B&W film developing questions

In article <slrnfo6cbu.u39.gsm RemoveThis @cable.mendelson.com>,
gsm RemoveThis @mendelson.com (Geoffrey S. Mendelson) writes:
>
> David Nebenzahl wrote:
>
>> Gloves are for sissies.
>
> I found that in the 1980's skin problems I had went away when exposed to
> developing chemicals, but other people have had severe reactions.

My understanding is that the most common darkroom skin allergy is to metol
(or perhaps manufacturing impurities that get into metol; I've seen
arguments on this point). Using a metol-free developer can help minimize
the risk of developing such allergies. For film, neither XTOL nor Rodinal
contains metol, but many others (such as the popular D-76) contain metol.
Most commercial paper developers contain metol. Agfa (now A&O) Neutol Plus
and the Silvergrain Tektol line are both metol-free paper developers.
(Note that some other Agfa Neutol developers do contain metol, though;
it's only Neutol Plus that's metol-free.) There are also quite a few
mix-it-yourself paper developers that lack metol.

--
Rod Smith, rodsmith RemoveThis @rodsbooks.com
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux, FreeBSD, and networking

In article <13o682g53fl2id9 DeleteThis @corp.supernews.com>,
"G.T." <getnews1 DeleteThis @dslextreme.com> writes:
>
> David Nebenzahl wrote:
>> On 1/7/2008 7:46 PM G.T. spake thus:
>>
>>> With the drums can I agitate manually or is it too inconvenient to
>>> agitate it myself? Do I need to get a roller, too?
>>
>> I'd spend the extra fifty cents and get the motor base.
>
> I should have read this post before sending my last one. So these days
> the used motor bases are quite cheap?

They're fairly cheap on eBay. On average, they probably cost more than
$0.50 (if only for shipping -- the motor base weighs more than a drum),
but the nature of eBay and the current market for darkroom equipment is
that if you're willing to wait, you can find what you want pretty cheaply
-- maybe even for $0.50. Unfortunately, eBay's not responding for me right
now so I can't check on current auctions and prices. Do a search on "drum"
in the photo section; that'll give you an idea for the current market.
(Note that there's a check box along the left of the screen to show
completed auctions, so you can tell what items actually sell for rather
than what the high bid is hours or days before the auctions end.)

>> It also uses a *lot* less chemistry, since you don't have to fill a
>> whole tray.

Yes and no. My 8x10 drum seems to work well with 70ml of chemicals. That
70ml will be close to exhausted by a single sheet, though, so it's best to
use the solution one-shot. When I use open trays, I use 1l (1000ml) of
developer in an 8x10 tray, and I typically get at least 20 8x10 prints out
of that, which works out to 50ml per print. Of course, it would be
possible to extend the life of the chemicals when using the drum -- say by
using a replenishment scheme. That adds to the hassle, though.

Ultimately I guess it depends on what's important to you and how you
prefer to work. If you want to mix up small quantities of chemistry (for
easy storage) from liquid concentrates, the low solution volumes required
by a drum might be appealing. From an economic standpoint, there's
probably not much difference, or open trays might get the nod. If you're
using a powdered developer (such as Dektol), you'll need to mix large
quantities anyhow, so the need for larger volumes to fill trays won't be
much of an issue.

--
Rod Smith, rodsmith DeleteThis @rodsbooks.com
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux, FreeBSD, and networking