Developers with long shelf life

One possible solution: pour a bottle of new HC-110 to some smaller bottles?


p.giannakis said:
Hi everyone,

As some of you might have already figured out, I am not shooting too much film nowadays, anything between 5 to 10 rolls of film per year. Therefore the old HC110 developer was ideal for me - it lasts forever.

Now I am running low on HC110 and the new version doesn't keep for as long as the old one (i opened that bottle in 2011). I also grew out of the way Rodinal looks with 400 ISO films.

So, what are my options for long shelf life developers in 2021? Any tips or tricks I should know about?
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My last batch of caffenol was made with (leftover) regular brewed coffee. It worked just as well as instant, but I do like strong coffee.
 
I mix my own black & white developer.

The developer I mix is a D76 divided two-bath formula.

The first bottle contains the developers. The second bottle contains the activators.

The chemicals in the two bottles have a long shelf life.
 
I went to an estate sale awhile ago, and found about 20 packages of D76 that are about 10 years old. I decided to mix a batch to make the 3.8l, but found that not all the powder dissolved.
Should I filter the D76 into my measuring cup before I try and use it?
Wondering if it's still OK to use. I'll properly use it anyway, just as a test.
 
This reply may be somewhat of an 'aside' to you, as I mix my own darkroom chemistry at home. But I will post it anyway, for what(ever) it's worth.

Like you (and I'm sure, many others) nowadays I also shoot less and less B&W film - so for me, mixing and keeping developer in a stable, usable quality and quantity for a fairly long period of time is more important than it used to be.

A few years ago I lucked into the formula (easily found online) for Adox-Borax developer. I mix up about one batch a year and keep it in a plastic one liter bottle in my darkroom fridge, well sealed and of course filled right to the top of the bottle.

Earlier this year (about June 2021) I used a batch I originally brewed up in March 2020 to process eight rolls - and it worked perfectly.

This may have to do with how I keep my developers, as mentioned before - in a bottle full up to the top, well sealed, and kept cold and in the dark.

Another thought has just struck me - Ilford and Kodak sell D76 powder in one liter packs. This may be the best option for you - D76 is not HC110, but I've used it off and on since the 1970s (it's also the developer I take with me when I go travelling and I want to process my films on the road), and it has always given me excellent negatives.
 
Re #26 - the RFF system won't allow me to go into this and make some minor corrections. So I'm posting this small aside.

The correct name of this developer is Adox MQ Borax developer. As I've already said, the formula is easily found online, but I am happy to post the formula if anyone is interested. It's easily mixed and almost foolproof to use, the trick with it is not to overexpose negatives or overdevelop too much (this can also be said of almost all MQ developers anyway and especially D76 - they can be 'fierce' when freshly mixed.)
 
ozmoose said:
Re #26 - the RFF system won't allow me to go into this and make some minor corrections. So I'm posting this small aside.

The correct name of this developer is Adox MQ Borax developer. As I've already said, the formula is easily found online, but I am happy to post the formula if anyone is interested. It's easily mixed and almost foolproof to use, the trick with it is not to overexpose negatives or overdevelop too much (this can also be said of almost all MQ developers anyway and especially D76 - they can be 'fierce' when freshly mixed.)
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I would be interested. I actually shoot more film than digital.
 
Neofin Blau (blue) comes in a six-pack of sealed glass bottles. It's a one-shot: You open a sealed bottle, use it, and pitch it. No such thing as a partially filled bottle laying around getting oxidized. It's pricey, but if you are only doing five rolls a year, it might be a good option. Neofin describes it as a fine grain developer, similar to Beutler (Tom A used to use Beutler) that "fully exploits the film speed." It's currently available; Google will find it for you.
 
What I use are empty 2 liter soda bottles. Container is fine with photography chrmicals, rinde out leaving no residue and the cap reseals after each use. I keep the bottles with chemicals under a bathroom sink located in the basement where it’s cooler.
 
Get yourself a digital scale that can measure up to 100~200 gm in .1gm increments, a list of developer formulas (published in lots of places), and the requisite chemicals for whichever developer you want to make (google "photographers formulary" for one source) and roll your own. You'll always have fresh developer in exactly the quantity you need. Bonus, the same 6~7 ingredients will make dozens of different kinds of developers.
 
Derek Leath said:
I would be interested. I actually shoot more film than digital.
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Here I am, late as usual, with the formula. Apologies for all the usual reasons - if you saw the state of my darkroom and the mess passing as my archives, no further explanations would be necessary. A clean-up is long overdue, I ignore suggestions from home that I incinerate the entire lot...

This is the formula I use for my Adox MQ Borax developer -

Developer - metol, 2 grams - sodium sulfite anh, 80 grams - hydroquinone, 4 grams - borax (from the supermarket laundry shelves), 4 grams - potassium bromide, 0.5 grams, water to one liter.

I use it full strength. Times as per Kodak D76 with 10%-20% added for extra contrast OR regular times if processing with a Jobo. I find it gives a slower contrast increase than D76, so development can be held back a little of you want a 'lighter' negative. Users claim it gives better sharpness and a slight increase in film speed. May be useful for expired films.

Replenisher (I no longer use this, but it seems to work okay) - metol, 3 grams - sodium sulfite anh, 80 grams - borax (see as for developer), 18 grams, water to one liter.

Remember to start off by adding a pinch of sodium sulfite to your hot water (40C or less) before you throw in the metol, or you will surely lose the lot (it oxidises, I believe).

I recall finding this recipe a long time ago on a web site (maybe even this one) from a gentleman named Ian Grant.

If you Google Adox MQ Borax developer a surprising amount of useful information will pop up.

Mixing home-brew developers is easy but can become addictive, also buying the initial chemistry for your mixes may run into a bit of money but the chems last a long time. I have powders I bought almost 20 years ago, still all good.

As for scales, electronic ones can be bought cheaply from hardware stores. I bought mine at a Reject Shop, 12-13 years ago. Ebay has small scales people use for weighing, would you believe, coffee beans?? Not cheap, but someone I know has one, and it works absolutely niftily. Also good for weighing - well, other substances. Use your imagination here. (For example, my partner uses my scales to measure small amounts of concentrated garden plant fertiliser, ha!!)

If this catches on, maybe we can start a new thread. Happy alchemy, everyone!!
 
Doug A said:
The Ilford Simplicity one-use sachet system might another possibility. The developer is Ilfosol 3. The sachet makes 600 ml of working developer, just enough for two rolls of 135 film or one roll of 120 film in a Patersen or Nikor-type tank.
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Respectfully - alas, not environmentally sustainable. In this pre-apocalypse era we now live in, I really don't understand why Ilford would make such a product, obviously destructive to the environment in terms of packaging disposal and using up increasingly scarce resources for minute quantities - indeed what I see here is a 'niche' item, like the old Kodak Tri-Chem packs we all used in the 1950s, fun to play with but not really a real-world product. Also greatly more expensive per film processed, as against buying larger quantities.

Ilfosol 3 is fine, not my preferred 'film soup' but many I know like and use it.

Many others have suggested more acceptable ideas in this thread. A one liter pack of powder developer or a small bottle of liquid developer again isn't the cheapest way of buying, but it can be divided into smaller bottles. So yes, just buy a larger bottle of the stuff and keep the stock in smaller bottles full to the top.

In previous posts I suggested mixing your own and also provided the formula I like best. This isn't the ideal way for many of us, but it's one solution - basic chemicals last seemingly forever, freshness and consistency of results are virtually guaranteed, One has to be careful when mixing, which is best done before indulging in a few beers or glasses of wine or good Scotch, when disasters can and do occur. A double shot of metol or hydroquinone won't do films much good...
 
Adox MQ Borax developer -

Thanks for this, I definitely will look into it.
Maybe someone can make this a sticky?
 
My experience, FWIW:

Rodinal concentrate lasts forever, easily 5 or more years.

Powder developers should last many years, provided the original bags were kept closed and at ambient temperature.

I have used DK-50 that was 50+ years old. The powder looked OK and the developer worked fine with standard time and exposure.
 
I didn't see Diafine mentioned although I think it's a bit difficult to come by these days and has gotten very expensive.
 
I'm using Ilford Perceptol. I keep the solution in an old wine bottle of 1l. Needed is 100 cl for a film. I close the bottle with a rubber cork and suck out the oxygen with a small hand pump. These corks and pumps are available in liquor stores. The brand is Vacu-Vin.

Erik.
 
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