CPD
Hello,
Has anyone here ever developed Efke film in Emofin? I’m thinking specifically of the Efke 25. What do I need to bear in mind?
Tetenal recommends not pre-wetting, whereas with Efke it is recommended. The light-sensitive layer in bath 1 certainly doesn’t look great, but on the other hand, the discolouration shouldn’t cause any problems.
I’m planning to take a few test shots with the Efke 25, at speeds of 15, 18 and 21 DIN, and possibly some intermediate values.
If anyone has any experience with this, please let me know! Are the development times given in the package leaflet reasonable, or do they need to be adjusted? With Rodinal, for example, I always expose for 3 DIN more than the recommended exposure time and develop for 25% less time; at a dilution of 1:100. In general, I’ve found that the stated speeds and development times are almost never correct – certainly not for me – to produce a negative that can be enlarged to a standard gradation.
With Efke, it’s said that its speed is genuine. That also matches my experience so far. But what about Emofin? I don’t see the actual speed as much of a problem when testing it, but I do see the development time as an issue.
Best regards and thanks!
CP
MirkoBoeddecker
Hello,
Tetenal does not recommend pre-rinsing because the exact length of time the film spends in the first bath is critical.
This determines the actual development time in a two-bath process.
If you pre-rinse, the developer first has to displace the water, and the whole process becomes less precise.
Incidentally, pre-rinsing is not necessary for 35mm films.
It mainly applies to sheet films to ensure the ‘supercoating’ – the gelatin supercoat – is removed evenly.
For technical reasons, this cannot be applied 100% evenly because the gelatin is highly diluted and very fluid. If this is not allowed to settle before development, it can lead to uneven development with non-depth developers.
Generally speaking, Emofin brings the efke up to its nominal speed, and sometimes even beyond.
It is so balancing that even on the first attempt, a print-ready negative should emerge with the standard processing time.
The times are from Tetenal.
Best regards,
Mirko
mau
I pre-rinse the film despite the Tetenal instructions saying otherwise. I agitate the film for 3–4 minutes.
The initial development time is correct; as the time for the Effke is quite short, a slight accidental over-development doesn’t have quite such a severe effect.
True, this isn’t a particularly precise method, but it is practical.
CPD
Hi Mirko, hi Mau,
First of all, many thanks for your replies. I’m just going to give it a go: RF and PF – I still need to order them this week – and try them both with and without preheating.
But now I have another question. With Emofin, the development times are quite short for low-speed films. I’ll be in Turkey again this summer and would like to develop my films there and then. At high temperatures (around 24 degrees Celsius), the development times become so short that you end up with even shorter times, and I’m worried about the reproducibility of the results. An error of 20 seconds is negligible with a development time of 6 minutes, but with 2 minutes it already amounts to a significant percentage. To counteract this, can I perform dilution with water? Or should I switch to a different developer (e.g. Moersch Zweibad) straight away?
Hi Mau,
I always thought you weren’t supposed to agitate Emofin—
Many thanks! Regards, CP
mau
As far as I know, Emofin cannot be diluted. There is also no need to adjust the development times after using several films.
mau
Tetenal always specifies times for the 3-second tilt. I use that time for the rotation. By rotation, I mean: I place the can on the drums of my old Maerz machine and let it run. I’ve got another idea regarding the temperature: you could try slowing the movement down further, e.g. tilting every 2 minutes. Or give Tetenal a ring – they used to have a helpline. I don’t have their number anymore, but I’ve got one from an old description (040 52145-0). P.S. The 0 is probably the switchboard; if that doesn’t work properly, just try another number. .-)
