>Is your "1:10" HC-110 concentration from pure (strait out of the bottle)
>solution?? Or are you making a dilution first (if memory serves, Kodak
>suggests a "pre-dilution"). I use about a 4:00 time in HC-110 at 18ml per
>liter (strait out of the bottle, or about 1:55). Wording "concentrations"
>for HC-110 is confusing (due to Kodak's "pre-dilution"). I like the longer
>developing time, as I get (with my film and working methods) less mottling
>and better shadow separation at 4:00. I've always found tray development
>times less than 3:00 dangerous with film. What is rour aggetation with a
>2:00 minute development time?
Unfortunately I'm a half a world away from my darkroom, so I can't read the
labels right now, but I recall diluting to the std. stock soln., then 1:10. I
hope that comes out close to what you are doing. Like Terry recommended, I
"aggetate" at the rate of about 1 second from the corners.
>
>Why do you use "very tired Ilford paper developer"? For gum or cyan negs,
>I find the HC-110 just fine. For plat or palladium negs, I use diluted
>Zone VI paper develop as a second development bath, typically for 45
>seconds. I dilute this 1:7 as opposed to it's normal 1:3. I suspect any
>paper developer at twice it's normal dilution (1/2 strength) would do.
>What advantage do you get with using the "tired". How do you maintain
>consistency?
You are right. I am not being consistent here and should be, which has been
bothering me a bit. I have been treating this like cooking a chicken (I think
I hear teeth grinding). This step frankly has been a bit of an eyeball
process, which is sort of possible with lith film, but maybe not
reproduceable. I have been using it for only Palladium and cyan, not for gum.
I'm going to try your method next time for consistency.
Mike O'Shea