Development times for RTP-163 developer

RTP-163 is a developer that can be procured in Chennai, India. Costing about Rs.52 a pack, this is a very economical developer. The developer seems to be an equivalent of Kodak DA-163 developer solution.

I couldn't find any online documentation about developing times for this developer, so here goes:

Film	Temperature	Time	Agitation
Nova BW 125	~20C	5 mins	Brisk agitation for 10 secs in the first minute, then followed by 3 inversions in 5 seconds at the end of every minute
Ilford Pan 400	~20C	5 mins	Brisk agitation for 10 secs in the first minute, then followed by 3 inversions in 5 seconds at the end of every minute
Kodak TMax 400	~20C

Clip tests to calculate development and fixing times

Clip tests are a simple way to figure out development and fixing times. This is a useful procedure when working with a new developer or film, or if you are reusing your chemicals, or if you are unsure about the potency of the chemicals.

Development times:
Simple clip test for development

For this, you will need a small piece from the leader portion of your film. You'll also need a sample fully exposed piece of a similarly typed film for reference.

Go through the entire process of dev, stop, fix, wash and dry with this small piece of film that you have cut out. Once done with this process, compare the piece with the reference film. If the piece you developed is lighter, then it was underdeveloped, if is is darker, then it was overdeveloped. Adjust your development times accordingly

Modified clip test for development

The simple clip test is good if you have a reference film bit to compare against. But what if you have a new developer and a new film with no reference to fall back on? You can perform a modified clip test as follows:

Look up the instructions for your developer. You should see something like '5 to 7 minutes at 20 deg C'. Lets take this instruction for example.

5 to 7 mins means < 5 is underdeveloped and > 7 is overdeveloped. We want to clip test for 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 mins to cover the entire range of given times. Cut out 5 test strips from your film. The test strips are cut out from the fully exposed film i.e. from the leader end in broad daylight. For the 4 min test, I cut out a film strip with 3 'eyes' (holes on either side of your film), for 5 min I cut out with 4 'eyes' and so on. This way I can recognize the strips.

I use an oversized soap dish as a tray for the test strip. Pour in enough developer (at the prescribed temperature). Drop in the first strip and start your stop watch. At every minute, drop in the next strip and slightly rock the tray to agitate. In total you will need to count to 8 mins. So, your first strip would have received 8 mins of development, the second strip would have received 7 mins, and so on.

At the end of 8 mins, pour out the developer and continue with the rest of the development procedure i.e. wash, fix, wash.

Now, compare your test strips. The underdeveloped strip will look transparent in comparison to the overdeveloped strip. The test strip which is not completely black will give you the time required for development.


Fixing times:

Cut a piece of film leader and immerse into fixer. Start timer. Observe film at the end of every minute. Note down the number of minutes for the film leader to become clear. Multiply this time by 2. This is the time you need for fixing your film.

Home made Photoflo

Photoflo is a wetting agent. This reduces the surface tension of water, so, when you hang up your negatives to dry, most of the water will just drip off. This reduces chances of dried water marks from showing up on your negative.

If you dont have access to photoflo, you can make your own equivalent by adding a drop or two of Pril (dishwash liquid) to a liter of distilled water. You need to use distilled water because it does not have any dissolved salts or minerals. Distilled water can be bought from battery shops and most petrol pumps for Rs.20 a liter.

As a last step after washing your film, soak the film reel in this homemade solution for a couple of minutes. Your film will now dry cleanly without any streaks or drying marks. Goes without saying, this solution cannot be reused.

Keep in mind that Pril has fragrances and other chemicals as part of its chemical composition. There are many posts on the internet which will warn you against using this solution with important negatives, since it may degrade the emulsion over a period of time.