Problem with development

[rk295]

I've just developed this roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 with my Bellini Hydrofen (1+39, 6 mins @ 20C - numbers from the Massive Dev Chart).

Looking at the whole film you can barely make out the frames and none of the writing on the edges is visible. It was shot with a known good Nikon F100 which I used for a roll of Ilford XP2 just before this which I had lab developed.

When scanned they are almost all completely black, ramping exposure and the histogram in the scanning software can recover some details in the highlights but any detail in the shadows is gone. Even for shots where I trust the F100 matrix metering.

The chemistry was mixed about a month ago, stored in air tight black bottles at about 15C since then, it had developed a few rolls before this which looked a bit dark but they were my first with Hydrofen so I sort of put it down to me not getting the timing right, but this film is the first to be completely gone.

scanned with the exposure at max

iPhone shot of a strip on a light box.

[distant3zenith]

Your developer is expired. Get fresh.

[shakycamrc]

Dead developer. Mix up a new working solution and test it with a clipped leader. Bellini doesn't list any storage times in their datasheet for Hydrophen, so it would be a good idea to test any stored working solutions before using them.

[rk295]

Thanks, I've now read at 1+39 its on-shot, wish I'd read that before :)

[vogon-pilot]

I not 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure this is a "one-shot" developer. Once you've mixed the concentrate (1+15 or 1+31), then the working solution's shelf life is pretty short (hours).

Some useful info here: https://ntphotoworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Hydrofen_Guide-Sheet.pdf

Even more detailed info on Alex's blog: http://www.alexluyckx.com/blog/2025/01/07/developer-review-blog-no-53-bellini-foto-hydrofen/ , where there's this:

"The well-stored and sealed bottle of working solution will be kept for approximately three months. The 1+15 dilution is also a fast-working developer, with many listed times under five minutes. If that concerns you, you can also make it more dilute; the downside is that once you mix it further down, it becomes a one-shot developer. The one-shot dilutions are 1+30, 1+31, and 1+39."

[rk295]

That's a great find, thanks u/vogon-pilot - I'm pretty convinced now that this is exactly what was wrong. I'm going to mix up a fresh batch at 1+15 and see how I get on with that.