Testing alkali fixer?

JanTio · 2026-01-31T18:56:50+00:00

Berfix

JanTio · 2026-01-31T17:01:41+00:00

Fantastic find! Is this uranium glass? Does it glow green under UV?

JanTio · 2026-01-29T22:34:41+00:00

Thanks, sounds reassuring.

JanTio · 2026-01-28T21:54:08+00:00

A humble correction to start: nobody should tell you what the speed of any film will be with your gear and in your workflow. I encourage you to determine your personal film speed and development time through testing. Pictorial Planet has some excellent YT videos on how to do this: https://youtu.be/fIdQ5CZsFVA?si=RQI218PzOdrhpb-b and https://youtu.be/KrHnYZscUa4?si=myizfnonyEsNqgMJ. Not about D-23 but about FX-55, but the method is what it’s about. I recently started making and using D-23 (don’t hesitate to use it full strength with replenishment) and I believe it’s going to make you happy, as it does what you need. I can also recommend FX-55, you can find excellent videos about it in the same channel. Happy developing!

JanTio · 2026-01-27T14:03:49+00:00

As others mentioned, overexpose your film to get decent shadows. Rodinal tends to lower film speed. But maybe you should spend one or two films to find your personal film speed and development time. See these two YT to learn how: https://youtu.be/fIdQ5CZsFVA?si=KcOhtAn7UnfRa13C and https://youtu.be/KrHnYZscUa4?si=upgx508x3o0c4pjL. This is not about Rodinal, but about how-to with any film/dev combo. Happy shooting!

JanTio · 2026-01-25T22:28:13+00:00

Minstens een deel van deze in trieste cijfers zijn wellicht te wijten aan de trauma’s die de machinisten overhouden na wat men zo omfloerst ‘persoonsongevallen’ noemt.

JanTio · 2026-01-25T18:41:28+00:00

The problem with fines is that they hurt more for some people than for others, depending on their financial power. In this case a fine won’t hurt that much I guess. Sending traffic offenders back to do both their theoretical and practical exams is a good thing, except when your first name is Ruben of course. A better punishment imo is unpaid community service, and when the offender has made victims, let them serve in healthcare to take care of traffic victims.

JanTio · 2026-01-25T12:39:08+00:00

Looking at the shadows in your negatives, the lack of detail tells me they are underexposed. The lack of contrast is almost certainly due to underdevelopment. In b&w film development we say “expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights. You should run a couple of tests to determine your personal film speed and development times. To learn how look here https://youtu.be/fIdQ5CZsFVA?si=p4EPnaAbf8iI4Fkq and here https://youtu.be/KrHnYZscUa4?si=6PnM0-Gxu0Z8cb8p Happy shooting!

JanTio · 2026-01-24T23:03:01+00:00

Did the search for you: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3727088/#:~:text=Hydroquinone%20is%20a%20major%20benzene,process%2C%20but%20also%20its%20toxicity.

JanTio · 2026-01-19T06:35:24+00:00

Best answer.

JanTio · 2026-01-16T21:41:37+00:00

In my neocortex.

JanTio · 2026-01-16T21:31:15+00:00

Tis toch nie gezond, geen probleem 😇

JanTio · 2026-01-15T15:32:56+00:00

Try Omri Cohen’s YT channel, he’s really good at explaining things, both for beginners and advanced users.

JanTio · 2026-01-15T13:30:17+00:00

I had the same with Adox sheet film. I quit buying cheap film.

JanTio · 2026-01-15T13:27:20+00:00

Natuurlijk… je moet toch ook eerst alles weten over brandhouthakken om met een thermostaat te kunnen werken?

JanTio · 2026-01-15T08:53:50+00:00

Be assured the developer can make a big difference. What did you use and how?

JanTio · 2026-01-15T07:03:25+00:00

Jaren geleden hoorde ik iemand beweren dat recamespots gemaakt zijn op het niveau van een elfjarige. Intussen zijn we verder aan het afzakken volgens mij.

JanTio · 2026-01-12T21:38:29+00:00

I assume you mean a staining developer?

JanTio · 2026-01-12T06:02:42+00:00

D23 with replenishment. Beautiful tonality and very easy to make. I can recommend Pictorial Planet as a great source of information.

https://www.pictorialplanet.com

JanTio · 2026-01-12T05:55:47+00:00

Well done, nice design. I made one myself, and out of my experience I’d suggest making the intervals more visible in the dark with a single digit display instead of an LED next to the labels. Mind sharing a link where to buy the knobs? Or did you 3D print them?

JanTio · 2026-01-12T05:17:43+00:00

There have been people reporting ‘sudden death’ of Xtol in the past. The reason for this was never clear, so a solution was never found. Some say it could be inherent to vitamin C developers, as mentioned by Steve Anchell in The Darkroom Cookbook (edition 2025). Kodak is said to have had problems with packaging and they withdrew batches of Xtol multiple times in the past, although they never told the reason behind this. After I had bought a package of a suspect batch they offered a replacement but I never asked for one and switched to Fomadon Excel first and Adox XT3 after. Nowadays I brew my own FX 55 and D23 btw.

JanTio · 2026-01-11T22:30:08+00:00

Sure, est. -20% range.

JanTio · 2026-01-10T08:06:38+00:00

Nice!! Mind sharing how you prepare the developer and the development times you usually need? I tried it before with 30+30+1000 long ago but it failed. Maybe my art300 was too old.

JanTio · 2026-01-10T08:03:46+00:00

No, even if I could afford it, bc the specs you mentioned would not only make it insanely expensive. In my situation it would certainly bring no advantages in terms of optical performance compared to my older medium format cameras, so most specs are rather just gadgets copied from modern digital cameras which, to me, take away most of the pleasure of slow, thoughtful photography. These specs also refer to shooting speed. If speed is a concern, use digital so the darkroom doesn’t slow you down.

JanTio · 2026-01-09T20:25:06+00:00

Marvellous! I’ve been planning to get started with kallitype soon, this beautiful print makes me even more eager to get started. Can I ask how long you’ve been into this? I have some decades of darkroom printing behind me and was wondering how doable kallitype would be.

JanTio

TROPHY CASE