Developing Temperature Question

Mahoneyd187

Mahoneyd187

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Danny
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Hey all,

Im about due my almost monthly stupid question post, so here it goes....

How do you guys get your chemicals all up to working temp, ie 20deg? I don't really want to have to buy and store a waterbath

Thanks

Dan
 
I usually just use the sink or a washing up bowl filled with water to either bring temperature up or down.

If it's really hot in the summer I use the fridge to bring it down quickly.
 
I usually find that they are often at room temperature anyway - but if not, just pop them in the sink with some hot water, and watch the thermometer.
 
sink full of water at 20'C in summer (or at this time of year probably 24'C and the chemicals go in at maybe 15'C - leave it long enough to load the spirals, and the 2 temp's have met in the middle at 20'C ;)

for colour it's a bit more involved - but just consists of having the kettle nearby and pouring a little in to keep 38'C stable... :lol:
 
I know roughly where to position my kitchen tap to get 20 degrees! It's not too hard and a little splash of hot or cold here and there is all it needs to adjust!
 
I dev at whatever temperature the water comes out at, i have the massive dev chart app on my phone so i stick the temperature in and it tells me how long i need to develop for, ive had no problems or messed up devs from this :)
 
Only time i worry about temp is for film dev and I mix it at the time so measure the temp of the dev and if it's warmer than 20 degrees I use slightly cooler water and vice versa. Everything else gets used at room temp.
 
robhooley167 said:
I dev at whatever temperature the water comes out at, i have the massive dev chart app on my phone so i stick the temperature in and it tells me how long i need to develop for, ive had no problems or messed up devs from this :)
Click to expand...

Same here, only time I worry about temp is when doing colour film.
 
I haven't so far, been paying much (read any) attention to temps, however, I'm really trying to standardise all of my processes, so I know exactly how a negative will turn out each time I develop it, rather than just using whatever comes out of the scan.

I have a very important client shoot in late Jan and I'm shooting entirely on the RZ so I really need to get my workflow and my own preferences nailed.

The aesthetic I prefer is b&w with deep blacks and bright highlights, at the moment I get really smooth negs which is nice, but I'd prefer to get the exposure/developing nailed over boosting contrast excessively in ps.
 
I thought that would be the prompt for this Danny, and with your requirements in mind, I think it's a sensible thing to take as many of the variables out of the equation. So - pick a temperature and stick with it - use the "sink as a water bath" method, at the standard temp. recommended by the chemicals manufacturer, and take it from there.

The flexibility of the black and white process means you have to do something prety darned silly to not get SOMETHING out of the soup, and back in the era of wet printing it was amazing how a good darkroom printer could make a image from often rather unassuming negatives, but if you're looking to minimise work in the "digital darkroom equivalent" then it's down to getting the best you can onto the film, and keeping it there with the developing - so you're going about the process in the right way IMO... Certainly most of the pro's who I worked with back when film was the only option had standardised processing worked out - at least the ones who didn't just hand the roll over to their trusted darkroom guy...
 
i just got that massiv dev chart app for my phone, how do you edit the settings? I select the right dev chemicle but the default mix of 1+80 is too dilute and is giving a 25 minute dev time, so i edit that and set it to 1+50 but it doesnt seem to recalc the time, its still saying 25 minutes. How do you get it to update or is it just a bug?
 
TheBigYin said:
I thought that would be the prompt for this Danny, and with your requirements in mind, I think it's a sensible thing to take as many of the variables out of the equation. So - pick a temperature and stick with it - use the "sink as a water bath" method, at the standard temp. recommended by the chemicals manufacturer, and take it from there.

The flexibility of the black and white process means you have to do something prety darned silly to not get SOMETHING out of the soup, and back in the era of wet printing it was amazing how a good darkroom printer could make a image from often rather unassuming negatives, but if you're looking to minimise work in the "digital darkroom equivalent" then it's down to getting the best you can onto the film, and keeping it there with the developing - so you're going about the process in the right way IMO... Certainly most of the pro's who I worked with back when film was the only option had standardised processing worked out - at least the ones who didn't just hand the roll over to their trusted darkroom guy...
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Hey man

Great to know and thanks for the continued advice, I owe you beer. Lol
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
I have a very important client shoot in late Jan and I'm shooting entirely on the RZ so I really need to get my workflow and my own preferences nailed.
Click to expand...

See if you can pick up a copy of "The Zone VI Workshop". Its a great resource for setting up your lightmeter, developing (and darkroom) to give consistant results every time. Not all of it may be relevant to you right now but it's good reference material.

It's out of print right now but can be got second hand on Amazon for around £1.50.
 
essexash said:
i just got that massiv dev chart app for my phone, how do you edit the settings? I select the right dev chemicle but the default mix of 1+80 is too dilute and is giving a 25 minute dev time, so i edit that and set it to 1+50 but it doesnt seem to recalc the time, its still saying 25 minutes. How do you get it to update or is it just a bug?
Click to expand...

When you select a recipie click the star icon on the top right, then it should turn to an edit button. That's how you do it on the iPhone, not sure about android.
 
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