(Semi) Stand Development

Some opinions might make you believe that you need at least 5ml of Rodinal to develop a film in stand development.

To be honest, I never understood that statement.

When doing stand development with 1:200 dilutions, I just eyeballed with what I got, and it turned out alright every single time; mainly for 120 and 135 Foma films. My tanks are using either 590ml or 250ml of liquid. In both scenarios, the amount of Rodinal is obviously less than 5ml for a 1:200 (give or take) dilution.

I have the suspicion that the above statement is more based on the lack of a device being able to provide decent accuracy for measuring small volumes.
While I do not claim this finding for me, I feel it would be a good idea to promote the finding by Will Agar.
While I did not learn about stand development from Will Agar, I was made aware of a cheap measuring device Will is abusing for photography purposes: the medicine (or dosing) spoon.

Dosing spoon

The dosing spoon is good for 10ml of liquid to be dosed. In my use, that would make about 2 litres of developer. However, the spoon displays sections of 1ml in good distance, such that a measurement in the region of 1/4ml is possible.
And yes, I used that kind of spoon to dose the amount of raw Rodinal required for my JOBO 1510 tank for developing a 135 roll of Fomapan with less than 5ml of Rodinal.


Method for 120 film:

• pre-soak for 2min
• rinse twice and empty tank
• pour developer in tank and agitate slowly for 1min
• tap tank a few times
• let stand for 90+ min
• empty tank and wash before fixing

Method for 135 film:

• pre-soak for 2min and empty tank
• pour developer in tank and agitate slowly for 1min
• tap tank a few times
• 2 slow agitations every 15min, tap tank after agitations
• after 90min empty tank and wash before fixing

Maybe the agitations for 135 film are not necessary... however, in some experiments, the sprocket holes of the 135 film created streekes of uneven development. The somewhat regular but seldom agitation appears to overcome that problem. However, the agitations will also prevent some of the beneficial effects of stand development  to fully appear.

The Paper Negative & Gear & Technique

Some posts ago, I was shortly talking about "paper negatives" and here comes what the excitement is all about.
As the name suggests, a paper negative is a negative on paper ... haha ... you might think. But, think again!
The idea is to take photos, i.e. negatives, using photographic paper. Photographic paper itself works very much the same way as photographic film, despite being a lot less sensitive.

First thoughts before jumping into the experience of the paper negative:

• what kind of camera?
• what kind of tripod?
• light-meter?
• paper?
• lab equipment?
• chemicals?

The Camera

I would  suggest to get a folding camera with a film format of around 9cm x 12cm (I will come back to this later).
Those cameras usually come with a 135mm lens and various shutters.
Often the shutters make the difference. Since we are aiming for using the camera with paper, it is important that the slow speeds are working properly. I recommend looking for a "Compur" with self-timer. Those are "fairly" modern and can be fixed with some patience. As I wrote before, make sure the slow speeds are working, unless you're confident you can fix the shutter.
As important as a working shutter is that both parts of the lens (if it is a 2 part lens) are clear. I have seen lenses so fogged up that you cannot see your finger touching the opposite side. (Stay away from those! - no way to fix easily!)
Shutter and lens, the most important items to an old plate camera? No, not all... bellows can be a big deal problem. If the camera is expensive, make sure that the bellow is light-tight! If you can get the camera for cheap, you might accept a leaking bellow, since it can be fixed by either gaffer's tape or replacement.
Right, and now comes the really important part of buying an old plate camera! Make sure that you get some fitting plate film cassettes with it, in good shape that is! Said cassettes are usually made from thin sheet-metal, which can corrode easily! Corroded film cassettes are very hard to restore! Also, finding cassettes for your particular camera can be really difficult.
Hence, the most important part when looking for a folding camera is the presence of cassettes in good condition.

The Tripod

You'll  need a tripod no matter what! Exposure times will be between 1s/10 and several minutes.
This particular tripod needs to be equipped with a 3/8 inch screw, since this was the gauge of the time. It is the gauge of today too, but not for the camera. 3/8 is still used to mount your tripod head onto the tripod itself. However, this requires that you selected one with a removable head.
For my very own camera, I use a MeFOTO RoadTrip.
A camera that does shift, rise and fall, you would usually not need a ball-head. However, if it makes you feel more comfortable, you will need a 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch adapter screw.

Light-Meter

Unless you are very sure what you are doing, you should get a decent light-meter. Why am I saying this? A decent light-meter will allow you to get exposure values for ISO 3, which is exactly what you need for paper negatives. Mine is a Gossen Starlite II. 
You might use a general purpose meter and calculate your way down from ISO 100 to ISO 6 or ISO 3, no problem, however, I prefer spot-metering: "expose for the shadows, develop for the lights" (we'll come to this later again). So, is you meter shadows, put them on zone 3 on your Starlite II (which does actually know the zone system!).

Paper

Here, the opinions split. Well, not as to the type of paper to use, PE (aka RC) is the call!
And here comes the split:

• fixed gradation
• variable gradation

My experiments were inconclusive so far, what a favorite is considered. I used long expired gradation 4 and gradation 3 paper to the same success as very fresh FOMA multi-grade paper.
Most photographers working with paper negatives recommend a #2 gradation (which is "medium soft" photographic paper). Paper, in comparison to film, is considered "hard", i.e. having high contrast.

The following needs to be considered when choosing the paper:

1. photographic paper is very blue-green sensitive
2. variable gradation paper provides specific contrast for specific wavelengths of light

Both factors, 1. and 2. point towards the use of filters.

1. fixed gradation paper with colored filters will lead to a defined sensitivity of the paper negative
2. variable gradation paper with gradation filters will lead to a defined contrast of the paper negative

The choice is yours!

Pre-flash the Paper

This is a trick to sensitize the paper by homogeneously pre-exposing the paper, shortly before the shot, with an amount of light that does not (substantially) darken the negative. The effect is believed to be temporary only, since the Bromine in the emulsion might re-collect the lost electron.

Many folks pre-flash by means of their enlarger of other contraptions in the darkroom. 

Personally, I figured out a different method:

• meter a homogeneous light source (e.g. the sky) for zone IX or X
• de-focus whatever was metered for (e.g. close focus for a cloud)
• open the dark-slide
• expose widest open as possible
• close the dark-slide

Now the paper is pre-flashed and ready to take a picture.

This procedure might give you 1 stop of sensitivity.

Lab Gear

This is real easy, you need to pick some meals from your favorite Chinese take-away, and you'll be supplied with plenty of paper processing trays.
OK, there is some equipment you really need: a safe-light!
Why is that? While film is developed in total darkness, paper can be developed in safe-light lit environment. Meaning, you can actually see for yourself the development process and stop it at your liking! How cool is that?!
That brings us back to the "develop for the lights" part ... well ... you'll see them coming up!

Chemicals

Well, that's a good one. Of course you can use whatever you want or are used to. I am actually using a Caffenol developer. Caffenol is a lot slower than traditional paper developer, so be patient. I once developed a paper negative for 70min. The good thing is, using paper, you can observe the developing process under safe light conditions.
The paper is fixed by a 9+1 Ilford fixer solution.

Some results 

In a previous post, I already was displaying what can be done with an old camera and photographic paper.


At a later point in time, I will add photographs showing the various peaces of equipment I am using personally. Stay tuned!

Mechanical Cameras (chemical that is)

Some time ago, I got myself a collection of 4 "untested" (i.e. defect) vintage cameras for real cheap from a world renowned auction site.

The jewel of the collection was a Minolta A5, with a jammed shutter (blocking the film advance lever). I slowly pealed the layers off that thing, and like an onion, it presented the guts, ever so slowly. Finally, I got the lens barrel holding the shutter mechanism separated from the rest. Some tweaking even got the shutter back to work... However, to the present day, I was unable to reassemble this particular camera.
Main problem: I can't get the lens back into the threaded mount. Potentially this camera is a total loss :-(

Second in place was an Argus C3. This camera had a problem with the cocking mechanism, which opened the shutter incidentally. Not good, that for sure. Also the tripod mount was fill with a broken off screw, which is not good either.
The quick fix for the shutter cocking mechanism was to tighten up the shutter release and fix it in the timed position. OK, now, the bulb mode is gone ... but what is a bulb mode good for, if you can't use a tripod? Mind you, the broken screw in the tripod mount.

In third place, a Fujica Half. Actually, this camera was the main driver to place a bid! Again, the shutter was jammed, blocking the film advance lever, similar to the Minolta A5.
Seems that fixes are much simpler with the Fujica. Carefully removing the black rubber, the front-plate of the camera, which is held by 4 screw only, can be easily removed. W/o the front cover, the shutter release mechanism is exposed. Upon wiggling said release a bit, it loosened up and finally released, allowing for cranking the shutter.
The Fujica Half is back in business! Even the automatic exposure stuff seems to work.

The forth and final camera in the bundle was some cassette film plastic thingy not worth any further mention....

At the end, 2 out of 4 cameras a working fine. A third may potentially be rescued, although, I doubt if there is any incentive to rescue this particular Minolta A5 over just trying to get a working one for cheap.

Long live 135 film!

Fujica Half 1.9 - Caffenol - First Scans

As previously announced, the only thing to wait for was the film to dry.

Half frame cameras seem not to be known to today's scanner manufacturers... the scanner software insisted in scanning 135 film full frames.
The following images are results of scanning the negatives with an Epson Perfection V370 Photo.
Resolution 4800 dpi at 16-bit grayscale. The scanner's software does some automatic settings, which I reset in order to have a linear scan.

as output by the scanner - scaled using the GIMP

some adjustments in LR - scaled using the GIMP

Not sure how accurate the first image reflects the scan, since the GIMP converted from 16-bit to 8-bit.
When I look at the actual negatives, they seem perfectly fine for dark room printing, just like the films I developed previously using commercial film developers.


Interesting about half-frame cameras, one tends to pay more attention to portrait shots, which is an interesting experience. Before I obtained this camera, most of my photos were horizonticals, i.e. landscape shots.

Concerning the camera, I would like to point towards this link: "Fujica Half 1.9". The one that I got has a broken light meter, no problem thanks to the full manual control.

In the course of time, I might write some more about the camera. Next plan: shoot a C41 film and have it professionally developed... let's check the chromatic qualities of the f/1.9 lens.

Chardonnol - Chardonnay as Developer

What gave me that idea?!
Well, very simple, Dirk posted a very interesting article (and video) about developing photo-sensitive paper with red wine and some other stuff.
Have a look: http://www.caffenol.org/2012/06/20/wineol-red-wine-developer/

This inspired me to research a bit myself, which brought me to this page:
http://www.phenol-explorer.eu/contents/graph?compound_id=457&experimental_method_group_id=2&food_id=137&unit_type=weight
Interesting! It seem that chardonnay actually produces the most caffeic acid. Now you know why this white wine always caused you problems!
Don't drink it! Use it as developer!
Some more interesting reading on the topic can be found here:
http://www.skinandallergynews.com/views/cosmeceutical-critique-by-leslie-s-baumann/blog/caffeic-acid/5be431eb4418c47d008ed4d6a9534421.html

Right, let's go to my first ever experiment using chardonnay as developer:

Chardonnol

Recipe:

• 0.5l cheap Chardonnay
• 3/4 tea spoon ascorbic acid => measured pH 4
• 2 tea spoons washing soda => measure pH > 11 (maybe 1.5 tea spoons washing soda will be better)

The soup was brown by now.

X-pro development

I developed a regularly exposed Agfa vista plus ISO 200 (C41 color negative film) for 16 minutes in a Jobo Universaltank 160 Mod.4.
Agitation during the initial 30 secs, than every first 10 secs of a minute.
The result was very very faint, somewhat like the experiment I did with Caffenol-STD and a 10 minutes development (see previous post).
Here is a high contrast frame (dust in the darkroom, dust on the scanner, I even seemed to have managed to scratch the film). One image reflects the file that my Epson V370 produced, the other image was a result of playing with curves in the GIMP.

scan as created by the scanning

curves adjusted using the GIMP

Unlike with the under-developed example shown in the previous post, I was unable to recover any color information from the negative. Maybe the development was even too short for this.


I figure, Chardonnol would be a very good developer for stand development, in particular seen the fine grain it produces. Will try 45min with this recipe next.

Here is another example, low contrast now:

as scanned

curves, brightness and contrast adjusted

This time, I operated at the very limits of image reconstruction. I guess, the vertical lines are actually inside the film material, now visible due to the enormous push by the scanning software and my GIMPing.

Printing those frames (by means of an enlarger) could be a challenge. Asks for grade 5 paper, I guess.

Goin' Chemical Again!

Yep, that's write, I am all over with digital (well, sort of) and getting back to photography as I learned it: nasty smells in the darkroom!

Returning from my home-leave, I brought my good old dark-room stuff to my expat-home. Meaning, not only my very own enlarger made the trip, also the developer tank my father used in his youth.

You may ask yourself what is going on! The guy just bought tons of digital gear and now he's talking chemical?!
Right! I caught myself in some sort of nebula myself.

Digital is OK... you take the shot, and process it by means of a software of your liking.
However, were is the soul? The soul of photography, which lives somewhere between the hope of having the shot and the hope of actually getting it (by developing and printing your exposure).

Maybe I am all romantic, dreaming the past... Never the less, having my darkroom stuff around me triggered some experiments.

I bought a couple of disposable cameras. It seems that both came from a "bad" batch, since the base side was badly scratched, as you will see in a sec.

To experiment, I exposed the ISO 400 C41 color films under various situations.  At the end, I developed 1 film for 16min and the other one for 10min.

Cross-processing C41 film in a B&W manner should be done in about 15min, according to the interwebs. My 16min development results is usable negatives (although I have not yet tried to print any of those with my enlarger.
The interesting part comes along with the under-developed C41-film.

This film was developed in Caffenol and later scanned with an Epson V370. From the cross-processed neg, the scanner recovered the color green...

caffenol x-processed color neg

Today I tried to X-develop a film in a mixture of Chardonnay, Vit-C and Soda... One thing is for sure, the negs are not as dark... however, I am not sure if the film developed enough... It's drying now, lets hope for the best,