Ilford F Pan with FD10

gerk86

Has anyone here used this combination?

I'm developing by the book. 6mins @ 1+15 dilution @ 20c and my negs are coming out awfully thin. There are images but woefully underdeveloped.

6 mins is what ilford state as the dev time.

Chemicals are fresh, have been stored properly and have been used successfully on a roll of tmax 100 last week.

Any ideas?

pete4130

What camera? Is the battery fresh. It could be underexposing if going flat. Do you have the exposure compensation set to underexpose and/or set to the wrong ISO?

Some developers work better and worse with different films. Where these images shot indoors under candescent lighting? They usually lack contrast if so.

DaireQuinlan

gerk86 wrote: »

Has anyone here used this combination?

I'm developing by the book. 6mins @ 1+15 dilution @ 20c and my negs are coming out awfully thin. There are images but woefully underdeveloped.

6 mins is what ilford state as the dev time.

Chemicals are fresh, have been stored properly and have been used successfully on a roll of tmax 100 last week.

Any ideas?

Are they underdeveloped ? Or underexposed ? Times/temps seem to agree with the massive dev chart as well. Never used FD10 myself so I don't know what it's like keeping wise, although I can't imagine a week would be much of a problem. Are the edge markings clear and distinct ? If they're much clearer than even the highlights on your images it might be a sign that you may have underexposed the film..

gerk86

pete4130 wrote: »

What camera? Is the battery fresh.

Where these images shot indoors under candescent lighting? They usually lack contrast if so.

It's a fujinon gw690. Purely mechanical, no batteries. I shot under various conditions, indoor and outdoor.

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Are they underdeveloped ? Or underexposed ?

Are the edge markings clear and distinct ? If they're much clearer than even the highlights on your images it might be a sign that you may have underexposed the film..

The edge markings are faint also. The results say I'm under developing but ilford are saying I'm doing it correctly.

pete4130

Are you using a light meter or not? Do you know if your exposures are accurate? Sounds like its underdeveloped.

Has the film been left in a hot car?

Try the same film/dev combination with fresh chems to see if thats the cause.

I know it is a waste but if I'm not developing several rolls on the same day I ALWAYS use fresh developer. The slight increased cost is worth knowing you are taking out one possible fúck up in developing. Fixer is usually good for a few weeks (buy some marbles to drop into your bottle that you keep our fixer in to fill it up and push excess air out of the bottle to help it keep better, for longer!).

DaireQuinlan

gerk86 wrote: »

It's a fujinon gw690. Purely mechanical, no batteries. I shot under various conditions, indoor and outdoor.

Obviously the camera is a junker. It's bust. I'll take it off your hands for a small fee and safely dispose of it, can't say fairer than that.

The edge markings are faint also. The results say I'm under developing but ilford are saying I'm doing it correctly.

Yeah looks that way. This is working solution that you did up a week ago, right ? Maybe it's just oxidised over the week or something. Or maybe, as pete suggests, the developer and the film just don't play well together. It's hard to tell. Fresh developer, another roll of film, and identical conditions and some testing are required if you want to get to the bottom of it...

pete4130

Years and years and years ago I did a PLC course for a year. They used bulk ID11 developer that EVERYONE used. Every 6 filmd developed in it you had to add on 1 min to the dev time. Of course people didn't/forgot to write up when they dev'd so the ID11 was always weak and out of whack. Several rolls later I just bought my own Rodinol and used fresh ever since (this is back in 2001 I think?). Since then, the ONLY rolls I've messed up/not turned out perfect (2-3 max in that time) have been when I thought it was ok to keep chems for a week or two. Hard lesson learned.

Remove any elements of non certainty for best results. It's not kind to the earth, its not cheap but you'll get better results.

gerk86

haha, Thanks for the offer Daire but I might just hang onto it

I came across this old topic while googling. I know it's not the same film but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/archive/index.php/t-3199.html

I'm going to increase dev time next time. If that doesn't work it's time for fresh chemicals.

gerk86

So I increased the time to 13mins and the result was alot better. So I guess for future reference the massive dev chart and Ilford are wrong for this combination...

thefizz

Try PanF with RO9 (Rodinal). Its a lovely combination.