Matthew,
Being of the habitually undisciplined persuasion, I'm sort of a hack and often
make things up as I go, but here's basically how I process the Efke films. In
addition to 35mm and 120 KB25, I also shoot Efke PL100 sheet film, but I handle
it all pretty much the same way, using Nikor tanks and reels.
Efke recommends that the film be prewet for one minute, and I do so. I wasn't
sure why to begin with, but then I saw that the water comes out with a
pinkish-purple tint, so it must be doing something in there.
As I think I said in my original post, I often shoot KB25 at ISO/ASA 20. I do
this because it's a fairly high-contrast film. Depending on the subject and/or
the lighting, 1/3 stop over-exposure and a commensurate amount of
under-development makes for happier negatives. My normal development time at
ASA/ISO 25 in 1:40 R09 at 68F/20C is 6 minutes. If I shoot the stuff at 20, I
cut the development time to 5 minutes. With Neofin Blue, I'm still fiddling a
little with the time, but I've been getting good results dropping back from 7
minutes to 6.
After development, I just give it a quick dose of one-shot Kodak Indicator Stop
Bath, followed by fixing in plain old Kodafix for two or three minutes past the
time it takes to clear, and then a 30-minute wash.
As an addendum that might be of interest to some, my newest darkroom gadget,
which I find to be a most convenient tool, is the 10-year-old Sharp microwave
oven I inherited when my wife decided it was time for a new one in the kitchen.
I have found that, on high, it will raise the temperature of 32 ounces of
liquid one degree Fahrenheit in exactly 10 seconds. For those of us too cheap
and ill-equipped to have one of those fancy mixing faucets, this has made life
in the darkroom much easier. Makes me even think about going back to souping
my own E-6 now.
Walt
--
"Anything more than 500 yards from
the car just isn't photogenic." --
Edward Weston
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Matthew Born <mborn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Hi Walt,
> I've been very interested in trying out that Efke and Neofin Blue. I'd
> probably try out the 120 in my 645. Do you prewet the film when you develop
> it? What kind of fixer do you use? Any other details you want to share would
> be greatly appreciated...
>
> Cheers
> Matthew Born
> http://www.bornphotos.com
>
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