DEVELOPING THE NEGATIVE OR COLOUR SLIDE. The most critical part of processing is the development of the film, regardless of type. Commercially this is done by machines, and usually very well. However, you do get what you pay for, and monochrome development, professionally, is becoming increasingly rare. One exception is ILFORD XP2, a very good monochrome film rated, nominally, at 400 ISO. It is based on colour technology, and thus uses a special developer, or can be processed along with ordinary colour negative films at your usual lab. The results can be excellent, especially in it`s own special chemicals. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Ilford chose, a few years ago, to re-style the kit to cover colour negatives, and up went the cost per film dramatically. Most colour chemicals have a limited shelf life, even un-opened. Be careful not to be sold old stock. When opened, the undiluted solutions last only a few weeks due to oxidation - always try and minimise contact with air using squeeze bottles etc. Diluted solutions for use often last only a few hours. You must look closely at costs before home processing colour - print or slide. You must also realise that times and temperatures are critical for repeatable good results. Is your equipment up to it ? Colour slides have the advantage that they could be viewed within hours of taking if home processed, Colour negative means that you produce the print that YOU want, not that the processors thinks you want. Automatic machines are set up to process and print `average` pictures - whatever they are ! As you become more ambitious, and subjects change, a `cheap` lab can fail badly to do justice to your work. It may be time to have a go yourself. A regular example is the baby in a christening gown - a lot of white ! The prints come back with the whites blue - that is because the averaging system in the computerised printer is trying to achieve an `average` result. If the operator does not recognise your non standard work - or doesn`t care - the results are poor. AVAILABILITY Colour neg and slide film have only a small number of possible developers. All do the same thing. Monochrome film is a different matter. The film comes in many `speeds` - as does colour - but processing can be adapted to the speed. Dealing just with conventional mono films, not XP2, or other chromogenic films, if they are ever manufactured - A 50 ISO film is slow, has very fine grain and can be very sharp indeed - depends on lens quality and possible camera shake of course. As film gets faster, then the grain size increases and it becomes potentially less sharp. You pick the film speed to suite the situation - so a still life would require a slow film, a floodlit football match a very fast one. Negative size, of course, also affects quality. Pro rata, a medium format negative will always produce a sharper print than will a 35 mm. We will deal with `home brew` solutions later - there are many developers available commercially, and we will look at these here. Stop baths and fixers are all very similar, regardless of manufacturer. you should also remember that, even with commercial solutions, it may be necessary to modify the makers instructions to get the negatives that best suite YOUR enlarging technique. Film characteristics can be modified by the choice of developer. Fine grain types are designed to produce a tight grain structure that makes grain difficult to see even on large prints. `Acutance` developers are best used on films up to 200 ISO and create an edge sharpness effect - giving an illusion of greater sharpness - usually at the expense of a slightly coarser grain. ( This type is my favorite for 35 mm. along with FP4 rated at 200 ISO.) Some developers also give apparent film speed increase over that recommended. Some very fine grain types might give a speed reduction ! - you need to be aware of these facts before exposure. Developers exist to get the best out of faster films, and there are more general products, such as Paterson Aculux, which will deal well with most films and give a useful 1/2 stop speed increase. Paterson Acuspeed is also a useful `brew` - it increases film speed by 1 to 1 1/2 stops, meaning 400 ISO films can be rated at 1200 ISO and still give good negatives, but with some loss in shadow detail. It is also possible to `uprate` the time that a film is in the developer, giving apparent speed increase at some quality penalty. This can be very useful with SLIDE films - a 20% time increase in the developer ONLY giving about 1 stop - but experiment or consult the manufacturers data sheet. Many of the big manufacturers will send you technical data sheets on many products if you ask for them. EXPOSURE. Correct exposure in the camera is the ideal situation, and is critical with colour slide films. A slight degree of under exposure can make slide film colours richer, but for negative films, if you must err, go for over exposure. An over exposed negative always produces a better print than an under exposed one. Over exposed negatives are dense, under exposed are thin. The opposite is true of colour slides. METHOD. After exposure, process the film as soon as possible. Films, exposed or not, should be stored in cool conditions. I keep mine in the fridge - not the freezer though ! In TOTALLY dark conditions, trim off the film leader if 35 mm. and keep this for testing fixer. For medium format, strip the film from it`s backing paper. Load the film into the developing tank and ensure the lid is securely fitted. Switch on the lights. Make up the chemicals as necessary - most modern chemicals come as a liquid, making dilution to working strength easier. Have a measure of water at the correct temperature, but with less volume than needed. Add the concentrate, after careful measuring - check temperature, then add more water to make the correct volume at a temperature to arrive at the correct final value. Keep a record of how many films the stop and fix have done and make up fresh if in any doubt. Check that the developer is at the right temperature and that the stop and fix are near enough. I use a washing up bowl containing water of the correct temperature. I stand the tank and chemical bottles in this. It is easier to keep one large volume of water at the correct temperature, than several small ones. You can, of course, buy water baths to do this - at a cost ! For colour, I have a fish tank heater/thermostat in the bowl to maintain temperature accurately. When all is well, pour the developer into the tank and - IMMEDIATELY - start the timer. Give the tank a sharp tap to dislodge any air bubbles, and agitate as directed, or as you have found best. I give 30 secs. immediately, then 10 seconds every minute. Correct agitation will control contrast - more agitation increases contrast. A few seconds before time is completed, pour the developer from the tank and discard, or store as required. Wash the film in the tank with running water for a couple of minutes, or 3 or 4 changes of water at the right temperature. Drain the tank and pour in the stop bath for a minimum of 30 seconds - I give at least 1 minute. Pour back into the bottle and give a single rinse of water if desired. Pour in the fixer for the required time, and give a bit more in my experience. Test the fixer regularly, but always make sure the processed film is FULLY clear - faint lines across the film at sprocket holes is a sure sign of incomplete fixing. Fixing time is TWICE the clearing time. If in doubt, re-fix in fresh solution. After fixing, pour the fixer into it`s bottle and wash the film in running water, or about 10 water changes - shaking the tank each time. Wash time should be about 30 minutes, but a rapid washing solution is available to cut times. This is simply a Sodium Sulphite solution that neutralises any remaining fixer. Washing and fixing are very important if a long neg/print life is required. At the end of the wash, the film should have 30 secs. to 1 minute in a wetting agent. This encourages uniform drying. I have used both a drop of commercial washing up liquid, and photographic wetting agent. The effect is basically the same, but the photographic material is more pure. Now the film should be carefully removed from the spiral and hung in a DUST FREE area to dry. Excess water can be removed with a commercial tool, but I don`t use them, having suffered bad scratching. I run the film between my first and second fingers, then leave it to dry. HOME BREW CHEMICALS Whilst it is now false economy to make up colour solution from raw chemicals, it can be an advantage to make developers , stop baths and fixers. The developers can be because they do the job you really want, the others because, if you buy the chemicals in bulk - say at a camera club - gallons of fixer can be made up quite cheaply. When mixing chemicals, remember that all chemicals can be dangerous, so wash hand afterwards. Never contaminate one chemical with another - clean tools, and mix in warm water - they dissolve quicker ! Water can be straight from the tap. Mix in about 2/3 rds. the final volume, and dissolve EXACTLY in the order given. Never add the next chemical until the previous one has completely dissolved. Finally make up the solution to the desired volume and bottle. Chemicals are available from chemists, specialist photo-dealers or advertisers in the photo. press, such as Rayco. Never use a developer that has discoloured - usually gone brown. It has oxidised and will be weak or U/S. NEGATIVE DEVELOPER - KODAK D76 - ILFORD ID11 These are the same developer - an old but well respected formula that still works well with most mono films. It is a little inconvenient to use. Formula... Metol 2.0 Gram Sodium Sulphite 80.0 Hydroquinone 4.0 Borax 4.0 Potassium Bromide 0.5 Make up to 1000 ccs. ( 1 litre ) This developer is normally used neat. You would need to do some tests, but FP4 is about 10 mins. at 20 oC. Rate at normal film speed. The time is INCREASED by 10% for each film processed up to a maximum of 10/litre. D76 was considered the standard developer against which others were measured, even in the early 1980`s. NEGATIVE DEVELOPER - BEUTLERS This is a famous acutance developer for all films, particularly 35 mm. The following variation was known as FX-1. Make up as two concentrated stock solutions, A and B. Mix the volume required JUST before use,in proportions 1 of A to 1 of B to 10 0f water. Add A to the water, then B. Stir well. Discard used solution. ( Anhydrous means with no water of crystalisation. ) A. Metol 5.0 g. Sodium Sulphite (anhydrous) 50.0 Potassium Iodide 0.001% solution. ( Can be omitted ) Water to 1000ccs. B. Sodium Carbonate (anhydrous) 25.0 Water to 1000 ccs Use at 20 oC. FP4 ( 35 mm. ) = 13 min - normal film speed. FP4 (roll) = 14 min NEGATIVE DEVELOPERS - PYRO This variation on Beutlers I include as the one i actually use. The formula was given to me by a man who was involved with high definition aerial photography during WW2. This was used to get maximum definition from recon cameras. The results on 35 mm. are very good at the expense of some increase in grain size. As with Beutlers, it is 2 solutions, A and B, mixed just before use in the same way. A. Metol 1.5 g. Sodium Sulphite (anhy) 25.0 Pyrogallol 2.0 Water to 500 ccs. B. Sodium Carbonate 25.0 Water to 500 ccs. Process at 20 oC. FP4 for 10 mins. Film rated at 200 ISO Pan F for 7.5 mins - rate at 80 ISO STOP BATH Make up glacial Acetic Acid to a 2% solution. Use until the smell of vinegar fades, then discard. RAPID FIXER. Fixers can be made up, but it is often better to bulk buy in gallon containers - I do. Hypo ( Ammonium Thiosulphate ) 300.0 g Ammonium Chloride 25.0 Sodium Bisulphite 25.0 Water to 1000 ccs. Use until a test with a piece of undeveloped film fails to clear in about 2 minutes. Fix for, at least, 4 minutes.