Rocketman
Hello!
I’ve decided to develop black-and-white film into slide positives.
For cost reasons, I’d like to make the developer myself.
I’ve put together the following formula from various websites
(primarily the Ilford data sheet on reversal development)
but I’d like to use APH 09 as the developer, as I prefer it.
Agfa Rodinal was recommended on another site.
Primary developer: Agfa Rodinal 1+50 (I’m using APH09 1+40) + 1g potassium thiosulphate
Bleach bath: 990ml distilled water + 10ml concentrated sulphuric acid + 2g potassium permanganate
Clearing bath: 1000ml water + 25g sodium sulphite
Secondary developer = primary developer but without the addition of potassium thiosulphate
Fixing bath: Adolux Adofix 1+9 (as I usually use)
Initial tests with old Orwo and Adox CHS 100 were modest.
I first developed the films in the primary developer for the usual time to produce negatives, rinsed for 5 mins, then bleached for 5 mins, rinsed for 1 min, clarified for 2 mins and then secondary-exposed under a 150W lamp. This was followed by secondary development until the films looked good to me. Rinse, fix, rinse – done.
The positives, however, are quite brown and very muddy in terms of contrast. I’m going to try bleaching for longer, as it almost looked as though there was still some residual silver left over from the first development. I’ve also read now that the Bleach bath needs to be filtered. I didn’t do that. It was prepared in the middle of the process – so it was absolutely fresh. I also tried clarifying it for an endless amount of time... but the image remained brown.
Does anyone here have precise instructions on how to do it?
I think I’ll try the Fomapan R100, as this film is intended as a slide film.
Best regards
Sebastian
Wolfgg
Hello Sebastian,
Two things strike me here:
1) Based on my tests back in 1995, very few films are suitable for black-and-white reversal. Most contain too little silver to deliver the required maximum density of over 3 (corresponding to a contrast ratio of over 1:1000). APX25 and APX100, for example, didn’t work; only PanF+ or Agfaortho had enough silver.
2) The film must be developed much more aggressively in the primary developer than a film intended for paper enlargements. The primary development must therefore not be carried out in the same way as for a film developed solely for negatives. The gamma of colour reversal films is between 1.7 and 2, which is much higher than the 0.5 to 0.7 of a negative film. And a black-and-white reversal film also needs this high gamma to look brilliant. Back then, I only achieved this with a positive developer such as PQ (plus potassium thiocyanate, 15 minutes at 20°C).
Regards, Wolfgang
jenshorst
Hi Sebastian!
I recently came across your post and might have a few tips for you.
I regularly participate in the development of SW slides using chemicals I’ve made myself.
If you’re interested, I’ll put something together for you.
Best regards
Jens
Christoph
Hi JenZ,
Although I use the Foma kit, I’m definitely interested to know how it works with home-made chemicals. Which films do you use, and what are their speeds?
Best regards,
Chris
cfb_de
Might the "Rohleder/Hilgert" guide be of help once again?
http://www.sw-magazin.de/swmag_leser_09.htm
If necessary, direct enquiries to the authors shouldn’t go unanswered; enquiries on relevant forums usually yield results too.
After successfully following the instructions from the link above once, black-and-white slides lost their appeal for me. It works, and that’s enough for me.
Best regards,
Franz
Christoph
Hello,
I developed the Agfa Scala in the Foma kit later on. I reduced the exposure to 100 ASA (instead of 125 ASA as stated here) and increased the initial development time to 13 minutes (instead of 12 minutes). This might also be because I don’t rotate the tank, but use the tilt-and-turn method instead.
Best regards,
Chris
jenshorst
Hi Chris!
I use FOMA 100R
as 35mm 35mm, D8 and 16mm narrow-gauge film
I’ve tested it so far at 50, 100 and 200 ASA
It works perfectly with my homemade chemicals.
(No emulsion peeling, poor bleaching or similar issues.)
As a primary developer, I use a metol-hydroquinone developer.
This is followed by a !!!double!!! bleaching with potassium permanganate and sulphuric acid.
Then clarification in sodium disulphite.
The second exposure and second development take place simultaneously under a
75 W lamp in a sodium hydrosulphite solution (a print is an advantage :rolleyes: )
I’m of course happy to provide further information!
What has been your experience with the FOMA kit?
Best regards
Jens
Christoph
Hi Jens,
Thanks for your reply.
My experience with the Foma kit has been very good. I think the price of this kit is absolutely fine! And the advantage over the Kodak kit (which I haven’t tested yet, mind you) is that the solutions are prepared fresh from the concentrates each time and then discarded. I prepare the solutions for all four strips using distilled water. I start with the Bleach bath: 1. water, 2. acid, and then the potassium permanganate. I stir until almost everything has dissolved. Then I decant it a few times between the measuring cylinder and the bottle until the potassium permanganate has completely dissolved, seal the bottle, and prepare the other strips. By the time the Bleach bath is used, all the potassium permanganate is guaranteed to have dissolved, and filtering, as is often described, is not necessary. I have never had any problems with residues remaining in the film emulsion.
I use the tilting development method. Tilt continuously for the first minute, then once every 10 seconds.
Intermediate exposure is carried out for 2 x 3 minutes using two 60W reflector lamps positioned approx. 60cm apart; the film spirals are placed in tap water at 20°C in a transparent container.
Finally, add a wetting agent (Tetenal or Rollei) mixed with distilled water – and you’re done.
The films:
-Fomapan R 100 as black-and-white, with exposure at 100 ASA, times as per the kit
-Agfa Scala as black-and-white, with exposure at 100 ASA, initial development extended by 1 minute to 13 minutes
-Rollei R3 (tested by me as a colour negative) also works; here are my guidelines: exposure at 100 ISO, initial development time 16 minutes, fixed for 6 minutes instead of the specified 4 minutes. And very important: pre-rinse!!! I pre-rinsed for 3 minutes with 20°C tap water.
The results:
-Fomapan R 100 turns out very nicely, softer than the Scala
-Scala also turns out very nicely, harder than the Fomapan R 100
-R3 not yet fully tested, but the base is also very clear
Summary: since I discovered the Foma kit and these excellent films, black-and-white slides have become affordable, and I now shoot almost exclusively black-and-white slides.
Processes such as the original Scala (and certainly the Wehner reversal process as well) naturally deliver excellent results, but they aren’t exactly cheap.
I’ll continue testing the Rollei R3 and then provide more detailed information on how it performs.
Regards
Chris
