D-76 developing

[jermaineB]

Hey, I'm fairly new...mostly reading forums and learning as I go. I've recently been back into film and have never developed my own B&W before, but want to attempt it this weekend. My problem is I mixed a batch of D-76 developer and some fixer about 5 now going on 6 weeks ago before I had to leave away (military). I wanted to develop a couple of days before I left, but I couldn't find my canister opener and had the worst time trying to pry it open with a bottle opener, so I'm wondering if the developer and fixer are still good? It's been kept in those brown bottles I got from Freestyle and in my garage. I've read other places that it should only be mixed right before you want to develop. If that's the case do I have useless developer and should order more? I do have some unopened Rodinal, probably one of the last bottles sold that still says Agfa Rodinal on it, but I'm not sure I want to try my first roll with it.

[trexx]

The d-76 should be as good as it ever was after 6 weeks. To be sure take some of the film leader, in the light and place a drop on the leader. for each on the next 5 minutes place another drop somewhere else on the leader. Wait 4 minutes then rinse and fix. If you see all the dots you are in good shape. The dot that is darkest but still let a bright light through would be the time to use So if the first is completely black and the second is letting some light through then 9 in would be a starting point for that film.

[jerl]

Yeah, I've had D76 mixed down that I made back in March, and it still works fine. The shelf life is supposedly about 6 months or so, and as long as you keep it sealed in a dark location, you should be fine. Eventually, it will go bad since developer is a reducing agent, so it will eventually exhaust itself reducing atmospheric oxygen if you don't use it on film.

Depending on the fixer you mixed up, it should be fine- actually it should be able to last longer than developer. Again, keep it stored in a sealed container in a dark cool location and you should be fine. You can do a brief check on your fixer again by using a film leader- drop a leader into some fixer and it should clear in a minute or so (Delta and TMAX films may take longer). Longer than 2 minutes to get clear means your fixer is starting to lose capacity. Note that it might be possible for fixer to be bad yet still pass the leader test.

[polyglot]

It'll be fine. D76 concentrate keeps for 6 months easily (unless it gets too hot, like 30C) in full bottles so just use it as normal. Once you've done the 1+1 mixing of concentrate and water, it should be used immediately and then discarded. The fixer also will be fine.

Edit: does the D-76 look clear, or maybe very lightly straw coloured? Then it's good. If it's brownish or strong-tea coloured, at least test it very carefully or just bin it. If there are white flakes in there, give it a good shake to evenly distribute them and they will dissolve once you mix it 1+1 with water. They will cause overdevelopment spots if you use the D-76 undiluted, so in that case you'd need to heat it a bit (35C) in a microwave so that they re-dissolve.

Accordion bottles are bad because they're permeable to oxygen. PET softdrink bottles are better; if they're not full (or you can't squeeze the air out) then just put a blast of butane (cigarette lighter gas) in there to exclude some oxygen and provide a protective blanket.

[jermaineB]

Thanks for the replies! I will test my test roll that I've used to practice putting in the developing tank.

[Thomas Bertilsson]

As an aside, 35mm canisters can easily be opened by grabbing the slit that the film slides in and out of. In the dark just pry the two lips apart and just break it open by bending it. Keep going until you've worked your way roughly half the way around the entire canister. Now you should be able to break either the bottom or top off, and just slide the film out.

Hope that helps. Have fun developing film! And welcome to APUG.

[Rick A]

I leave my film in the cassett when loading reels. I snip the leader prior to going dark, load film, then snip flush with the cassett when I get to the end. Then I pop the reel into the can and close the lid. I find this much easier than dealing with loose film.

[bobwysiwyg]

I leave my film in the cassett when loading reels. I snip the leader prior to going dark, load film, then snip flush with the cassett when I get to the end. Then I pop the reel into the can and close the lid. I find this much easier than dealing with loose film.

Same here. The loose film was more a pain for me than anything and frankly felt it posed a problem in terms of emulsion damage, though I could never actually verify this.

[jermaineB]

What I don't understand is how some of you talk about the leader of the film...yet once I rewind the film in the camera I can't get that leader film tab back. How do you guys do it? I always think if I don't rewind all the way I might expose some of the film to light which I have done before.

[polyglot]

It's best if you don't rewind all the way, just stop when there's the 5cm of leader poking out. Most SLRs with electronic rewind can be set to do this.

If the leader is in the canister, you need a leader-retriever. It's a little metal thing that snags the sprocket holes, or you can make one from some scrap 35mm film, cutting the sprocket holes to make little teeth.