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The minimum temperature for Diafine is 21C. And the regular developing time 3+3 minutes. Some films, Acros 100: 5+5 minutes.
Good Diafine combinations: Tri-X 400 (E.I. 1250), HP5+ (E.I. 800), Neopan 400 (E.I. 640), APX 100/Rollei Retro 100 (E.I. 200). Acros 100 (E.I. 160).
Robert, (Роберт),Quote:
Originally Posted by Роберт
What's the 3+3 mean? 3 develop and three fix?
That's very short, bit is it that diafine just goes to completion then stops?
~Stone
The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic
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3+3 means 3 minutes in bath A + 3 minutes in bath B. I use a normal agitation ( 2 inversions per minute) while the film soaks in bath A and almost a stand development with bath B. No trouble so far with Tri-X @ 1000 ASA.Quote:
Originally Posted by StoneNYC
The way I read the instructions, "3+3" means 3 min. in "Developer A" and 3 min. in "Developer B."
Here is the Diafine instruction data sheet with all important information:
http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documenta...afine-data.pdf
Diafine is a 2-bath developer so indeed 3+3 means 3 minutes A then 3 minutes B. You can do a regular fix. Due to the high pH of B you can do a water rinse or a less concentrated stop bath.
I too have an unopened box and am just waiting to find two good quart-sized bottles to store it in. I bought it specifically because I saw results on flickr for Adox CHS 50 and CHS 25 that looked amazing. I'm looking forward to trying it.
But I'm also inexperienced and need to be careful about going off in too many different directions. I've been using HC-110 and am homing in on good negatives for printing with hp5+ and tri-x. I'm not at a good place with acros yet. My first try with acros the negatives seem to look nice but I had trouble printing them. As much as I'm tempted to try some other developers, I think I have a lot to learn first with the one I'm using now! Diafine for me will be limited to my small stash of CHS film which I only use one sheet at a time. I'll switch away from it quickly if I can't get results similar to the ones that drew me to it in the first place.
I hope you will post some of your results!
Diafine truly is close to idiot proof in operation. I've used it for many years to push Tri-X and more recently TMY-2 400 to 1250 and 1600. 3-4 min Bath A and B and you're done. The biggest challenge is not to contaminate the two solutions with each other.
With Tri-X you get very good classic looking results. But don't expect a miracle. You still are pushing a 400 asa film 2-3 stops.
TMY-2 worked even better, due to its linear toe, so you'll see a little more shadow detail vs Tri-X.
The best thing about Diafine is that as a two bath developer, it will go a long way towards not blowing out your highlights in high contrast situations.
Diafine improves noticeable after you put a few rolls through it. Once it has 'ripened' a little your negatives will become noticeably smoother and take on a pearly appearance.
Bath A is the developer itself, but it isn't activated until you put it in Bath B.
So, the emulsion soaks up developer in Bath A, and when the activator is added in Bath B, the developing action starts.
There is a finite amount of how much developer can get soaked up in Bath A, meaning Bath B will only develop the film so far until there the developer has been depleted. After that point there is no reason to leave it in Bath B any longer.
My experience with Diafine is that it gives a similar tonality every time, but you can't really control anything other than your exposure. With normal single bath developers exposure AND developing time/temp/agitation are both variables that you use to control the final negative contrast and tonality, and one of those controls are now omitted. So, it works really well for some scenarios, and not so well in others. Depending on the lighting you shoot in, or how you want your prints to look, you may or may not like the results.
And, yes, Diafine is very easy to use. The only thing you really have to worry about is to understand how you must expose your film to get the results you want, make sure the developer is within its temp range, and agitate well in both Bath A and B. Beyond that, there isn't much you need to do, other than making sure that your storage bottles are full. You may have to buy another kit and replenish Bath A, since it will slowly become depleted with each roll.
It's really a case of what film/developer combo works for you. I found when working as a news photographer my general purpose combination was HP5 in Microphen, but I wouldn't use that combination if photographing a pristine landscape