> well, the developer was bundled with the fixer and the paper.
>From your description, I'm leaning towards a defective
developer. If the developer was brown, it's shot. I've had two
brand-new bottles of developer and a package of powder developer
be bad just this year.
> hmm, this could be a problem. i usually don't dry my test
> prints
> thoroughly. is tonality increasing while drying?
Well, in a way, yes. When the emulsion is wet it is swelled up
and the silver particles are spread-out. When it dries the
emulsion tightens up and the particles come together. Test
prints can be tossed in a microwave to dry rapidly. The
technical term is called "drydown". Depending on the paper,
you'll need to compensate (when evaluating wet prints) by 5-15%
exposure. Your highest value detail should still be invisible in
a wet print, but will magically appear once the print is dry.
> the tests i ran weren't only under the enlarger. i tried
> exposing for
> several minute (15?) to "normal" (i.e. non-safe) light. that
> should be
> enough to reach Dmax, no?
No. You over-exposed the paper and it reversed. See Ansel
Adams "Black Sun" photograph for an example of this phenonomon.
Five to ten seconds under room light will fully expose paper.
Anyway, get some other developer to try. A worn-out or oxidized
developer won't give you DMAX. Most developers will have a
slight yellow cast in concentrate form. As it oxidizes it turns
brown.
AG
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