Large-format film is used in a "view" camera. This is the same kind of camera Matthew Brady used to make those well-known images of the American Civil War and Ansel Adams used to show the world Yosemite National Park. View cameras have a lens at one end, a bellows and focusing mechanism in the middle and a focusing screen and film magazine at the other. They usually are designed to shoot 4-by-5-inch or 8-by-10-inch negatives one at a time. Here's develop those negatives.
Instructions
1. Use film trays to develop the film. You will need a tray each for developer, stop bath and fixer for black-and-white film. When using trays, you essentially develop the film as you would prints. The only difference is that you can't use a safe light because the slightest bit of light will expose or cloud the negative, rendering it useless. You must use a timing device such as a GraLab or other timer.
2. Make certain the developer and other chemicals are at the right temperature. In general, the temperature should be between 70 and 75 degrees F or 20 degrees C for Tri-X Pan. The length of time you leave a sheet of film in the developer also is important. Depending on the temperature, the development time should be between four and seven minutes.
3. Open the film cartridge in total darkness. Set the timer and immerse the sheet of film in the developer tray. Either rock the tank to keep the developer in motion or move the film around with rubber-tipped tongs, being careful not to scratch the emulsion. When the timer goes off, pick up the film sheet with the tongs, allowing it to drain a bit, then place it in the stop bath for 30 seconds, then the fixer. The longer you fix film, the better it will stabilize. The same is true for washing film. Fix most black-and-white films for a minimum of 10 minutes. You can use a hypo solution to shorten drying times, too.
Use a film-washing tank for the water wash or an additional tray in a dedicated sink. The tank allows water from a sink to run in and then out. You can do this with a tray in a sink, too. Then dry.
4. Use a film tank to develop more than one negative at a time. Film tanks allow you to hang each negative inside the tank, then feed the developer, stop bath, fixer and water wash through the tank. There is less likelihood of scratching the negatives this way.
Tags: stop bath, bath fixer, develop film, developer stop, developer stop bath, film developer, sheet film