Camera Talk

Thoughtful advice from Great Yellow Father.



When cleaning the darkroom of my late father estate, I got two of these small cans. They must be at least 50 years old. It took some time to find a suitable gallon bottle, but last week I opened the first can.

It opens as a canned food tin. After taking the top, there was a brown paper lid to be broken. Below the paper lid, the mix of chemicals of Part 1 awaits in a plastic cup. After dissolving these chemicals, the bottom of the can was opened to reveal Part 2 which is a larger portion of white powders that are free inside the can (no plastic cup in the bottom side). Instructions for preparation are spot on and the solution came out transparent, colorless, as new.

To test DK-50 I took a roll of FP4+ exposed at box speed, although I overexposed a few frames by mistake. I gave the film 5.5 minutes at 21 C with the stock solution, which was way over the recommended times (4 minutes). Well, it came quite overdeveloped but most of the roll was useable. The overexposed frames were too dense for my V600 scanner. Must adjust times for the next roll, and maybe try dilutions instead of stock solution.

Grain is about the same as Beutler, larger than D-76. The frames have an old-time look.

A few examples from the fortress on top of Montevideo hill (this is the "monte" in Montevideo), on a hazy sun / clouded day.



Inside the fortress



Guardian of the fortress



Gun - these guns never shot in anger.





The chemicals have not suffered very much in the 50 years or more since they left the factory. This is, however, a very different mix from my usual Beutler or even D-76. I have a lot to learn before the two cans are finished.

The camera used in this test was my Nikon F2 with 50 and 28mm lenses. Thanks for looking!

Well done! This bodes well for some chemicals I have lying around here.

I've read of folks using very old Kodak chemicals before, and as long as the cans weren't damaged, they got good results. Me, I'd probably just put it on the shelf for display. Some good photos also to accompany this post, Julio.

PF

Thanks! I just wanted to test the can for old times sake. As for display, I have no shelf, so there.

Now I know why Monte gracias!

Nice pics Julio!

LOL, I have about 30 cans of dk50, along with pro ably another 60-70 of various other developers. Haven’t shot anything in the last few years other than the eclips and need to get my ass in gear. P

I wonder about the non-photography uses.

And this is where I miss Nelson. Pete and I did a bunch of testing on this stuff as it is almost bullet proof. We used it straight and diluted up to 1-4. Many years ago I worked for a photographer and we had a huge tall tank filled with DK 50. It had a floating lid and used a burst of nitrogen every minute or so. We would add replenishment as we remembered because we were also doing B&W film for 2 drug stores in town also. I never remember changing the chemicals in the tank but once a month we would drain sludge from the bottom. I still have a can sitting on the shelf that I need to mix up one of these days.

Larry, that was real developing, not the fancy stuff people do these days. Smart arrangement, the floating lid kept the oxygen out, with the nitrogen bursts helping to displace oxygen in solution. And I'd guess that the negs came out all right.

Epatsellis,

LOL, I have about 30 cans of dk50

If used as in Larry's story you are going to have to shoot a lot of film to make a dent in that stock!

Santiago,

I wonder about the non-photography uses.

Not to lead into tentation, but I was also wondering. Would that be a lawyer's recommendation?