Great job. Really miss my time in London. Being able to travel 5 minutes in any direction and finding plenty of wonderful photographic opportunities was such a spoil! When history is all around you, the camera just won't stop taking pictures. I have some wonderful memories on film!
I have tried a developer from Spur called Acurol_N, a few times . It is a high acutance sharp woking developer which produces amazing sharpness, but the box speed suffers depending on film between 1/3 to a full stop. Shame that FX-55 is not readily available any longer. The grain and the tonality produced by FX-55 reminded me of Acurol_N.
@@jordanlaine7412 It's not worth it for the amount of film that I use. I have drastically reduced my use of film in the last few months. There is a limit to how much I am prepared to get ripped off.
@@jordanlaine7412developers that can be bought pre-made are useful for people who don't want to buy all the necessary chemicals to make it, they just wanna try it out and use it.
If I am a scanning person (and I am) would it be better if I put my shadows in Zone 2 not zone 3, so I maintain the highlights of the building that I think it was lost in the scan somehow ( looked to my eyes flat)? , it is worth noting ( as an observer ) that the print in dark room lost the details of the tree to the left ( though was maintained brilliantly in the scan), On my canon pro1000 I can print what I can see and Zone 2 shadows can serve me better to maintain contrast, just an observation from digital guy.
You have to adjust to your own workflow and also, importantly, what you like in a photograph. Try bracketing, placing shadows in zone 2,3,&4 and see which you prefer with your scanner. Film has a large range, greater than darkroom paper and my channel really concentrates on getting the best for darkroom paper.
I hope for a generous reply, Bruce says in that clip I referred to , expose to zone 4 ( you get better separation since you are on the straight part of the curve totally, while zone 3 you are still on the toe partially) and print to zone 3.?
I think your generous reply might be in my last two videos (and more to come on the subject). Watch them carefully. Listen to what I'm encouraging photographers to do - what I'm demonstrating. Be patient with yourself - Rome wasn't built in a day. Your understanding and skills will get better and better as you follow the methodology, and "feel the force".
Just found your channel, John, and have been binge watching the last couple days. I started mixing developers a couple years ago, with mostly great results. Well, they're usable but now with more education, it seems my definition of "great" has been rather loose. Wish I had found you earlier. Thank you for doing this! :) It made me cringe a bit when you opened the tank to check if fixing was done. I had been under the impression that until the emulsion has fully cleared, it's still sensitive to light. Obviously that's not entirely true. So how much fixing needs to be completed before we can take a brief look at the film?
Hi David! Thanks for your comment. If you shot a roll of film and put it straight into fix it would come out blank. This is because it's not been developed. If you take a developed film, stop the developer, then fix a little, then expose the film to light , the crystals of silver halide exposed to light will never be developed and instead will be dissolved away in the fix as we continue fixing. That's why it's safe to open the lid once you're fixing. The thing is to make sure there's no developer present. The stopping and initial fix ensures that. It's important to have good fixer so use the "twice clearing time" rule. Thus rule keeps your fix active.
Hi John! Great videos! I've bought your book, I'm looking forward to receiving it! I have a question about FX-55: can I use sodium carbonate as a substitute for potassium carbonate in this formula?
I haven’t been successful with this developer. I was wondering if sodium ascorbate that is “buffered “ maybe the culprit. The buffered sodium ascorbate has less acidic content than “non-buffered”. I’m hoping that your answer is that there is no difference, so that I’m not running down a rabbit hole. If you say that I NEED the non-buffered sodium ascorbate , I have no where to turn to , since “non buffered” seems to be unobtainable in the USA.; at least through my searching through the internet. Thank you.
This seems to be the right stuff and it is called buffered: www.amazon.com/NuSci-Sodium-Ascorbate-Buffered-Vitamin/dp/B007HSIWIA/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?keywords=NuSci&qid=1692940843&sr=8-9 It should work well. Drop me an email and we'll look at what the chemicals are you're using.
Hi John Ive been getting my film speeds and developing times with FX-15 and FX-55 set with several different types of 35mm film and now l want to set the same film types and developers with 120 film and my SL66 should l expect a big difference in the speeds and times and start from the begging or use the 35mm settings as a pretty good starting point..
That's awesome, Steven! Thank you for leaving this comment, it's motivating. The film speeds will be the same and the development times may be a tad different but one zone 9 shot on each roll will allow you to tweak the dev time for each 120 film. Use the zone 1 shot on your first test roll to check your enlarger exposure. The film base plus fog will be the same. I do this two or three times for the first 120 rolls until I have it nailed.
Thank you for the reply John your videos and book have been a huge help to me on my darkroom journey...I think l remember you asking for video sugestions John! l would love to see a video on the expansion and contraction when placing different zones up or down the scale and using N -1 & N+1 to control developement and the effect in has on tonal contrast if that makes sense:)...hopefully you understand what l mean John if not just have a cup of tea and laugh:)....
Great job. Really miss my time in London. Being able to travel 5 minutes in any direction and finding plenty of wonderful photographic opportunities was such a spoil! When history is all around you, the camera just won't stop taking pictures. I have some wonderful memories on film!
So true, Patrick. London is a photographer's heaven!
Great videos
Thanks
I have tried a developer from Spur called Acurol_N, a few times . It is a high acutance sharp woking developer which produces amazing sharpness, but the box speed suffers depending on film between 1/3 to a full stop. Shame that FX-55 is not readily available any longer. The grain and the tonality produced by FX-55 reminded me of Acurol_N.
You can make this developer at home...
@@jordanlaine7412 It's not worth it for the amount of film that I use. I have drastically reduced my use of film in the last few months. There is a limit to how much I am prepared to get ripped off.
@@jordanlaine7412developers that can be bought pre-made are useful for people who don't want to buy all the necessary chemicals to make it, they just wanna try it out and use it.
When dissolving the Phenidone in Glycol would it be ok to make up a Litre instead of 100ml as Phenidone is longer lasting once dissolved.
Yes, you could make up a litre. I've been told you can dissolve phenidone up to 5% strength
If I am a scanning person (and I am) would it be better if I put my shadows in Zone 2 not zone 3, so I maintain the highlights of the building that I think it was lost in the scan somehow ( looked to my eyes flat)? , it is worth noting ( as an observer ) that the print in dark room lost the details of the tree to the left ( though was maintained brilliantly in the scan), On my canon pro1000 I can print what I can see and Zone 2 shadows can serve me better to maintain contrast, just an observation from digital guy.
You have to adjust to your own workflow and also, importantly, what you like in a photograph. Try bracketing, placing shadows in zone 2,3,&4 and see which you prefer with your scanner. Film has a large range, greater than darkroom paper and my channel really concentrates on getting the best for darkroom paper.
I hope for a generous reply, Bruce says in that clip I referred to , expose to zone 4 ( you get better separation since you are on the straight part of the curve totally, while zone 3 you are still on the toe partially) and print to zone 3.?
I think your generous reply might be in my last two videos (and more to come on the subject). Watch them carefully. Listen to what I'm encouraging photographers to do - what I'm demonstrating. Be patient with yourself - Rome wasn't built in a day. Your understanding and skills will get better and better as you follow the methodology, and "feel the force".
@@PictorialPlanet I am all ears.
Just found your channel, John, and have been binge watching the last couple days. I started mixing developers a couple years ago, with mostly great results. Well, they're usable but now with more education, it seems my definition of "great" has been rather loose. Wish I had found you earlier. Thank you for doing this! :)
It made me cringe a bit when you opened the tank to check if fixing was done. I had been under the impression that until the emulsion has fully cleared, it's still sensitive to light. Obviously that's not entirely true. So how much fixing needs to be completed before we can take a brief look at the film?
Hi David! Thanks for your comment. If you shot a roll of film and put it straight into fix it would come out blank. This is because it's not been developed. If you take a developed film, stop the developer, then fix a little, then expose the film to light , the crystals of silver halide exposed to light will never be developed and instead will be dissolved away in the fix as we continue fixing. That's why it's safe to open the lid once you're fixing. The thing is to make sure there's no developer present. The stopping and initial fix ensures that. It's important to have good fixer so use the "twice clearing time" rule. Thus rule keeps your fix active.
Hi John! Great videos! I've bought your book, I'm looking forward to receiving it! I have a question about FX-55: can I use sodium carbonate as a substitute for potassium carbonate in this formula?
Oh, never mind. I have just watched a previous video in which you say that we can use sodium carbonate.
Good 👍
.
I haven’t been successful with this developer. I was wondering if sodium ascorbate that is “buffered “ maybe the culprit. The buffered sodium ascorbate has less acidic content than “non-buffered”. I’m hoping that your answer is that there is no difference, so that I’m not running down a rabbit hole. If you say that I NEED the non-buffered sodium ascorbate , I have no where to turn to , since “non buffered” seems to be unobtainable in the USA.; at least through my searching through the internet. Thank you.
This seems to be the right stuff and it is called buffered: www.amazon.com/NuSci-Sodium-Ascorbate-Buffered-Vitamin/dp/B007HSIWIA/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?keywords=NuSci&qid=1692940843&sr=8-9
It should work well. Drop me an email and we'll look at what the chemicals are you're using.
Ha ha !! AMAZON said : " No longer Available" @@PictorialPlanet
Hi John Ive been getting my film speeds and developing times with FX-15 and FX-55 set with several different types of 35mm film and now l want to set the same film types and developers with 120 film and my SL66 should l expect a big difference in the speeds and times and start from the begging or use the 35mm settings as a pretty good starting point..
That's awesome, Steven! Thank you for leaving this comment, it's motivating. The film speeds will be the same and the development times may be a tad different but one zone 9 shot on each roll will allow you to tweak the dev time for each 120 film. Use the zone 1 shot on your first test roll to check your enlarger exposure. The film base plus fog will be the same. I do this two or three times for the first 120 rolls until I have it nailed.
Thank you for the reply John your videos and book have been a huge help to me on my darkroom journey...I think l remember you asking for video sugestions John!
l would love to see a video on the expansion and contraction when placing different zones up or down the scale and using N -1 & N+1 to control developement and the effect in has on tonal contrast if that makes sense:)...hopefully you understand what l mean John if not just have a cup of tea and laugh:)....
That's kind of you to say, Steven. I think you're reading my mind about N+ etc.