Perhaps others here also know the chronic problem of too-dark b&w reversal films. At least for me, b&w reversal films turn out much more often too dark than too bright. This happens especially in the case of expired films or obscure russian film stock etc., as well as in the case of negligence in development or lack of potassium rhodanide additive.
Often you just have a basic fog (so, bad Dmin) … There are many reasons.
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In 1978, so more than 40 years ago, the photochemistry legend Patrick D. Dignan published a highly interesting script with the title
“How to Compound … Simplified Color Processing Formulas.“
Unfortunately, this script is extremely hard to find, and the Dignan family has no further copies either.
Darkroom mate Adrian C. from England was so nice and scanned his copy, Filmkorn now makes it available as a searchable PDF download!
The document is very interesting. While it does not list the exact formulas of the original processes, they would be very difficult to recreate. Rather, it offers a variety of simplified and tried-and-tested alternative processes with often startlingly good (or even indistinguishable) results.
The collection includes recipes for alternatives to the C-41, C-22, E-6, E-4, E3, Agfachrome and some paper processes (including a developer for Cibachrome!).
Great reading, and a printout shouldn’t be missing in any ambitious lab. You can learn a lot here.
Digit is a WDR project in which new photos and films from everyday life of the past are added to a database every day.
Digit is designed to prevent these images and memories from being forgotten. Instead, we want to use Digit to save analog material into our digital age. Digit stands for digital, but at the same time is a prompt. Because “Dig it” is also English! So like treasure diggers, you’re supposed to sift and sort. You can make your material available to the general public via an upload at Digit or make it available to us for digitization.
A complete list of all the narrow films already digitized by Digit can be found here on Vimeo. It’s fun to let yourself drift there!
Alberto Vangelisti is more than a tinkerer — he is apparently a gifted engineer: He managed something that the most proven machines failed in recent years: Design, construction and operation of a machine that reliably magnet-stripes any type of films (including polyester), precise and extremely inexpensive.
Fresh from the scanner: The complete repair manual for the Nikon R10 as a searchable PDF. In large parts, of course, also valid for the R8.
Enjoy reading and tinkering. The Nikon R10 is not an easy patient, but worth every effort!
Many amateur lab workers have their darkroom in the basement or in the attic, but at least in places that are otherwise rarely used. In addition, there is often a lot of electrical equipment in a small-format-film-suitable darkroom, such as a heat plate, heated bain-marie, film dryer, sunlamp, lighting – and other things like e.g. an exhaust air system, a water lifting system, a radio or a water boiler.
Those who splice their film with tape know the air bubbles that occasionally gather under the adhesive film. From Würker (and later Wittner) there was the practical tape roller with which this air could be removed. Splices processed in this way are less visible and audible.
Many small gauge film makers do not even know that there is a Double-X between the (now discontinued) Plus-X and the still very popular Tri-X. As the name suggests, its sensitivity lies between these two popular classics. However, it was introduced only in 1959, after the Plus-X (1938) and after the Tri-X (1954). In 1964, it was followed by the highly sensitive 4-X, which existed until 1990.
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The hoses of the Lomo tanks often become brittle over time or have kinks that remain. Unfortunately, the hoses of all Lomo tanks do not have a standard measure, so replacement is often unsatisfactory. Although 0.5″ garden hoses can somehow be made attached to the smaller tanks, those are far too stiff and make a controlled outpouring of chemistry difficult.
No, it was not a loveless DVD or Blu-ray played from the laptop (preferably with a projected disc menu and several trial-and-error attempts in front of a gathered audience, as you often experience today):
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