Ilfotec HC Developer - Has anyone used it?

[ornate_wrasse]

In the darkroom at my local community college, where I develop film, the developer we use is Ilfotec HC. For the developing I do, I mix 1 oz of it with 31 oz of water and use to to develop most of the b&w films I work with.

I never read about this developer on RFF. Does anyone use it? If so, what are the opinions about this developer.

Ellen

 

[catamaran]

I've used it and liked it. My experience was that it was identical to HC110 and I used it in the same way. (As a footnote, it had some type of pleasant perfume-like scent to it.) I did not continue to use it as compared to HC110 and other knock-offs, it was the most expensive alternative in that category with no inherent advantage over the others.

 

[ornate_wrasse]

I've used it and liked it. My experience was that it was identical to HC110 and I used it in the same way. (As a footnote, it had some type of pleasant perfume-like scent to it.) I did not continue to use it as compared to HC110 and other knock-offs, it was the most expensive alternative in that category with no inherent advantage over the others.

The expense of this developer is probably the reason why it isn't more commonly used. The fact that it took two weeks for a reply to my question indicates clearly it's not one of the more popular developers. 😀

In my own case, the community college pays for the developer and my guess is that they are getting some sort of educator discount, which probably explains at least partly why they use it for their darkroom classes.

Thanks.

Ellen

 

[sevo]

The expense of this developer is probably the reason why it isn't more commonly used.

In Germany it is more than twice the price than Kodak HC-110 - and there are far more evolved and well-tested tables for the latter. So with Ilfotec HC you would mostly have to use the HC-110 figures and hope that it is exactly the same. It would be rather silly to use it over the much more affordable HC-110 when you'd actually get into trouble if there were a difference.

 

[Ljós]

What sevo says: In Germany, from my preferred retailer 1l of Ilfotec HC is 49 Euro, and HC-110 only 22 Euro. On top of that it so happens that HC-110 is the "original", and Ilfotec the "knock-off".

For all practical purposes Ilfotec HC and HC-110 are supposed to be the same. If I remember correctly SimonSawSunlight (here on RFF) uses/has been using it quite a bit.

HC and HC-110 are very economical, if you use Dilution B (1+31) you can develop about 130 rolls of film with it. Which means that even the (in Germany) more expensive Ilfotec is not among the most expensive developers, on a per roll basis.

Greetings, Ljós

 

[rodinal]

Ellen, to clarify what Ljós said (and please correct me if I was wrong) european HC-110 is less concentrated than american HC-110, and Ilfotec HC is a knock off of the american version. That explains the higher price of Ilford's versus Kodak's in Europe. For this same reason, you need less quantity (compared to european HC-110) of Ilfotec HC to achieve the same working dilution (1+31, etc.) and therefore, in the end, the cost per roll is more or less similar to HC-110.

 

[Roger Hicks]

It's long-lived. That's about its only real advantage.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ornate_wrasse]

Thanks all for your input.

Ellen

 

[sevo]

Ellen, to clarify what Ljós said (and please correct me if I was wrong) european HC-110 is less concentrated than american HC-110,

Wrong. The regular 1l bottle of HC-110 is the same here and there.

Both Kodak and Ilford consider the stock part of their professional product line (perhaps because it is good for more than a hundred films) and list pre-diluted versions targeted at amateurs in their catalogue, Kodak in a half-litre bottle, Ilford in 1l. Neither is frequent, and in Germany the former is even more rare than the latter, while the litre of HC-110 is all over the place and often even on stock in local pro camera shops...

 

[rodinal]

Thanks Sevo, you are right, my comment is valid only in relation to the half-liter-bottle-european-HC110 (which happens to be the common american size, or 496ml to be precise).

 

[brandonmsweet]

I love it, its all I use, and considering the amount of film it can develop its highly worth the price.