Developing sheet film yourself

should be jostled to dislodge the air bubbles that may form on the film's surface. The water in the presoak tank should be the same temperature as the developer in the next tank. The presoak should last for approximately sixty seconds.

3. Set your timer (which must have a luminous dial that can be seen in the dark) for the longest development time required by the negatives in this batch of film. Move the negatives requiring the longest development into the tank of developer. Be sure to jostle the film hangers to prevent any air bubbles from adhering to the film surface. The remaining film can be left in the presoak tank until the time comes to move it into the tank of developer. When your timer counts down to the start time for the negatives needing the next longest development time, move these hangers from the presoak tank into the developer tank. Keep careful

track of your time in order to move the remaining hangers into the development tank at the appropriate times.

4. Agitation is very important to all types of film-development because exhausted chemicals must be removed from the film's surface and be replaced by fresh developer. The agitation procedure for film on hangers is as follows: Lift all the hangers out of the tank and tilt them to the left so that the developer runs off the surface of the film. Place the hangers back inside the tank. Lift the hangers straight up and out of the developer, and then put them back inside the tank. Lift the hangers up out of the solution, tilt them to the right, and put them back inside the tank.

This procedure should last only about ten seconds and should be done every thirty seconds while the film is in each of the tanks. This lifting and dunking is a

Developing sheet film with hangers and tanks is one of the recommended ways to process sheet film. Siown above is the standard film hanger for 4 x 5 film, a Kodak No. 4A. The tank is a hard rubber container that holds 64 oz. (2000 cc) of solution. Similar hangers are available for 8 x 10 film; tanks for 8x10 film come in different sizes depending on the number of hangers used.

It is relatively easy to develop six sheets o; 4 x 5 film at one time. The film is agitated periodically, usually every 30 seconds, by lifting the hanger up and out of the lank and then slowly placing the hanger back down into the solution. Sheet fi m developed by this method must be handled in complete darkness until after the film is fixed.

slow and gentle procedure. If it is done too vigorously, uneven development will occur around the edges of the film as the developer surges through the holes around the edges of the hanger.

5. When the timer turns off, move all the film hangers into the tank of stop bath, and agitate the film for sixty to ninety seconds.

6. Move the film into the tank of hypo/fixer. Agitate the film throughout the normal fixing time, which should last between five and six minutes for regular fixers or shorter for quick-fix solutions.

7. Turn on the light, and inspect your film. Except for the fact that the negatives are bigger, they will look just like the 35mm or 120 negatives you have processed in the past.

8. Wash the film in running water for thirty to forty-five minutes. This can be done in one of your regular tanks, providing you empty the tank every five to ten minutes to allow for a fresh refill. Agitate the film periodically. The film can be washed while you are cleaning the other tanks and putting things away.

9. Give the film a final rinse in Photo-Flo or some other wetting agent, and hang the negatives to dry in a clean, dust-free place. The film can be dried in the hangers.

If you are developing a lot of film, it might make sense to find lids for your tanks. Putting lids over the solutions will preserve them in their tanks when not in use by preventing the chemicals from evaporating. If you rely carefully on the proper replenishment procedures for your developer, several batches of film can be run through one tank of solution. If you are processing smaller amounts of film, it is generally better to dump the developer after one use and start with a fresh solution for each batch of film.

OPEN TRAYS_

Perhaps the easiest way to begin processing sheet film is in open trays since you might already have the necessary equipment. With a little practice it is quite possible to process six to eight sheets of 4 x 5 film or four to six sheets of 8 x 10 film at a time. The open tray procedure also permits individual development times for each sheet of film.

Open-tray development must also be done in complete darkness, and it involves putting your hands directly into the trays of the solution to agitate the film. If you are allergic to any of the chemicals, you should wear rubber surgeons' gloves available from most drug stores. These gloves are very snug fitting and don't hinder dexterity.

Many photographers develop their sheet film in trays. The film is placed in the tray emulsion side down, and the bottom sheet is pulled free from the pile and placed on top. Every minute or so the stack should be rotated 90 degrees so that the film is pulled in o different direction With this development method, use a tray that is slightly la'ger than the film size. The tray should have ribs or grooves along the bottom making it easy to slip your fingers underneath the pile of film. After some practice, you should find it fairly easy to develop six sheets of 4 x 5 film or four sheets of S x 10 film at one time.

The procedure for developing film in open trays is as follows:

1. Lay out three trays across a flat surface. One is for your developer, one is for the stop bath, and one is for the hypo/fixer. All of the solutions should be the same temperature. If you are processing 4x5 film, use

8-x-10-inch trays. If you have 8 x 10 film, use 11- x -14-inch trays. You'll also need one presoak tray for each sheet of film, so lay out the presoak trays and fill them with water. Make sure that each tray has enough solution to completely cover the negatives. An 8- x -10-inch tray should be filled with one-half gallon of solution, and an 11- x -14-inch tray with one gallon of solution.

2. After all the trays are filled, lay out your film holders and turn off the lights. The negative that needs the longest development should go in the first tray. The second tray is for the second-longest development time, and so forth. Unload your film holders. Make sure each piece of film is completely submerged in its presoak tray. Put the emulsion side of the film up in the presoak tray to make sure that there aren't any bubbles on the film's surface.

3. Set your timer for the longest development time required, and move the first sheet of film into the developer tray putting the emulsion side down. This is to avoid scratching the emulsion side of the film during the agitation procedure. As you put each sheet in a tray of new developer, it should be gently swished back and forth to release any air bubbles that might be caught underneath its surface. When the clock counts clown to the start time for the next piece of film, move it from its presoak tray into the developer tray. Place the second negative emulsion side down, and gently swish it back and forth.

4. Agitation is very important in tray development. The procedure is as follows: Take the piece of film on the bottom of the stack and free it from the pile. Lif: it up and place it on top of the stack. This is a slow and continuous process that should turn over the entire stack of film four times every minute. You should rotate the stack 90 degrees every two minutes in order to pull the film in a different direction and eliminate the possibility of streaks occurring on the image.

5. When the timer clicks off, begin moving the film, one sheet at a time, into the tray of stop bath. As each negative goes into the stop bath, swish it gently to make sure its entire emulsion quickly comes into contact with the acetic acid so that the negative stops developing quickly and evenly across its emulsion. After all the film has been transferred to the tray of stop bath, serially agitate the stack of film for one minute the same way you did during development.

6. Move the film, one sheet at a time, to the tray of hypo/fixer. After all the film is in the hypo/fixer, set the timer for your standard fixing time, and begin the agitation process already described.

7. When you are finished fixing your film, you can turn on the lights and look at the results.

8. You can wash the film in a tray of running water. Make sure that the negatives stay separate and float around freely in the tray. If you are washing 8 x 10 film, you could also use an 8- x -10-inch or 11- x -14-inch print washer to wash the film.

9. Give your negatives a final rinse in a very weak dilution of Photo-Flo or some other wetting agent, and hang the negatives to dry in a dust-free place.

With tray development the developer and stop bath are usually dumped after one use. The hypo/fixer can be put back into a bottle and used again. A gallon of hypo/fixer will fix only a certain amount of film. This amount is usually described in square inches. One 4x5 sheet of film measures twenty square inches, and an 8 x 10 sheet of film measures eight square inches (the same as one roll of 35mm film with thirty-six exposures). Check the information packaged with your fixer to see how much film it will handle.

Chapter Nine

Continue reading here: The Zone System

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