B&W Reversal

Questions and answers about developing film, enlarging and making your own prints. Also, topics on scanning your negatives, transparencies and photos.
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GrahamS
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Re: B&W Reversal

Post by GrahamS »

Very nice indeed!


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Julio1fer
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Re: B&W Reversal

Post by Julio1fer »

Getting closer!
P C Headland
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Re: B&W Reversal

Post by P C Headland »

I did another short test the other day with some Fomapan 100, using PC-TEA as the developer. I used a stronger dilution of 1+30 than the usual 1+50 or 1+100, and developed for 12 minutes at 25 celsius. Apart from an intermittent light leak from the Ricoh 500G (dodgy light seals that I need to re-do), the results look pretty good. I'll use this as the base for a proper test next time, probably with some proper sized film ;)
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titrisol
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Re: B&W Reversal

Post by titrisol »

This is very interesting, I have some film that is good for reversal (EFKE100) but have always shied of it.
I shot a couple of SCALA rolls way back and sent them out

I've seen some documents/tutorials.instructions but for my understanding please clarify
As per Julio's notes
1st developer you over develop?
Bleach to completion
Hypo?
Re-expose
Re-develop to completion? or by inspection
Fix?
Wash
Julio1fer wrote:
Tue Nov 22, 2022 7:56 pm
PC, FWIW these are my old notes on the process. The basis was the Ilford document, where the formulae are given, although I modified them a bit.

My notes make references to an apparently defunct site, Times and Dilutions, by Don Qualls (ImageMaker).
PS. How I miss APX100, it was my bread-n-butter film for years
same as the AGFA papers made in Uruguay, they were beautiful.
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Julio1fer
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Re: B&W Reversal

Post by Julio1fer »

PS. How I miss APX100, it was my bread-n-butter film for years
same as the AGFA papers made in Uruguay, they were beautiful.
Agfa Brovira indeed! And APX 100 is sorely missed.

Yes, you should overdevelop in first stage.

2nd developer, I did by inspection. I did fix after 2nd developer.

The diluted hypo after bleaching was needed to get reproducible results, in my experience with different films.

Very important: use film with a clear base.

My favorite film after a few experiments was Pan F+.
titrisol
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Re: B&W Reversal

Post by titrisol »

I bought a stereo glass-plate camera and finally got the glass plates on order
I'll try this procedure with those as it seems logical
Meanwhile a coouple of tests are in order
Thanks
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Re: B&W Reversal

Post by P C Headland »

titrisol wrote:
Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:19 am
...
I've seen some documents/tutorials.instructions but for my understanding please clarify
As per Julio's notes
1st developer you over develop?
Bleach to completion
Hypo?
Re-expose
Re-develop to completion? or by inspection
Fix?
Wash

...
I'd watch the Youtube video I linked in the original post, but here's what I've done so far:

Generic B+W Reversal

Step 1
1st Developer: needs to be a “dense negative”, denser is better. All films should be the same time (like colour neg). Might need to experiment a bit here.

Step 2
Bleach: 250ml Hydrogen Peroxide 3% + 15ml White Vinegar (should be run warm / hot, but take care not to “shock” the film with a big temperature change. Run for at least 6 minutes. Longer doesn’t hurt. Solution can be re-used, but leave space in container as it can expand.

Step 3
Re-expose film to light.

Step 4
Re-develop, can use developer from step 1. Develop for normal time, though you can’t really over-develop at this stage.

Step 5
Fix as usual (not 100% necessary)

Step 6
Rinse as usual

My Tests

Rollei Retro 400s at 200
1. Develop in Rodinal 1+25 @23c for 15 minutes
2. Rinse / soak 10 minutes at 25c
3. Bleach @30c for 15 minutes
4. Re-expose 2-3 minutes
5. Re-develop in Rodinal 1+25 15 minutes
6. Rinse

These look a little underexposed, so might need to either develop a little longer / hotter, or shoot at EI100.
(Normal development time for Rollei Retro 400s is 10 minutes for Rodinal 1+25)


Fomapan 100 at 100
1. Develop in PC-TEA 1+30 @25c for 12 minutes
2. Bleach for 20 minutes @30c
3. Re-expose to light (bright bulb) 2-3 minutes
4. Re-develop PC-TEA 1+30 @25c for 12 minutes
5. Rinse

The exposure on these looks to be pretty good.

I have seen some people recommend using a paper developer, but since I don't do darkroom printing, I don't have anything to try with.
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