Monobath developing?

35millimetre

35millimetre

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Charlotte
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Hello all, I saw a link on one of the photo blogs I watch (probably Petapixel) about a new monobath developer - something I'd not heard of before, where your developer, stop and fixer are all in one solution:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxfTknfQuv8


Has anyone used anything similar before? It's not available in the UK but there is a link to a recipe make it yourself, I wonder if it'd work with my existing TMax developer? Only one way to find out, I guess...
 
I seen it discussed on another forum, looks and interesting concept but you must lose a lot of control.
 
Monobaths have been around even longer than I have, but I've never tried them because they had too many limitations. I don't like grain, and fine grain isn't what they do.

They work by combining developer and fixer in one solution, and rely on development completing before too much of the undeveloped silver is removed by the fixer. That presupposes a rapid acting developer (which usually goes hand in hand with high contrast (= reduced latittude) and larger grain. On the positive side, washing is faster as the solution is alkaline.

There are a couple of formulae in Ansell and Troup; they note that modern films aren't normally advised to be fixed in the older hypo (I'm older, so I still call it hypo) and should be fixed in the rapid ammonium thiosulphate fixers - this makes for a very rapid race to develop before fixing.
 
steveo_mcg said:
I seen it discussed on another forum, looks and interesting concept but you must lose a lot of control.
Click to expand...

I usually process my films as per the box, so to be honest I don't need much control. One day, maybe I'll be confident enough to develop something I've pushed/pulled :)
 
You do at least have a choice of developing for fine grain, high acutance, high film speed, maximum grain - all by choosing an appropriate developer.

As to pushing and pulling - there's a chance that you're doing that to some extent anyway (compared to what's on the box) simply by variations in your agitation and thermometer.
 
I tried it back in the 50's. it is just a chemical action race.
It has nothing to recommend it at all, except novelty.
It was thought to be temperture independent and impossible to over develop, this might be true if the balance of dev to fix were perfect. I just found it unreliable.
 
Pushing and pulling should only be regarded as a last resort to save a grave error.
nothing beats the reliable result of standardisation... both in exposure and gamma.
Over the years I tried just about everything but always ended back with dilute one shot D76.

changing development time changes not only the density but also the gamma. It should only be done when both changes are required.
 
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