Silly question I know but the books I've consulted say to leave the B&W film in the dev. tank for the"recommended time" before emptying tank and adding fixer solution,but I can't seem to find the recommendation anywhere.I'm a teacher and we've started a photography club at school,so any help would be much appreciated. Regards, Colm McDonagh

-- Colm McDonagh (mcdonaghcolm@hotmail.com), November 28, 2000

Answers

It depends on the film, the developer, the temperature, the agitation, and the rated speed the film was shot.

For most B&W work the temperature is 68F. There are data sheets from the manufacturers of both film and developers recommending the starting times based on the EI (exposure index, or what the ISO dial was set to).

There is also the Massive Development Chart at www.digitaltruth.com. It asks you for the film size, then type, then gives you a chart of the recommended starting times for a bunch of developers.

You do need to test to see if these times work for you, they do OK for most work.

BTW you should put either a stop bath step or a water rinse in between the deveoper and the fixer. Otherwise your times are not consistant (development continues in the fix) and you will exhaust your fixer more quickly.

There is another thread on recommended films and developers for starting out going on now. Check it out for recommendations. Once you have a film and developer choosen, you can ask and people can recommend some times to try.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), November 28, 2000.

"leave the B&W film in the dev. tank for the recommended time"

means:

develop the film for the recommended time, that is, if the developer says develop for 10 minutes, you develop for 10 minutes. You actually have the film in the developing tank quite a while longer.

It sounds like you need to read a basic developing book!

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), November 28, 2000.

Some online b&w processing stuff

-- Nigel Smith (nlandgl@unite.com.au), November 28, 2000.

Wow, Colm, this is kinda basic info. For Kodak products, go to: http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/databanks/filmData bankIndex.shtml Find your particular film and the data sheet will list the recommended developing times for various combinations.

-- Alec (alecj@bellsouth.net), November 29, 2000.