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Cameras |
Small Tank Development and
Film Drying
Anyone whose
developed B&W before, there is enough information here to refresh your
memory. All the BASIC info. is here. Here are the steps involved to
develop black and white film. The items that are needed are as follows:
-
Small
Tank (8 oz. -
preferably metal), 24 exp. film spool and tank cap
-
B&W
Film Developer
(Kodak D76, HC-110, etc.) The
directions
on this page is for
Kodak D76. The ILFORD FILM
DEVELOPMENT Chart
link is on the bottom of the page.
-
Chemical Thermometer
- to measure the chemical
or water temperature.
-
5 or 6
pitchers that
can hold and measure at least 16 oz. Unless you have a sink nearby, and
you want to wash one pitcher out repeatedly through development, I
suggest you have a bunch of clean ones ready.
-
Film
development chart.
It's usually inside the film's box, just open it up.
-
A good
sized Sink
nearby (NOT YOUR BATHROOM OR KITCHEN!) You should have one set up in
your darkroom, I don't think you'd want any chemicals going into any of
your ordinary sinks!
-
A
chemical container
(to dispose of the
developer chemical ONLY)
-
Table
(for items needed)
and stool
(so your feet won't hurt).
Preparing
the Film
When you
are finished taking pictures with your roll of B&W film, you must prepare to develop it
into the small developing tank canister. You need 4 things altogether.
The film itself, the tank, the spool that goes into the tank, and the
tank's cap. This is what you do:
-
Take the
items into the film closet. Make sure the closet is completely dark
and that you cannot see ANY light whatsoever. [The next steps involved
need TONS of practice, and after developing 4-8 rolls, you should get
the hang of things.]
-
[The
next few steps involved needs your tactile sense ALONE. The film is
extremely light sensitive so do your best to just feel things out.]
Take the film and pull it out of it's container until you cant get
anymore out of it (DON'T rip it though). When you get to the base of
the film, take scissors and snip it off so that the film is left by
itself.
-
Take the
end you just snipped and get the small tank's film spool. Gently bend
the end and hook it onto the film spool's clip, with the dull
[emulsion] side down, and the shiny smooth side up and just put enough
so that the film is securely in place.
-
Gently
bend the film, DO NOT Fold or Crunch the film AT ALL. This will
destroy the emulsion and the negative. Continue to wrap it and bend
gently to fit the film in between the two spool reels. It takes
practice, so if it unrolls some from the center, just back up and
re-spool it again. It could take a while, depends on how well you do
it.
-
Once the
film is all on the spool, make sure you place it in the small tank
[while still in the dark!!] and cover it with the tank's lid. it
should be airtight, so press the cap on good, and make sure the rim of
the tank is covered tightly.
-
Now you
are ready to take it outside the closet for development.
Kodak D76 developer Small Tank Development
- 1:1 ratio,
in an 8oz. tank (Initial Drafted Chart: sorry if there's mistakes)
| Chemical |
Amount |
Time |
Temp. (F) |
Agitation (Movement) |
What it does |
| Kodak D76 (1:1) |
4oz. D76 to 4oz. water |
see film chart for times |
68 |
1st 30 seconds, then once every 30 seconds. |
Covers film in developer, develops and moves
around air bubbles that may be stuck in between film. |
| Stop Bath |
8 oz |
30 sec |
68 |
Continuosly |
Stops developer acid from overdeveloping film |
| Hypo-Fix |
8oz |
10 min |
68 |
1st 30 sec, once every 30 seconds thereafter. |
Fixes image onto film, reacts with Silver |
| Water |
8oz |
5 min |
room temp |
n/a, put under faucet. |
Washes off Fix from film. |
| Hypo-Clear |
8oz |
2 min |
68 |
every 30 sec |
Removes chemicals |
| Water |
8 oz. |
2 min |
room temp |
n/a, put under faucet. |
Washes excess chemicals that may still remain
on film. |
*IF
you'd like to use Kodak Photo-Flo:
Once
you are done with all the previous steps, fill the tank with 8 oz. of
Photo-Flo, and DON'T AGITATE at all for 2 minutes (otherwise it'll get
bubbly). Pour chemical in the
same bottle it came out of (NEVER MIX CHEMICALS or throw it in an
ordinary sink).
How to dry the film
When you
are finished, you should have a line hung in your darkroom in an open
area, or a small closet, built specifically for your wet film, with one
or two rows of fish wire connected to each side of the top.
-
Take a
film clip and snap it onto the end of the film spool.
-
Slowly
unwind the reel, and the weight of the clip make the film dangle down.
-
Once you
reach the end of the film, detach it from the spool, and hold the top
tight.
-
Squeegie
the film with your index and middle finger once or twice to get the
excess water out of there.
-
Hang
film on line to dry.
Once your
film is dry, you can take it down, and you should snip the film in strips
of 5 negatives, example:
| negative 1 |
negative 2 |
negative 3 |
negative 4 |
negative 5 |
When you are finished cutting the film into
strips, you can put it into Film Sleeves to protect it . You are now done
developing.
Other ways to develop B&W Film
(More Information added on later):
-
Small tank
development with: (Kodak)
Microdol-X, HC-110, D76
(not 1:1 development; fill tank with 8ozs), T-MAX, and T-MAX RS
development chemicals.
-
(Ilford) Unknown -
Please check on the Ilford Website , I will update Ilford list soon.
-
Push
Processing: Take
film at one speed and develop it as if it was another speed of film.
Ilford Film Development Charts More Information added on later:
-Official Site Film
Development chart (Adobe PDF download) @
http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/pdf/dev_chart.pdf
-Push Processing Chart
for Ilford:
http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/pdf/push processing.pdf |
