DDX STAND DEVELOPMENT

[@Liampanto]

Just brought my first bottle of ddx and realised i never looked into if it could be used for stand development. This video has gotten me so excited to try it

[@frankpavich]

This video changed my life. Since watching it I have only developed with this method and have only had fantastic results. I do however use a Paterson tank so in order to avoid potential bromide drag, halfway through the 45 minutes I do another minute of agitation (slowly and with the swizzle stick). This video removed any fear I ever had about film development.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

I am so glad this video gave you the information you need. Yep, a gentle turn 1/2 way through is perfectly fine with this and Rodinal and 510 Pyro stand developments….. happy shooting!

[@stigmatedbrain]

Great channel, please keep ongoing.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

That's the plan! Thank you!

[@cowboyyoga]

Wow! What a great video! At the end of this video, just felt so much more confident with using a stand developer. I didn't really understand why we should use a stand developer besides to get more details. So thank you for explaining ! )))

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

You are very welcome-- happy shooting!

[@punkrachmaninoff]

Hey Steve. Hey Eve. Came here to say DDX 1:9 45 mins IS THE BEST COMBO WITH HP5 @ 400. About to try FP4 @200 for the first time with the same formula... Fingers crossed.

[@belgocanuck123]

Awesome video! Very keen to try this out… thanks for the concise instructions!

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

Very welcome!

[@johngskewes]

Thank you Steve - I love Fomapan 100. I've been developing in HC110B and the results are so fine- Being able push and pull at will while in the field is a cool concept. My standard for my ONDU 6X9 is Rodinal semi-stand 1/100 - but that same development in 35mm is a little chunky. I will be giving D-DX a try. Thank you for this excellent series.

[@stephendeakin2714]

Hello Steve, really interested to try out DD-X at 1+9 I've used it for years and years at 1+4 thanks for your inspiration to give it a go. However I print conventional wet prints so expect I will have to find my own sweet spot balance point. All the best from England UK.

[@BillPutnamPhoto]

Love how I stumbled on your channel, Steve. I got back in to developing my b/w last year because I was stuck at home. Went through a whole series of experiments. Shot the same stuff on 35mm with the same lens (Leica-M Summicron 50 f2) with different film stocks (Rollei RPX25, Rollei 80s, FP4 and HP5) all pushed or pulled to different ISOs (I did a strip of RPX25 at ISO 6 and ISO 200!) and then cut them up into strips for stand development at different times with different developers (same stop and fix though). I even did RPX25, FP4 and HP5 in 1+300 Rodinal for EIGHT HOURS; the negs look like hot garbage. Then I started mucking around with the Zone System and applying the developing lessons. Your method is giving me different ideas. I hadn't considered placing/exposing film shot at ISO box in Zone III or IV. I may have to do that just to see how it looks. Thanks!

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

With the hybrid/ FIGITAL workflow the zone system is a very flexible tool and not limited to a lot of the traditional restrictions of the past. Well exposed negative that is low contrast and with controlled density is the winning option for scanning.

[@BillPutnamPhoto]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Thanks. Appreciate the inspiration.

[@BillPutnamPhoto]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTION That low contrast-well exposed neg is what I aimed for with the first phase of the testing. You've got me looking to do a phase two!

[@tunkufawzy]

Hi, Thanks for this video. A couple of questions: 1. Does one need to keep the temperature constant of 20 degrees Celsius or 68 Fahrenheit throughout the 45 minutes or would there be a range say between 19 and 21 degrees for example. 2. You mentioned that a Paterson tank would not be a good choice, why is that the case? Thanks again for this great piece of work. Water at room temperature here in Malaya is about 29.9c.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

I prefer the space metal reels have for chemical flow- JOBO tanks are also ok but the Patterson as just to tight and I have found cause uneven stand development. That temperature range is totally fine….

[@AustenGoldsmithPhotography]

That's given me a lot to think about . I shoot surf and seascapes on long lenses so need speed from my film . 1600 is often as low as I can go , blown highlights when the sun reflects off the water is my biggest enemy. I use hp5 mostly . Anything that's saves a few dollars is a bonus as 1.4 ratio with DDX is quite expensive Have you tried this method with hp5? You can see my stuff on my vids Thanks from cornwall uk

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

I have not tested HP5 with this but have no doubt it would work perfect.

[@junishibashi9530]

Thank you Steve. I have tried this method with HP5+, Delta 400, PAN F+, Tri X and all worked great. I would like to know if it works with DELTA 3200 EI 6400.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

I’m not sure but suspect it would be fine to at least 3200

[@junishibashi9530]

​@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Just tried Delta 3200 EI 6400 and had good result. I don't know if I achieved the best quality negs but seems acceptable.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

If you achieved a 6400 EI then I suspect it is pretty good for that film- it is also nice in Diafine with an EI from 100-1200 all on the same roll but the grain is huge especially in 35mm but I like grain. The DDX is formulated for Delta Grain much like Xtol for TGrain… happy shooting

[@rrrrrrr303]

Fantastic video, thank you. I love Fomapan as well. Out of curiosity, have you tried stand development with ID-11? Any suggestions on how to calculate dilution and time for stand development based on regular development? Thanks a bunch.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

ID-11 is similar to D76 and I have tried D76 1:7 for stand and it can work but not great with all films so experimentation will be necessary. Try a test at 1:7 at 68F for 30min, 45min and 60min and see what you get and it you like it… and then definitely report back here to share your thoughts! Cheers- Steve

[@rrrrrrr303]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTION I most definitely will, thank you very much Steve.

[@philippeducros5315]

Great video ,bravo.Just two questions , at the end, as stop bath, you use water or acid stop bath ? If you choose water do you use usual fixer or alkaline fixer ? Thank you so much.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

I use water for the stop and my normal fix is TF4 from Formulary

[@frankwolff2903]

Steve, do you have any experience using DDX at 1:9 for "regular developing", not stand developing. If so what is the difference in time between regular 1:9 developing and 1:9 stand developing? There's very little info out there regarding regular 1:9. I've heard of some photographers using this method to reduce the cost per roll. Also on a different subject do you have any experience developing XP-2 with DDX? Thanks, FW

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

Yes it reduces cost and can help with contrast a little. Yes to XP2 with DDX stand- there is a video I made here on that process and it is beautiful.

[@flipflopsleica]

My summary takeaway, why won’t everyone do this SD approach as it works. Where is the resistance to SD?

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

I agree- especially with DDX.

[@randallstewart175]

First of all, when he talks about metering box speed at Zone V or metering Zone III at a two stop speed increase over box speed, he's talking about exactly the same exposure, so to some extent, this is just a lot of double talk. Otherwise, the very nature of how stand development works causes a compression of highlights. If you are scanning to a digital file, digital processing software will let a capable user expand some of that compression, but what's not there in the first place can never be "restored". Finally, he's using digital processing to return the tonal separation of these negs to something close to a normal image. However, it you were to try to print these in a darkroom, you'd bin the negative long before you got an acceptable print. For most folks today, that's not an issue.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

@@randallstewart175 “First of all”- box speed and an exposure at Zone 3 are not the same- and where is there “double talk”-. And yes stand development does compress the highlights and open the shadows as outlined in the videos.. and yes this technique outlined here is optimized for scanning and yes this would make for very flat negative for printing in the darkroom but that is not the intent and again this outlined in the video. And “he” is very aware that digital technology, scanning in this case, is making separation of tonality possible that would be difficult to achieve in a traditional darkroom with out some serious effort but again that is covered in the video-

[@arneheeringa96]

Do you mean you can have different speeds on the same film depending on the exposure (zone 4 or 7) ? I have tried Foma 400 in Caffenol CL Semi-Stand, T-Max and T-Max mixed with Rodinal as stand development. T-Max is quite similar to DD-X, 45 minutes was the sweet spot compared to 1 hour for Rodinal. In Caffenol CL I didn't like the grain (Kentmere 100 and Ilford HP5 are great in it though), I more liked it in Beer mixed with Parodinal, even at 1600 (1 Minute agitation scheme). Some people say stand development is generally more grainy than development with agitation (1 minute or continuous). Great to have such videos from people that know film photography from the old days, like you, Martin Henson, Will Agar, Daniel Milnor, Pictorial Planet, etc. I still kept shooting BW on film, and I'm happy I did.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

Yes- it is more the exposure latitude but thinking of it as usable EI is my method. Diafine is another example of a developer that when pair with the right film can have a huge usable EI range- for instance Delta 3200 is usable from 100-1600 all on the same roll- yes some with be a little dense and some a tad thin but all VERY usable.

[@arneheeringa96]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTION I'll definitely test it!

[@arneheeringa96]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTION I suppose you can do the same thing in 2-bath developers, as they work in a similar way as stand development?

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

Yes- Diafine is my go to 2 bath developer which is now back in stock after a long hiatus

[@soulstart89]

Hey Steve. Happy new year. I wonder have you used stand development with ddx on delta 3200? I shot two rolls at 1600 last night using flash and natural light. I have hc110 also. I’m in two minds what to do.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

I am always hesitant to do a “test” with precious film- I’m pretty sure it will be fine but out of an abundance of caution I would do a standard development…

[@soulstart89]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTION hey Steve. I must look at my settings as I didn’t get a push notification of your message. I developed for 14:30mins. Like you said above it came out “fine” but maybe not like it sings with the hc110/rodinal stand development I’ve used with other films. The difference was more apparent with non strobe pictures. I had microphen at home but I wasn’t going to be back home for a while so decided to use the hc110. Oh I keep forgetting to ask. With you Epson scanner do you scan on gamma 1.8 or 2.2? Hope your widelux, you and family are well lol

[@adrielrowley]

If don't mind, have another question, hopefully not over doing it. In the video, using a medium format camera, so not following how can develop different ASA in the same tank, can you please clarify?

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

It all has to do with the films latitude and fact that stand provides a long tonal range at lower contrast- the result is usable EI range that depending on the film and scanner can be quite large.

[@adrielrowley]

So the procedure is to determine the EI range and latitude? In other words, between the high and low speed over/under developed be the latitude. For example, if using Rollei RPX, 25ASA was over developed and 1280 was under developed, the latitude be 50ASA to 6400ASA EI range or a latitude of 10 stops? By the way, my preference is using an enlarger, especially now Adobe is a subscription service, though right now don't have one. Not going to let it stop taking photographs. Find interesting how two unrelated channels have caused a realization film speed can be used just like aperture and shutter speed. Now aware, like of course it is.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

All of my times as indicated in the videos are for scanning purposes- not to say it can’t be used in an enlarged but I am not developing to a set contrast index but rather for maximum flexibility in scanning. Most films can be over exposed by 1 or two stops and under exposed by the same with this technique.

[@housemusic325]

One question for DDX beginner here. I would like to know if you can actually reuse the working solution when you use 1+9 instead of 1+ 4. And if it is reusable, how many films can you process like this ?

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

Neither is reusable- DDX is a one shot use.

[@housemusic325]

@ The datasheet say otherwise. They say 10 rolls out of 1 liter of 1+4 working solution by adding time to compensate for exhaustion. In your experience it’s a bad idea to reuse it ?

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

@ yeah that’s why I said one shot-- it’s not worth it

[@housemusic325]

@ okay, thanks for all of your help

[@johnstarke7319]

One of my fears of stand developing has been bromide drag for 35mm, which is what I tend to use for my daily use. I use stand developing for my 120 film quite often. I've never used DDX developer for stand however. I know you use it for your 6X7 in this video. But have you had more success against bromide drag with 35mm and DDX? Does the pre-washing help with this? Thanks for any feedback.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

Prewash and metal tanks are the big key! If you must use plastic use the pro large JOBO tanks as Patterson in my opinion are not a good choice. DDX and HC110 as outlined here are both spot on.

[@Indigowarpz]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTION hello! I’m curious if there is a chemical reason why using a Paterson could be bad.

[@ChicagoRob2]

I’m surprised you don’t have problems with bromide drag.

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

Never.

[@ChicagoRob2]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Specific to 35mm, then?

[@FIGITALREVOLUTION]

35mm and 120

[@frankwolff2903]

@@FIGITALREVOLUTIONis it dependent on film reels and tanks? Is metal different than the 2 plastic reel Paterson tank that I have ? If so what is the work around to avoid issue with no developer movement/agitation? Thanks FW