Develop Film By Inspection
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- čas přidán 24. 08. 2024
- Before time and temperature for repeatable results acme the standard way of developing your film, the technique of developing by inspection was used. In this video I talk about the method and equipment needed to try this yourself.
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Excellent video, in a sea of CZcamsrs running around with film cameras it’s so refreshing seeing real and technical photography from an actual photographer.
Michael and Paula's long-time darkroom assistant, drum scanner/retoucher/printer here. The most important part of Michael's article on developing by inspection is the part where he says to print every negative from the first few DBI tests. The idea is to create the visual connection/memory of the relationship between how it looks under the safelight to how it actuality prints, especially for how different graded papers (or alt processes) respond to the exposure/dev ratio.
Or as MAS always said, "If it was good enough for Edward Weston, it is good enough for me."
I heard of it until I worked as an undergrad as a photographer's assistant. I tried the green safelight and there's a huge learning curve. Currently, I'm experimenting with night vision goggles and infrared LEDs. It works pretty well.
which night vision googles are you experimenting with please? Thanks in advance!
@@Igarpe I have the Nightfox. It has USB rechargeable batteries. A bit big and heavy, but they work.
That is genuinely brilliant.
@@donyee8970 q
The only reason to use infrared goggles+lightsource is when trying to use DBI with TMax, because you can't judge the highlights coming through (as well) when using the standard green safelight filter.
I've used a cousin of this technique for years, making contrast masks on orthochromatic film. That is vastly easier since the film is blind to red, and a normal strength red light/filter works fine. Back around 1960, I tried this technique once or twice, just because the Ansel Adams types of of the day used it. By the time you learn how to judge an image under a dark green light and with no clearing of the undeveloped emulsion, you learn that it is only practical for emergency salvage efforts.
Development by inspection got more difficult when panchromatic film became common. In old movies, you can see people in a darkroom (shot on black and white, so you can't see the light is deep red) developing 1920s to 1940s orthochromatic film by inspection; it was still given as a standard technique for ortho film (which, by then, was mostly obsolete) when I learned to process film in 1969.
The main reason DBI fell out of favor is due to the difficulty of doing it with panchromatic film; even with a desensitizer added to the developer, the yellow-green safelight is so dim that even after fifteen minutes in total darkness it's hard to see anything on the film to judge its progress -- especially in the fifteen seconds exposure limit usually quoted. By contrast, I developed a roll of Verichrome (ortho) a few months ago that only required me to turn off the room lights and turn on my red printing safelight, which let me see the film well enough to easily judge how much more development was needed in a few seconds.
I also wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Zone System drove some nails into the DBI coffin -- Zone practitioners have a strong tendency to want to make everything absolutely repeatable, which DBI is not. IMO, the repeatability of time/temperature makes it much easier to get consistent results, even with ortho film -- but as with much of photography, it's not the only way to get the job done.
Why green? What I've read gives two overlapping reasons: first, the specific green of the Wratten #3 is almost exactly at the sensitivity peak of the human eye, which allows the light to be *as dim as possible* and still provide useful vision, and second, this color is also at/near a dip in the color sensitivity curves of many classic "Type B" panchromatic emulsions (Verichrome Pan, 1960s vintage Tri-X, etc. -- sensitization changed a lot from then to the early 2000s when emulsion advancements mostly stopped, and many modern films don't have this "dip" in the sensitivity curve in green to yellow-green wavelengths).
Developing black and white film by inspection is a novel idea for me. Thanks for the information.
I've always been curious about this and had heard most of why and how, but it's really cool to see it actually be done ... and to trust the process after I've actually seen it, instead of just reading about it. Thank you for sharing!
As always an excellent video. I started doing development by inspection when I got into large format with my new to me 4x5 Busch Pressman. Excellent camera but as a retiree, I bought Foma 200 film because of the budget price. Well, you get what you pay for. Foma films are notorious for being undependable and inconsistent. So out of self-defense, I started using inspection. It really made a difference in the density of the negatives. I bought for a couple of bucks an old Kodak safelight set. It is small but it has a green, red, and orange filter and screws into a light fixture. Works well enough for me. A couple of reinforcement points I would like to make. I would be very careful on how long you leave the green light on. Easy to fog the film. Also, some of the older tank designs allow for putting the wet film back on the reel. I have an FR that works very well but it does take a lot of practice.
I'd bet on the human eye sensitivity explanation. Kodak has an online pdf of the transmittance graph for the KODAK 3 Safelight Filter/dark green filter (I think this is a separate numbering system from the wratten filters, as the no 3 wratten is something completely different, a light yellow), and up until the near-infrared, that thing is just black - and it only has a tiny notch of 0.something% transmittance centered around it seems 520nm. And seeking human eye sensitiviy info just in general, gave me some official page by olympus, and thus I'd deem it reliable - its apparently some microscopy primer section of the site -- and states that a dark-adapted eye has peak sensitivity at 507nm, and a light-adapted eye at 555nm. No wonder there's nothing to see with that light until the eye fully adapts to the dark then!
507nm is too close a match for the 520nm peak transmittance of that filter for a coincidence. For sensitivity of panchromatic films, I only see pretty broad, inconsistent, and not very large dips in their sensitivity curves, around 500nm - or not even that, like w foma 400.
Great video, I for some reason thought it much more mysterious and complicated to set up! Even sticking to fixed time development, might be practical to have that light around to develop sheet film -- using trays, but not keeping oneself completely in the dark.
Never thought you can do that. Interesting 🧐
I've always wondered how to accomplish this methodology, so your video is exceedingly helpful and insightful. I have a brownie safelight with the № 3 green cup, but somewhat under powered since it's 5w. I need to get one of those beehive safelights one of these days.
Thanks!
Looking at your scans it looks like the N-1 development is a better image but it's hard to tell from a video. This video comes at the right time because I recently purchased a green filter to start developing by inspection. thanks
I agree, the shorter time is better (scanned at least)
Always a pleasure to watch your videos
thanks for making this video and videos like this, it is a really valuable stockpile of very informative niche information!
That’s what I’m here for
Amazing work as always!
I recently watched a video by Tim Hall, and he mentioned DBI, and he stated that he kept his body in between the development tray and the green light, until he would inspect the film. I guess he kept the light on during the whole development time.
I personally wouldn’t trust that method
I too was also curious about this. I was always too nervous about ruining my film to try. I wonder how much more difficult it would be using roll film.
Paldies!
Great vídeo! Tks
Hi! Excellent content. I have an unrelated question, if I may: I’ve watched your videos for years now and have always wondered two things: what are the general dimensions of your darkroom and did you behold it near a kitchen or bath for easy plumbing? I’ve been looking around in my space trying to find a nice area for this type of room. You have plenty of space it seems and I’m just wondering how big it is. Thanks!!
It’s about 6x12 feet. It’s next to an upstairs bathroom and tied into the plumbing there.
Can't you also use Pinakryptol in the process? Does that make it easier?
Theoretically. I’ve never used it
Hi! Really interesting. But here in Europe it is really difficult to get Wratten filters in green. Is there another possibility? With LED lights?
I doubt led lights would be dim enough or the correct wavelength to work
when he said "i got it off amazon" a little piece of me died :( #fuckamazon
Thanks!