John Erbes (erbesj@milwaukee.tec.wi.us)
Tue, 23 Mar 1999 17:19:48 +0000
Hi all,
In an effort (possibly futile) to obtain more consistency in my developing
and printing processes, I'm working my way (determinedly albeit slowly)
through Richard Henry's Controls in B&W Photography. Lots of good stuff in
there, but my eyes tend to glaze over and my brain fills up if I try to
absorb too much at one time.
My question.
Of those of you out there with a close familiarity with this book, is the
majority of what he presents "non-controversial"? i.e. Will I be led
down a path of ruin and destruction if I place too much faith in his
teachings? Mr. Henry certainly can shoot from the hip, and is not afraid
to name names, or to speak The Truth as he has researched it. (My
apologies if you are listening in, Mr. Henry, as I say this with a certain
measure of respect.)
What other books are out there that are similar in scope and purpose that
could serve to provide either a confirmation of Henry's findings or present
a researched dissenting opinion?
Enquiring minds want to know.....
In regard to recent thoughts on agitation and development, Henry's research
indicated (and is supported by others) that to get as close to uniform
transmission density as possible when developing roll film in film roll
tanks, that "vigorous and continuous agitation is required." His research
experiments showed that despite developing in this method, at best you will
end up with negatives with a 5-9% increase in density along the lateral
edges of the film as compared to the density at the center of the film.
Henry's most consistent results with reel development were with a home-made
machine that rotated an Omega 2-reel 120 tank end-for-end at 60 rpm, while
at the same time rotating the tank along its central axis at about 130 rpm.
Very uneven development was noted when only end-over-end tank rotation was
used. Development times with this apparatus were about 60% of the "normal"
intermittent inversion and rotation procedure times needed to obtain
equivalent densities.
John Erbes
Milwaukee, WI
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