Tag Archives: hc110

First Shot at Stand Development

A recent discussion with Kirk Lau with the boiling water temperature of our taps converged on the topic of stand development.  Basically stand development involves throwing away everything that I have learned so far about film processing.  Stand development is simply develop your film in diluted developer and after initial agitation, leave it to develop for (almost) infinite time.  You rely on the amount of chemical to natural develop your film, rather through agitation.

I still have six rolls of Tri-X 400 that I snapped in Japan back in June that still need to be developed.  I haven’t done so not because I am lazy but recently in the development with HC110 dilution H, the grain size appears to be large.  I suspect the culprit is the water temperature.  Both the tap water in Hong Kong and Shanghai measured to be well above 28C.  Even though I have compensated that with less development time but the grain size seems larger than before.  I am holding onto these rolls until I figure out what’s wrong.

I attended Herbert and Elaine’s wedding ceremony recently and prepared to shoot the event with my Canon QL17, my Canolite D flash and a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400.  The idea of stand development came back to me after the shoot and I figured I will give it a shot.  I developed the Kodak Tri-X with Kodak HC110 (1:100) dilution.  I did initial agitation of front, back, left, right, each 10 times, then gave the tank a good tap on the ground to avoid any possible bubbles.  I then left it to develop in 25C room temperature for 60 mins, followed by a 5 mins water bath.  Then I fixed it in Kodak Rapid Fix for 4.5 mins before rinsed in water again and wrapped it up with Kodak Photoflo.

The result was mostly successful.  The film developed fine except again for the large grain size.  I blame it on the tap water temperature again.  I need to put in ice and prepare the developer and rinse water to be around 20C next time! Nevertheless, the shots at the wedding ceremony was super loto and turned out super classic!  Totally reminded me of the ones in the dusty wedding albums of my parents.

Super classic!
Super loto, super classic!

Large format trials part one

Two weeks ago, I took the Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic for a spin in the Gold Coast.  It was a bright sunny day and I thought would be perfect to try out the machine with some el cheapo Shanghai film.  Pointing towards the hotel as shown below, I was shooting at f11, 1/50.  From my experience with the Polaroid 800, these Shanghai 4×5 film is light hungry.  Even though it’s rated at iso 100, you have to compensate this by at least one click (shoot this at iso 50).  Most cases, I even have to shoot at iso 25 for low light conditions.  I got the most success when I compensate this by 1.5 clicks.

My view through the ground glass.
My view through the ground glass.

This unit is from 1955 and the ground glass is full of dirt.  Right in the middle of the glass, the fresnel is coming off.  I need to take the ground glass out and have a good cleaning of it and maybe replacing this.  I didn’t have a focusing cloth and I just used my dark bag which worked ok.  It was tough to focus in the 35C weather and the sun shining right at you.  On top of that, you have to bandage your head with the focusing cloth.  I should look at an angled viewfinder!  The Graflok worked perfectly and so did the Grafmatic film holder.

After the shoot, I quickly developed the film at home with my Paterson system 4 tank which came with my Paterson Colourtherm machine.  It was a really hot day and the water was at 28C.  I developed the Shanghai film with Kodak HC110 dilution H in 14mins and Kodak Rapid Fix for another 4mins.  I scanned the photo with my Epson V700.

The developed photo!
The developed photo!

When I looked at the negatives, it was fine.  When I scanned it, I looked at the top part and I was like, it looks a lot more cloudy than it should? It was a bright sunny day.  Looking closely I can see water bubbles!  This was the first time I developed 4×5 with the taco method in the Paterson tank.  The Paterson tank top is slanted, which allowed some movement of the 4×5 while developing.  The AP tank that I used before, the top part was relatively flat and it was fine.  Next time if I am using the Paterson tank, I have to use 900mL of solution rather than 650mL.  It’s these unexpected “boo-boo”s that makes analog film interesting.  The photo really has a vintage feel to it.  I look forward to another shoot soon!

 

Sunday Afternoon Tea with Cailey

A relaxing Sunday afternoon with baby Cailey.

All photos taken with Canon QL17 GIII, Kodak Tri-X 400, self-developed, Kodak HC110 dilution H (5 minutes at 28C), Kodak RapidFix (4 minutes), water stop and Kodak Photoflo.  Scanned with Epson Perfection V700.

Cailey: My father is crazy. (with Gordon)
Cailey: “My father is crazy” (with Gordon)
Cailey: "I am eating again?"
Cailey: “I am eating again?”
Cailey: "What's going on here?"
Cailey: “What’s going on here?”
Cailey and Mama Vicky.
Cailey and Mama Vicky.

 

 

 

 

Film Development Day

Film Development Day
Film Development Day

For color film, I generally will save up at least six rolls before I develop them.  This is because I need to setup the water bath in my Peterson Auto Colortherm machine and it’s always a good idea to exhaust the color chemicals in one go rather than several (due to oxidation).

This weekend’s lineup, two rolls of medium format Fuji Reala 100, four rolls of 135 Fuji Xtra 400 (one roll inside the film case because it was removed from a 126 cartridge), one roll of Agfa Vista 400, one roll of Kodak TriX 400 as well as a roll of Lucky SHD 100.

The color film are developed with the Tetenal kit.  Chemical and water temperature are preheated at 38C.  First wet the film with water for 5 minutes, developer for 3:15 minutes, blix for 4 minutes, rince with 38C water for 3 minutes and stabilizer for 1 minute.  Both developer and blix agitation for first 30 seconds, then one inversion every 30 seconds.

Hong Kong is hot these days and water temperature sits at 28C.  This is difficult for BW development.  For Kodak TriX 400, first wet the film with water for 2 minutes.  Kodak HC110 (dilution H) for 5 minutes, water stop for 2 minutes, Kodak Rapid Fix for 4 minutes, wash with water for 2 minutes and finish with Kodak Photoflo.  Agitation for developer and fixer is the same.   Agitation by inversion for the first 30 seconds, followed by two inversions every 30 seconds.

For developing Lucky SHD 100 film, first wet the film with water for 2 minutes.  Kodak HC110 (dilution H) for 14 minutes, water stop for 2 minutes, Kodak Rapid Fix for 4 minutes, wash with water for 2 minutes and finish with Kodak Photoflo.  Agitation for developer and fixer is the same.   Agitation by inversion for the first 30 seconds, followed by two inversions every 30 seconds.

Nine rolls of film drying in my washroom, what a scene!

Results of the developed photos to follow.