My uncle swore by using hot water for film development. He was dead wrong.

Last winter my uncle said to heat my chemicals to 75 degrees for better development. I tried it with a roll of Tri-X and got a grainy mess that looked like it was from 1970. Turns out 68 degrees exists for a reason. I ruined 3 more rolls before looking up the official times. Cost me about $15 in wasted film and chemistry. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from old-timers that seemed confident but was off?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elizabeth1d ago

Oh man, 75 degrees is way too hot for most black and white film, that'll cook your emulsion for sure. Old-timers sometimes mix up their own process with what's actually standard, and 68 has been the baseline for years for a reason. Sorry about your rolls but at least now you know to double check the data sheets before trying any "secret" tricks.

kellys781d ago

Wait, so are you saying the whole "warm developer speeds up development" thing is just a myth then? Cuz I've seen some YouTube guys swear by it.

milacraig1d ago

Oh man, I've been there except my "expert" was a guy at a camera swap meet who told me to shake the tank like a maraca for even development. That roll came out looking like abstract art, real impressive if you're into squiggly lines I guess.