does indeed show that you miss some vital background without which you will not be able to produce satisfactory prints (except maybe one or two lucky coincindences). Get some basic darkroom literature. Being German, and having learnt most of the basic stuff from basic German books, I am not in a position to recommend a real beginner's level book. Maybe Tim Rudman's The Photographer's Master Printing Course would be nice, although it goes pretty far. But it does explain how to make a test strip.

-- Thomas Wollstein (thomas_wollstein@web.de), June 27, 2000.

Dean:

The 30 second fix is the recommended time for Ilford RC paper in Ilford's Rapid Fix at 4:1 dilution. I've been using the ilford archieval processing sequence for a little over a year and I can shorten washing times primarily because of the short fixing times and use of their wash aid. The recommended fix for FB papers is 60 seconds in the 4:1 dilution, followed by a 5 minute wash, 10 minutes in the wash aid and a final 10 minute wash. I saves a considerable amount of time in the darkroom and is based on sound science published by Ilford. FWIW.

-- Gene Crumpler (nikonguy@worldnet.att.net), June 27, 2000.

If you are serious about b/w and doing it your self, start at the beginning and do your film/print tests first, I recommend The Zone VI Workshop by Fred Picker, you should be able to get it at your local library, once you have performed the basics and established your personl film/print procedures then you will be able to figure out what is wrong. Until you have a consistant procedure for developing and printing, you will never know for sure what is wrong or right. Do the test and you will know for yourself. Pat

-- pat krentz (patwandakrentz@aol.com), June 27, 2000.

I would probably start out at F11 and do a 3 sec overall exposure then do a 1 sec interval over strips of the sheet using a black card or thick sheet of cardboard. This will give you a good starting point after looking at the test strip. Also, start out with a 2.5 or a 3 contrast filter if the negs look flat.

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), June 28, 2000.

Enlargement exposure (ie the time you expose your negative to the paper) is dependant on many variables.. so quoting 10sec @ f8 is somewhat irrelavent other than you can use that info to start your test strip test. What everyone has said about test strips is appopiate however, and you'll probably find you'll do a test strip or two per print until you can look at the 'proof sheet' (did you do one of these?) and guess slight variations that a print may require (or the effect you wish - give the same negative to several printers and they all might interpret it differently)

So... do what Scott says and see how you go. If the test strip is still too dark, you may have to decrease the power of your enlarger globe as print times can be too short to perform and manipulation (dodgeing and burnning) and you don't want to stop the lense down any more. The other thing that you didn't mention is the print size... Bigger prints need more time and I have a problem making little prints (for family albums) occasionly.

As Anna mentioned, at this stage of your career, the processing times (developer, stop, fixer and wash) should stay consistant as advised by the manufacturers instructions. Some people (not me) do use developers where the time and dilution is changed to obtain varying results, however I suggest you stick with what your doing.

-- Nigel Smith (nlandgl@eisa.net.au), June 28, 2000.

The simplest way to start "calibrating" your system is, as suggested above to make test strips.

First things first though. The processing times that you're giving seem way off, and you make no mention of the temperature that you're developing at. The "standard" temperature for B&W processing is 68 deg Farenheit or 20 Celcius, and you need to get your processing solutions to a known temperature before you go any further. At 20 Celsius you should be developing the paper for two-and-a-half to three minutes, and fixing for at least 3 minutes in a rapid fixer, 5 minutes in standard fixer. In a hot climate, you can use 30 Celsius and halve those times, but it's not advisable to let your developer and fixer get much hotter than this.

You didn't mention what size prints you were trying to make either. Postcard size prints will only need a couple of seconds exposure. If this is about the size you are printing, then you need to close the lens down to f/11 or even f/16 to get controllable exposure times.

Next you need to establish the minimum exposure required to give a solid black on the printing paper. Take a piece of film that has no image on it, but is clear, such as a piece of the unfogged leader, and put that in the enlarger. Set up the enlarger exactly as you would for making a proper print. You'll need a piece of cardboard a bit bigger than the size of your photographic paper. Cut or tear a sheet of your printing paper into 5 cm wide strips and place one of them onto the easel (all in safelighting of course). Stop the lens down to working aperture, and place the cardboard over the printing paper leaving just 25mm or so uncovered. Give 1 second exposure, and move the cardboard to uncover another 25mm, then give another 1 second exposure. Repeat this until you've done it 10 times in all, then develop and fix the paper, and give it a few seconds wash. Take it into a good light (no need to wait for it to dry)and look at the "steps" you've just made. There should be one step where the paper just starts to look grey instead of black. Say it's the step that had 6 seconds, and 7 seconds is pure black. Seven seconds is your "baseline" exposure. If none of them are solid black, repeat the whole procedure with 2 second steps this time. Now you can substitute your piece of blank film with a real negative, and with any luck you should get a good print using the baseline exposure that you've just determined. It obviously gets a lot more complicated than this, but this should set you on the right road. Good luck!

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), June 29, 2000.

Thank you all of you so much for the comments and advices. I am planning to do the second test of the printing either tonight or tomorrow. Sorry that I did not mentioned about the print size. I was printing on Ilford 5x7 size paper. One other thing that I would like to know is that will the height of the head of the enlarger will matter no matter what f-stop I use?. I guess I came to a certain height(around mid point) to focus correctly to fit 5x7 paper..

thanks Jin

-- Jin Kim (jkim693433@yahoo.com), June 29, 2000.

Height of the enlarger head. Yes, it makes a difference. Someone is going to mention the inverse-square law. Sure it's important, but I'd ignore it for a few months.

If you raise the head a little bit, it's not important. If you raise the head alot, say the 5x7 was a whole person and you want only the face, so you crank the head up all the way. You're exposure is going to increase (more time). Just kinda figure on doubling it then do a test strip with the kinda guess in the middle. You'll muddle through. And as you are using Ilford Multi Grade Resin Coated, then the earlier suggestion of 2 1/2 min developing is probably for fiber based paper -- which you don't want to use for a bit. I use the same paper and I develop for 1min 15 sec just to be sure, but you just follow the label and you can't go wrong. Dean

-- Dean Lastoria (dvlastor@sfu.ca), June 29, 2000.

Agreeing with Dean, there is maybe an easy way to figure enlarger size. Think of your enlarger as a reverse camera. Printing the negative full frame @ f11 rendering a good print will be really close if you open up a stop for 1/2 of the negative... 1/4 of neg, open 2 stops with "close" to the same time. Cheers,

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), June 30, 2000.