Piece in Calbe E 102

Lui · 2008-02-29T09:52:38+00:00

Hi, habe gestern einen neuen Ansatz mit meinem Positivebtwickler E102 gemacht. Dabei ist mir aufgefallen, dass irgendetwas festes sich in der Originalflasch...

Lui

Hi, I tried a new method with my E102 positive developer yesterday. I noticed that there was something solid in the original bottle. So I fetched a torch and tried to have a look inside. It looked like ice!!! :) Well, I thought to myself, you’d had it in the fridge, so maybe some ice crystals had formed. So I left the bottle in the kitchen and what can I say... the solid white/transparent chunks are still there. The developer isn’t old either, about 4 months, and the fridge is set to 6–8 °C. Can anyone tell me what these chunks/pieces are? Oh, and they’ve formed on the side where the bottle was always lying (on its side and at the bottom) Regards Lui

MirkoBoeddecker

Lui, Quite apart from the potential health risks (unless it’s a dedicated laboratory fridge), liquid chemicals shouldn’t be stored in the cold. What you can see are salt crystals. A developer concentrate is a highly saturated solution, and if it’s stored in the cold for too long, the crystals precipitate out of the solution and crystallise. You could dissolve them again by warming the concentrate in a bain-marie whilst stirring gently. However, if there are only a few crystals, you can simply continue using the developer as it is. Best regards, Mirko

Lui

Hi Mirko, It’s very kind of you to be concerned about my health, but there’s no need – I’ve got a lab fridge especially for this B) The bits (or rather pieces) are quite large – about 2x4cm or even bigger. I just wanted to do the chemicals a favour and store them in the fridge. Now I know that’s not such a great idea :huh: What about the shelf life if I heat up the residue (about 400–500ml) now? I’ll probably make one more batch and then I’ll give your tip a go. After that, I plan to switch developers anyway (the good old N113, for example), as the yield of about 2.5m² isn’t exactly high for the price :) Regards Lui

Lui

Can anyone recommend a good positive developer that produces neutral or even slightly warm tones? One with good film coverage? And a long shelf life in the tray (not like Neutol WA at a 1:11 dilution, which needs to be used up in a day)? TT Eukobrom? TT Variospeed W? Moersch? Regards Lui

Renate

Hello, I use N113 and am extremely satisfied with it. It seems to last forever in a collapsible bottle. Even long breaks in the darkroom aren’t a problem. It is mainly used up through the transfer of the liquid. Bromsilver develops a wonderfully neutral tone, whilst chlorobromosilver develops a warmer tone, depending on the type. I prepare 5 litres of N113 in a bucket and divide it between the appropriate number of collapsible bottles. It stays fresh in them until I need it. For my way of working, this is the ideal developer. Best regards, Renate

Lui

Hi Renate, How many photos do you develop in the N113, and what size are they? Best wishes, Lui

Renate

Hello, I don’t keep track. I don’t have the time for that sort of record-keeping. The N113 probably has a much higher capacity than I can make use of. I’ve never had the N113 stop working whilst I was using it. At some point, the amount of liquid in the tray becomes so low due to evaporation and carry-over that I can no longer work with it. Baryta paper absorbs quite a lot. Usually, the developer is then also noticeably discoloured and it’s time to change it. As the developer is very cheap, I don’t feel the need to use it down to the last drop. Best regards, Renate

Lui

Hi Renate, I don't really think it's that cheap, because 1.50

uworischki

Hi Lui, There’s no need to extend the development time. Just let the paper finish developing and you’re good to go. I prepare N113 in a 10-litre container. It lasts (and keeps!) for almost a year, without any inert gas, glass beads or collapsible bottles. I’ve never had N113 go off in any way... unless you add a good splash of fixer... Regards, Uwe PS: I should add that the N113 I use was manufactured and bagged just under 20 years ago....

cfb_de

There’s no need to extend the development time. Just let the paper finish developing and you’re good to go. I prepare the N113 in a 10-litre container. It lasts (and keeps!) for almost a year, without any inert gas, glass beads or collapsible bottles. It’s never happened to me that N113 has somehow gone off... unless you add a good splash of fixer...

Hi Uwe, That’s right. Certain classic developers last almost forever. From my experience, N113, Eukobrom or Paper Dur would be worth mentioning. All classic formulations without any modern frills. At the moment I’m using a homemade paper developer: 7g metol, 7g hydroquinone, 65g sodium sulphite anhydrous, 135g soda anhydrous, 3g KBr to one litre (supposedly perform a 1+4 dilution for the solution, I use 1+7). The stuff lasts forever; the source of the recipe is ‘Weiss/Kahlau, Taschenbuch der Photographie, Humboldt Taschenbücher, 1958, published by Lebendiges Wissen GmbH, Munich’. Why does it last forever? For one thing, there’s enough sulphite in it. The solution is even recommended in the book as a negative developer and, when used with my ortho films developed by eye (which is why I don’t know the times), produces good, fine grain results. Secondly, back then, people didn’t just throw away paper developer as soon as it started turning yellowish. For one thing, you can’t see that under red light in black or red trays; for another, the solution is still perfectly fine. After all, paper isn’t developed by the stopwatch, but until the very end. I discard the developer if the image development time for Vario Classic FB (I still have about 30m of it) exceeds 45 seconds. 25–30 seconds is normal for this paper; you should develop the paper for at least three minutes anyway, as there’s still some detail emerging in the blacks. For my next batch of homemade paper developer, I’ll use 0.5g of phenidone instead of the 7g of metol. That should make the solution last even longer, as with this formulation the oxidation of phenidone is desirable and is what actually makes it work. If that works out, I’ll have enough chemicals here for the next fifty years’ worth of paper developer for the equivalent of less than forty euros. So you could then stock the wooden box with some hydroquinone for me as well. Apparently it’s good for the complexion :-) Best regards, Franz

ravebenni

The solution is even recommended in the book as a negative developer and, when used with my orthochromatic films developed by eye (which is why I don’t know the exact times), it produces good, fine grain results.

I can only confirm that. Over the last three weeks, I’ve had my first experiences with photochemistry and black-and-white processing. I use a student photography lab. Out of curiosity and a desire to experiment, I developed my black-and-white film in N133. I picked up some fridge-stored ORWO OP 100 roll film on eBay, which has been out of date since 1997. I had the first test roll developed to check the material’s suitability. I was happy with the negatives and then started experimenting myself. I diluted some of the 5 litres of prepared Calbe N113 1+3 and simply developed a piece of film in the light. I adjusted the total volume to fit the developing tank I would later use and simply ‘guessed’ the dilution. After about 6–8 minutes, it was a nice black. Afterwards, I cut off pieces of partially exposed material in the dark and manoeuvred them through the developing trays in the dark to assess the image contrast at the edge exposures (metre or frame numbers). The fixing time was easy to determine using the standard method. Then I put the rest of the film into the tank, 8.5 minutes of N113 stop bath and fixer one after the other, and was quite amazed! So far I’ve developed 3 to 5 metres in the same bath, which already looks quite yellow. Is this actually something I should be surprised about? Or have any of you bathed negatives in paper chemistry before? Could it be that the ORWO material reacts very well with N113? I can’t really judge, as I’ve never seen a single B&W negative before – I’ve only ever had colour slides or C-41 developed. That’s why I had the first roll of film developed (at a Foto Quelle shop). I’ll be giving Rodinal a go soon and spending a few more hours in the darkroom. Benjamin

ravebenni

I think this fits here: There are black flakes floating in our N113 developer! What is that? Could it be silver? Surely the silver should stay in the paper, or have I got something wrong? The developer is about 8 weeks old and has only been used to develop paper, so it’s not from the splashing described above.