• 1517: Rocky Mountain National Park. (23 May 2025. Hand-rolled Rollei RPX 100 @ EI 100 in Minolta XE-7.) (on top.)
  • 1512: RiNO district, Denver. (21 May 2025. Hand-rolled Rollei RPX 100 @ EI 100 in Minolta XE-7.)
  • 1521: Frank Turner at the Stanley Hotel. (23 May 2025. Rollei RPX 400 @ EI 400 in Minolta XE-7, 70–210mm zoom lens.)
  • 1498: Origami in the Garden Sculpture Park / US Hwy 84 near Abiquiu Lake / US 550 near Coal Bank Pass. (15–16 May 2025. Wolfen NP100 @ EI 100 in Nikon FE-2.) (on bottom.)

Pre-soaked film. Poured out pre-wetting water, poured D96 into tank. Agitated 20x over first minute, then 5x every 30 seconds. These are half-agitations, gently (i.e., gently twisting to a 90-degree inversion, then gently back).

After 7:20 (adjusting for the fact that the same developer has already been used by adding 20 seconds per previously developed roll of film), disposed of developer, rinsed in tap water. Fixed in Ilford Rapid Fixer 1+4 for 6 minutes (that’s now 36 rolls from this batch of fixer), inverting 10x over 15 seconds at the top of every minute. Recaptured fixer and rinsed for ten minutes, then emptied tank, added a few drops of Photo-Flo, filled tank again and agitated 20x, and hung negatives vertically to dry.

Evaluation and notes

Every single roll in this tank came out 100% totally blank. There were not even edge markings on any of the film.

If I ever try D96 again, I ain’t getting it from Bellini. I am extremely fucking sad to lose these four rolls (and rolls 1518, 1519, 1526, and 1530) to non-working developer. What a disappointment. And although I’m generally happy with Freestyle Photo, I’m disappointed that they sold me this bottle, especially given that the ink on the poorly printed label had run so badly it was impossible to determine whether it even had an expiration date on it.