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This may be a dumb question, but has anyone ever tried developing paper in film developer? Not being chemically inclined, it looks like film and paper developer have many of the same ingrediants. I was thinking of trying maybe rodinal and seeing what happens. If anyone has already tried this, please let me know if I am waisting my time. Thanks. :)
I have mistakenly done this. It takes a long time to get development. OTOH I have developed film in paper dev. (Dektol) intentionally for max grain and contrast. Long ago in a galaxy far away I used Kodak's Tri-Pack where the same developer was used for film and prints. I have no idea what that developer was.
Paper developer is more active [stronger] then film developer. Rodinal might be a good choice if you want to try this. But it's likely going to take a long time to develop. Or I guess you could use Rodinal stock-))) Hey try it if you like it use it.
As others have related, I would think that it would be better to try a paper developer as a film developer rather then the other way around. I do use Dektol at varying dilutions for my negative masks. I use ortho lith film which is a different film then photographic film. By using Dektol at a 1-30 dilution I can arrive at a continuous tone negative from half tone film. At conventional paper dilutions with Dektol the result is a high contrast (black-white only sharp cutting mask). The results with a panchromatic continuous tone camera film may be interesting.
Back in the dim recesses of time, I read about just that - Rodinal used as a paper developer - possibly somewhere in the "History of Rodinal".
I have no idea where to start... I don't think I'd use the concentrate full strength... that is strong stuff. My guess would be 1:10 in a tray, and watch the development closely.
Paper is not a tremendous security problem - a couple of sheets at risk is not as frightening as losing an entire roll, or expensive sheets, of film.
Many years ago, I bought a developing kit made by GAF/Ansco that used the same developer for both film and paper. I'm not sure what it was. When I went back to the camera store for more, the guy there recommended I use Dektol for both - at different dilutions. This was fairly common 40-years ago for photographers on very limited budgets.
Based on a thread I found on another site I tried developing Azo in Rodinal at 1:20. It worked, taking only slightly longer to develop than with Amidol. The results were far too contrasty for my taste, so I didn't really try to make a better print. I do think it would work if you tailored your negatives to the paper/developer combination.
juan
Thanks everyone. It was just an idea that poped into my head the other night. Next time I process some sheets of film, I'll throw a contact print in there and see what happens.
hi -
i have been processing film in ansco 130 ( forumulary paper developer) for several years.
GAF used to market ansco 130 as "universal developer" and gave dilutions for film as 1:5.
i develop by inspection - 1:5 @72ishº for anywhere between 6 1/2 - 7 1/2 mins.
used to use xtol and tmax rs, and sprint film developers, i have xtol packets "in storage" just incase, but only use 130 nowadays ...
have fun!
-john
I used to use HC110 for paper, but I added some carbonate and a little sulfite if I expected to use it for a while. Proportions are not critical. I think I used dilution A and added a tablespoon of washing soda. You could use pHPlus that you get at swimming pool supply places. Nowadays, I add some ascorbic acid also.
Pat Gainer
If you really serious--
FROM-
"The Agfa Book of Photographic Formulae";1910-
Dilution was 1 to 15-20 parts water with three drops per ounce of solution of 10% Potassium Bromide. For really "delicate tone simular to Platinum" use 1 to 100 dilution. Good Luck. So far I've give this out too two other people and no one has tried it yet.