Fanesa
Hello everyone,
I’ve been conducting black and white development for a while now. I use a development tank that holds a reel of 35mm film. The tank holds 500ml of liquid.
When I work with black and white developer, I discard the diluted developer after developing.
The Foma reversal development kit states that it is sufficient for 8 black-and-white films. This raises the question for me: how should I interpret this? Is the liquid in the kit sufficient for a total of 8 units/dilutions?
Or can I use the prepared solution to develop, bleach, etc., 8 times?
How would it be possible to develop within 1–2 months? Or does the whole lot not keep for that long?
Or would I have to store the exposed films and process the whole batch in one go? And would that even work with a single developing tank?
I look forward to your replies
-Fanesa-
Christoph
Hello Fanesa,
The working solutions from the Foma kit are prepared fresh each time and then discarded. That’s the beauty of it. The opened concentrates keep for over two months; I’ve tried it myself. For one roll of film, you prepare 300ml of solution per bath; for two rolls, simply double that. If you have a Jobo 1520 canister, however, the 600ml won’t quite fit for two rolls. So just prepare the solution and then fill it with only 500ml – it works perfectly.
I develop a lot using the Foma Kit.
Enjoy!
Chris
Fanesa
That sounds promising...
I’ve got the AP container, which holds 500 ml. Do I need to fill it right to the top, or is 300 ml enough?
But I’m pleased to hear about the shelf life; I think I’ll be ordering the Foma Kit soon...
Christoph
Hello,
300ml is certainly enough for one roll of film.
Yes, do order the Fomakit – it’s a great little kit. I develop all my rolls using distilled water.
Best regards
Chris
Fanesa
I’m a bit hesitant to order the kit.
Has anyone had any experience with this kit? And is it possible for a beginner (I’ve developed a few black-and-white films before, but never slide film) to get good results with it?
And one more thing: is there a description or something similar available anywhere? I saw a data sheet for it in another shop which gives a very rough outline of the process, but I’d prefer something more like a review.
On the subject of exposure. This is how I understood it: take the reel out of the tin and place it in a glass bowl or similar. The reel should be standing in/submerged in water. Then hold a 100W bulb 30cm away and expose it for 30 seconds, then turn the reel over and expose it again for 30 seconds. But then I keep reading that “it’s almost impossible to achieve proper exposure...” So would it really matter if the film was exposed to light for 40 seconds?!?! Or even longer??
It would be great if someone could spare a moment to help me out.
-Fanesa-
Christoph
Hi Fenesa,
Go on, order the kit and a few rolls of Fomapan R and give it a go. For the intermediate exposure, 3 minutes is best; turn the spirals and expose for another 3 minutes. And, of course, use tap water at 20°C.
Just shoot a whole roll of film with unimportant subjects and develop it. Good luck!
Best wishes,
Chris
Wolfgg
Hello Fanesa,
With black and white photography, overexposure is completely unproblematic; even 10 times the normal exposure won’t cause any issues. It’s best to perform the exposure of the spiral underwater in a white plastic tub; this diffuses the light well. Here are two links on the subject:
http://www.chrzahn.de/Fotoseiten/Tipps/Diakit.html
http://www.schwarzweiss-magazin.de/swmag_leser_09.htm
Best regards, Wolfgang
