Lomography Earl Grey with Ilford Ilfotec HC

[JamCanSing]

Hi,

Has anyone ever processed Lomo's Earl Grey B&W film using Ilfotec HC?

I read that the Earl Grey is repackaged Fomapan 100 and so I followed Massive Dev timings and dilution. Negs came out but they appear muddy and the negative themself have a blue tint. Anyone with expertise or knowledge to comment appreciated. Note I am using expired film so that doesn't help in the equation but I've shot other expired before and the results is not anywhere similar in the outcome.

I guess the next to do is to process another roll but increase or decrease my developing time.

Cheers,
Chester

 

[catchlights]

Either didn't fix enough or your fixer is weak.

 

[catchlights]

Can re soak it in fresh fixer to see will it gets cleared.

 

[JamCanSing]

Thanks for the reply. As it was the first time following the Massive Dev timing I wasn't sure what to expect. Fixer and Developer are fresh I always use for a new film that I haven't used before. So, fixing wasn't a problem. It looks like either the film was far gone and reason for fogging (muddy) and/or the dev timings needed adjustment.

So, I shot another roll and changed the dev timings but kept the same 1:22 mix. I changed to a dev time of 7min 30secs. First minute inversions, and subsequent minutes inversions for 10 seconds. The original Fomapan 100 dev timing was for first minute inversions and then every 30 seconds agitate for 5 seconds. I wasn't very precise with the 5 seconds so it may been 6-8 seconds. That means increased agitation and more frequently.

The film still has a blue tint but I kind of expect that when the developer thrown off comes off as a bright emerald green. Not the usual purple tint you get from Kodak.

This roll looks good with the mixture and timings. Will run through another roll and repeat to see if results are the same.

Cheers.

 

[zguy]

It is tough to troubleshoot using expired film. Usually I would benchmark the dev time with a roll of fresh film of the same kind. Depending on how long the expired film is, I would extend the development time. You can also consider getting Benzotriazole from online store to reduce the fogging.

 

[kgston]

The blue tint on the film base is pretty normal..it results from reactions from the chemicals with the film emulsion.. I usually get blue with Ilford films and purple with tri-x films. Fuji and tmax kodak ones have no tint, so newer formulations seem to have resolved these issues. But if you run the film in running water long enough after fixing, it will come off, but it's such a waste of water (at least in sg) and I doubt it will affect any scanning nor longevity.

As for the colour of the developer after development, that's not a good guide to use.. I've developed a large range of films with various developers and I get a whole rainbow spectrum of colours depending on the combination.. Haha..

The best way to tell fogging is to look along the film edge (where the film data markings are) if the film edge is clean and the data is clearly readable, then you just have to adjust development timing or method. If not then there may be issues with the chemicals.