Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/04/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Saturday, April 5, 2003, at 07:02 PM, Gary Williams wrote: > I have a slightly different take on the developer discussion. I > abandoned > the wet darkroom about four years ago in favor of not digital, but > scanning > film. I have been using mostly XP2 Super, and having this C-41 work > done at > a local Wolf Camera. But there are situations where I miss the old > emulsions of an HP5+ or HP4+ or even Ilford Pan. Even in my former > silver > based film days I was never too keen on having chemicals in the house. > I > simply don't have a convenient place handle film in the dark and store > and > handle the stuff---and I also have several pets whom I don't wish to > expose > to all of this. > > I am looking for some direction from you guys on b&w chemistry to > pursue > that will provide good results with the above mentioned films, > especially > with regard to scanning negs, as well as minimizing health risks to my > four > legged friends. If I am just being silly here let me know, otherwise > any > cogent suggestions on this will be most welcome. Gary, I can't speak about scanning, but the most benign developer that I know of, and one of the best is Patrick Gainer's Vitamin C developer. You have to mix it yourself which is quite easy to do. The formula I am currently using is: Water 1 liter Sodium Metaborate 8grams Ascorbic Acid 2 grams 1% Phenidone solution 10ml Times are similar to straight D-76. You can also go to unblinkingeye.com to read the original article by Pat Gainer where he also has formulas that are measured by the spoonful. Personally I don't overly worry about darkroom chemicals. I do make sure to have adequate ventilation and will wear a dust mask when working with nasty powders, and rubber gloves with Pyro, but once they're mixed I don't think they are much a risk unless you drink or bathe in them. I could be wrong of course. If I am I hope someone will chime in and correct me-I'd like to know. Richard Wasserman - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html