FP4 question

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hmmph - 26 May 2004 05:45 GMT

Hi,

I shot a roll (120) of FP4 today, and just got done developing it, but boy
is something wrong. I developed it as per the instructions for HC110 dil B
(8 minutes) that came in the darkroom cookbook.

Holy smoke...these negs are damn-near bulletproof! The highlights could
double for Ray Bans! I know the meter is good, and the camera is fine. What
might have happened? I even checked the massive dev chart, and they said 12
minutes for the same combination! In twelve minutes theese would have burned
through!

Any suggestions? The film isn't outdated, but it has been sitting in a bag
for a couple of weeks. Again, all the mechanical functions work. I even shot
another roll of different film (HP5) with the same setup, and got good
results.

Thanks for any suggestions/help....

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hmmph - 26 May 2004 07:00 GMT

I forgot to mention that the times specified were for shooting the film
rated at 200, which it was shot at.

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David Nebenzahl - 26 May 2004 15:22 GMT

On 5/25/2004 9:45 PM hmmph spake thus:

> I shot a roll (120) of FP4 today, and just got done developing it, but boy
> is something wrong. I developed it as per the instructions for HC110 dil B
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> minutes for the same combination! In twelve minutes theese would have burned
> through!

Is it possible that you got the dilution wrong?

If so, this isn't so much a sign of your incompetence as of the tremendous
confusion in the way Kodak presents the dilution solution, what with stock
solutions, working solutions and all.

I use HC-110 as a one-shot, mixing directly from the syrup. Dilution B is 1:31
syrup to water. If you don't have it, you might want to download the technical
document (J-24) on this developer from Kodak
(http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j24/j24.pdf);
look at the table on page 2 titled "Preparing work solutions from concentrate".

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hmmph - 26 May 2004 16:31 GMT

> Is it possible that you got the dilution wrong?

1 oz HC-110 to 31 oz of water, just like usual. The film is dated 11-05 too,
so something went wrong. The HP5 developed in half of the same dilution came
out just fine (16 oz each in my stainless tank). I think the times are way
off. 8 minutes seemed like a lot for dil B. I might try it again around five
minutes, the same as it is for HP5.

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Dan Quinn - 26 May 2004 23:55 GMT

RE: "hmmph" <dmoss74@hotmail.com

> 1 oz HC-110 to 31 oz of water, just like usual. The film is dated 11-05 too,
> so something went wrong. The HP5 developed in half of the same dilution came
> out just fine (16 oz each in my stainless tank). I think the times are way
> off. 8 minutes seemed like a lot for dil B. I might try it again around five
> minutes, the same as it is for HP5.

I'd think a higher dilution and more time would better serve your
quest for speed. Dan

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Donald Qualls - 27 May 2004 05:19 GMT

>>Is it possible that you got the dilution wrong?
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> off. 8 minutes seemed like a lot for dil B. I might try it again around five
> minutes, the same as it is for HP5.

I'm not familiar with Ilford films in detail, but given that FP4 and HP5
are "traditional" rather than Delta emulsions, I'd normally expect the
faster film to take a fraction longer to develop to the same contrast --
the larger grains take longer to react. For instance, Tri-X (with which
I *am* familiar) takes about 25% longer than Plus-X in the same
developer (give or take -- some developers have more difference, some
less, and some like Diafine develop both the same time) So getting a
time for FP4, even with a push to EI 200, that's 50% longer than the
time for HP5 seems a little wrong (that's less than a one stop push,
time shouldn't be as much as 50% over normal contrast).

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Fire Ball - 26 May 2004 20:49 GMT

Did you take into account the temperature of the developer? 12 minutes is
the development time @ 20C. 8 mins is the time required for a 24C solution.
I have made this mistake before and compounded it with a 10 year old dodgy
air bubble filled mercury thermometer. Download the FP4 product data sheet
from Ilford.com

FireBall

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Thanks for any suggestions/help....

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hmmph - 27 May 2004 00:27 GMT

> Did you take into account the temperature of the developer? 12 minutes is
> the development time @ 20C.

I did 8 minutes at 20C, and the negs were still way overdone. Thanks for
pointing out the differences though.

I'm going to shoot another roll this afternoon, and develop them for 5
minutes to see what happens. I'll bet they come out peachy.

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Nige - 28 May 2004 11:49 GMT

> > Did you take into account the temperature of the developer? 12 minutes is
> > the development time @ 20C.
>
> I did 8 minutes at 20C, and the negs were still way overdone. Thanks for
> pointing out the differences though.

Are the shadows dense too? Maybe you've overexposed them.

Nige.

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