Decided to put the old Spotmatic to use. Picked up some Ilford HP5+ 400 along with Ilford DD-X developer and Ilford Rapid Fixer and a Paterson tank from The Camera Store in Calgary after work yesterday. Shot my roll of film and then went to work.
1) Filled a large jug with water and used a thermometer to get it to a perfect 20 degrees Celcius.
2) Mixed 60ml of DD-X with 240ml of water in one container and the same ratio of fixer in another.
3) Into the bathroom, door closed, towel under the bottom with a can opener, scissors, film and tank. Laid out all the pieces and turned off the light.
4) Opened my film canister. Snipped the end off. Fed into the reel of the tank and wind it up. Snip off the end, then into the tank with the lid. Lights back on.
5) Poured my DD-X container into the tank, agitate, then continue to agitate and rest for the 9 minutes as recommended on the HP5+ box for DD-X.
6) Poured out the DD-X mix into a container, fill the tank from the tap and dump it 3 times, just using a water stop.
7) Pour in the Rapid Fixer and repeat the agitation dance for 4 minutes.
8) Poured the Rapid Fixer into a container, fill the tank from the tap and dump it 3 times.
9) Pulled out the film and it looks great. Hung it with clips from the shower rod for a couple hours to dry.
It was a bit stressful not having done any of this before. But it worked out ok.