B&J Watson Portrait cam - first outing, Hay Creek, and a problem…

[scott]

Finished everything necessary for shooting last week, took the rig out on Sunday last. Went to Hay Creek In Birdsboro. Have been there a million times, but it’s easy to get to, easy to maneuver (increasingly important these days), and almost always empty.

Everything fit nicely in the Gatemouth.


Shot four sheets, this is the best of them


So, everything worked great. HOWEVER, definitely a snafu: Boogered the developing on the first two sheets, the above being one. According to my exposure, should’ve been like 4:00 in HC-110 dil H (our tap water is warm right now). I screwed up and it went almost nine minutes. Scan looks pretty good, right? Minimal correction. I process the next two sheets at the correct conditions, and - yep - they’re at least 2-3 stops underexposed. Meter seems okay, though haven’t had time to check against another. Developer was opened 2017, but was used a few weeks ago with no problems, and is the original, non-water based formula, and I've had it work for a decade or more in the past. Film is labeled 100, I exposed at 100, and it’s new. Short of those things, I’m not sure wth. Will check the meter, buy new developer, and run a few test sheets, but otherwise, I’m befuddled. Any ideas?

[titrisol]

Interesting, maybe some exposure correction factor is missing?
Or the lens aperture is 2 or 3 stop less?

From the process side 4 min sound way short for Dil H, time used to be ~2x the times for Dil B
That 9 min development looks OK, so my guess is that you'd be in the same range (7-8 min) for the next try

EDIT - AristaEdu100 in HC110 Dil B says 5.75 minutes, thus 10-12 in dil H
https://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.p ... imeUnits=D

[scott]

Boy, I’ll check my notes, but I’ve got 6:12 at 20C pretty much tattooed on my forehead from shooting this stuff forever. Nonzero chance I’ve boogered it, happens more often than not these days, but…

My times never match the mass dev chart, and I’m developing in a unicolor roller tank.

[EDIT] It’s 7:12 at20C according to all my old Arista.EDU Ultra 100 in dil H, all sheet films, 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10. Will shoot some tests tomorrow, though I’m not excited to waste this stuff. Maybe 4x5 first…

[titrisol]

that is the old Fomapan 100, right?

[scott]

Believe so. Was kind of wondering if there was some formulation change since last time I bought film (probably 7-8 years ago).