B/W negative reversal for Ilford films

[Jermband]

I'm trying to find out if Photographer Formulary's Reversal process for TMAX will work for Ilford FP4 125 or Delta 400, and if not, are there any other reversal processes out there?

[Ian Grant]

Ilford have a PDF file on reversal processing. Here.

It's very easy. The Formulary kit should work with any B&W film.

Ian

[vet173]

This looks like it could be really fun. I hope this doesn't make me out to look like a dork, but could you use the acid from your car battery, assuming specific gravity at full charge of 12.0?

[Ian Grant]

could you use the acid from your car battery, assuming specific gravity at full charge of 12.0?

Probably not, as it may contain a little lead or other impurities.

Ian

[Photo Engineer]

If you need sulfuric acid, use battery acid from the auto store. In the US it is 35% - 37%. Or, you can get the 48% acid from the Formulary.

PE

[amuderick]

I am also starting to explore B&W slides for my stereo Sputnik camera.

A few questions come to mind from the research I've done so far:

1) Are there any fogging redeveloper formulas which can deliver neutral toned slides? All of the formulas I've reviewed end up chocolate or sepia if you use chemicals instead of light for the 2nd development
2) I'm leaning towards a permanganate / bisulfate bleach vs. dichromate. I hear this really softens the emulsion but that colder temperatures can help. Can I slowly cool the film after being washed from the 1st developer before I put it in the bleach? The bleach would be cooled as well. I'm thinking about 55-60F. I would increase the bleach time by about 2x.
3) I'm planning to use HC-110 according to Jordan Wosnick's formula because I like HC-110 and have it handy. Is there a big reason not to do this?
4) I'm planning to use Efke 100 and HP5+ for my films. Again, thoughts?

Thanks! I've learned so much from this group. What an incredible asset to photographer's everywhere.

[Jermband]

My reason for wanting to do black and white development is that I have some rare 4x5 photo negatives that I want to copy for my own keeping. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what film would be best or if it's even worth trying this. How much resolution of the original negative would I be capturing assuming that the camera was focused perfectly and there is no movement?

[Jordan]

1) Are there any fogging redeveloper formulas which can deliver neutral toned slides? All of the formulas I've reviewed end up chocolate or sepia if you use chemicals instead of light for the 2nd development

There is at least one. I think it uses sodium dithionite, but I'm not sure. Haist writes about it in his book.

2) I'm leaning towards a permanganate / bisulfate bleach vs. dichromate. I hear this really softens the emulsion but that colder temperatures can help. Can I slowly cool the film after being washed from the 1st developer before I put it in the bleach? The bleach would be cooled as well. I'm thinking about 55-60F. I would increase the bleach time by about 2x.

Alessandro Serrao, who also posts here, uses a process that runs at a consistent 20C (or maybe lower) to avoid stressing the gelatin as much as possible. He is able to get good results. I didn't pursue the permanganate bleach much as I found the dichromate easier to use, despite the toxicity (it is reusable, unlike permanganate bleach).

3) I'm planning to use HC-110 according to Jordan Wosnick's formula because I like HC-110 and have it handy. Is there a big reason not to do this?

The HC-110 trick works well, but do a test roll first to see how it goes in your set-up. And let me know how it turns out!

I have to confess that it's been a while -- about a year -- since I've done any reversal processing. The last procedure I tried (which worked quite well) involved a strong solvent-free Rodinal first developer, followed by a separate reduction step with a thiosulfate bath. I describe it (with a link to the original) in a post here: http://www.photosensitive.ca/wp/archives/68

Hope this helps
Jordan

[Alessandro Serrao]

2) I'm leaning towards a permanganate / bisulfate bleach vs. dichromate. I hear this really softens the emulsion but that colder temperatures can help. Can I slowly cool the film after being washed from the 1st developer before I put it in the bleach? The bleach would be cooled as well. I'm thinking about 55-60F. I would increase the bleach time by about 2x.

Imho, you made the right choice.
The only caveat is to use half the permanganate strenght of what's suggested. For example I've found using 250mg permanganate per 36exp roll quite sufficient without stressing the emulsion.

Right: the temperature should be mantained at 20°C or lower (max 18°C) and constant (within 0.5°C) during all steps.

But the most important thing is to use HALF permanganate strenght and not doubling the time.

[Lowell Huff]

Reversal processing usually works best with 100-125 ASA films, random grain silver is much better than "designer grain", and sulfuric acid bichromate bleach results in better quality imaging. We do manufacture reversal chemistry.