B&W Reversal
Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 3:12 am
Passing the time while suffering from a bout of everyone's favourite virus, I came across a few articles and videos on black and white reversal processes. I'd been keen in the past to try out Agfa Scala, but not having anywhere in NZ to get it developed meant it would have been a very costly exercise. I came across some methods that used relatively easily obtained chemicals, with one in particular piquing my interest. It uses standard B+W developer and fix with the bleach step using a solution of Hydrogen Peroxide and White Vinegar.
So, a quick scour of a few places and I got myself some 3% peroxide. Everything else I already had to hand. I shot a test roll of 35mm with some Rollei Retro 400s shot at EI200. The advice is to overdevelop the first development stage, but with no clear times I took a guestimate on time for Rodinal 1+25 of 15 minutes. Rather than 20C, I developed it at 23C since the recommendation is the bleach step be close to 30C - I still chose to do an intermediate water rinse at 25C but standing the tank in some warm water to bring the temperature up a bit more and avoid any thermal shock. Then it was into the bleach solution for 15 minutes, followed by re-exposing the film to light. Next into the Rodinal I'd saved from the first development, then rinse and and fix (apparently the last fix is not strictly necessary).
Success! The slides are a little dense, which means I need to extend the first development time a bit more, but scanned reasonable well. They'd no-doubt project quite nicely.
After first development and bleach:
Finished product:
(yes, I probably should have hung the strip up the right way!)
On Sunday I went and shot a few sheets of 9x12cm film in my pre-war ZEH Zeca. I'll be subjecting them to some reversal soup too.
All in all, quite a fun experiment, and something I'm keen to experiment with further.
Here's the video with the process I ended up following:
So, a quick scour of a few places and I got myself some 3% peroxide. Everything else I already had to hand. I shot a test roll of 35mm with some Rollei Retro 400s shot at EI200. The advice is to overdevelop the first development stage, but with no clear times I took a guestimate on time for Rodinal 1+25 of 15 minutes. Rather than 20C, I developed it at 23C since the recommendation is the bleach step be close to 30C - I still chose to do an intermediate water rinse at 25C but standing the tank in some warm water to bring the temperature up a bit more and avoid any thermal shock. Then it was into the bleach solution for 15 minutes, followed by re-exposing the film to light. Next into the Rodinal I'd saved from the first development, then rinse and and fix (apparently the last fix is not strictly necessary).
Success! The slides are a little dense, which means I need to extend the first development time a bit more, but scanned reasonable well. They'd no-doubt project quite nicely.
After first development and bleach:
Finished product:
(yes, I probably should have hung the strip up the right way!)
On Sunday I went and shot a few sheets of 9x12cm film in my pre-war ZEH Zeca. I'll be subjecting them to some reversal soup too.
All in all, quite a fun experiment, and something I'm keen to experiment with further.
Here's the video with the process I ended up following: