Black and white developing combination?

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sf

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I know there are scads of threads on this topic, but I have a specific question that I seek an answer to :

I want to shoot with Arista.edu Ultra because it costs next to nothing, and do my developing at home. Assuming this film is Fomapan, what are my best choices for developing if my #1 priority is accutance?

Of course, using PS, tonality/contrast, etc can be achieved artificially.
 
For accutance Rodinal 1+50 or D76 1+1
I;d go for the Rodinal sinc eit is a liquid concentrate and will last forever.....

If Rodinal is hard to find you can go with it's evil bastard tiwn brother R09 (Calbe or Fomadon) instead...
 
I had excellent experience with FOMAPAN 100, 200(creative) and Rodinal
I was useing a 6x7 camera though. Pictures came out really nice and contrasty
and grain was not objectionable (IMHO)

For T200 Rodinal 1+50 was my choice (1+40 in R09) for 11 minutes
For 100 Rodinal 1+50 for 8 minutes
I normally presoak for 2 or 3 changes of water and agitate only once per minute
 
Anyone used Arista developers? I really would like to do ARista film with an arista developer.
 
The Arista developers are not Arista developers, either. They buy and relabel everything. Great company, and I ordered some stuff from them last week, but they don't 'make' anything that I'm aware of. Just relabel and sell - at great prices.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Most if not all of the arista chemicals are Clayton ones. There is absolutely NO NEED to use arista chems with arista films.

If you want absoulte sharpness, then you're going to want to go to the fx-1 or fx-2 direction. But even at the 100 speed that might be way out there for 35mm. I'd go with a good compromise like D76 1+1 or Rodinal (which, contrary to popular belief, is not _that_ high acutance of a developer).

allan
 
Alright, then. I think, in the interest of economy, I'll buy Arista everything, and leave the development for the lens test to the lab in Seattle.
 
bmattock said:
...

Here is the Clayton Website, listing their developers and such. I don't see a D-76 clone, the F76 Plus does not seem to be D-76, really. Maybe someone else could be of assistance here:

http://www.claytonchem.com/darkroom.htm

Hope you find this helpful!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
Click to expand...

It's hard to tell, without an ingredients list, but judging by the description (optimized for TMAX films) , I agree, it's probably not. I think at one time or another every developer manufacturer had a D76 "clone."

:)
 
F76 is a phenidone-based developer modeled after DDX

The CP developer is a fine grain developer that is metol-quinone, I think, rather than straight metol. Supposedly almost as fine as Perceptol, but sharper and withouth the speed loss. I have a pack at home I haven't tried yet.

I don't actually think they have a true equivalent to D76. But nothing wrong with the F76+.
allan
 
I want t shoot Neopan 100 and 400 - and to get the absolute most from that film.

I also want to shoot with the Arista because it costs so little.

I want a liquid developer that is very economical - but I am unsure of the reuse of developers - would hate to find out the solution is too weak on an important roll. A single use, liquid, flexible developer is best. Fine grain is important as well.

I want to save my highlight and shadow detail - very important.


I was considering the Arista setup, but I am thinking that maybe I'll spring for a little more $$$ and get better quality. I'd pay an extra $1 per roll to get better image quality.
 
Anyone use the Clayton F76 with Neopan? I read that it is beautiful with Tmax, but I want to shoot with Fuji film.
 
shutterflower said:
I want t shoot Neopan 100 and 400 - and to get the absolute most from that film.
Click to expand...

The "absolute most" still depends on what you're after. Grain, sharpness, tonality, etc. Try stuff, decide what you do and don't like, then ask. Then take the 50 opinions you'll get on what to do next and go from there.

I want a liquid developer that is very economical - but I am unsure of the reuse of developers
Click to expand...

let me help, then. Unless you're using Diafine, don't re-use. EVER. One-shot only.

A single use, liquid, flexible developer is best. Fine grain is important as well.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that most liquid developers are kind of expensive if you're getting them shippined. Water is heavy.

I want to save my highlight and shadow detail - very important.
Click to expand...

This is only tangentially related to developer and film combination. Shoot at the right EI and develop for the right time and you'll have both. With any developer.

I was considering the Arista setup, but I am thinking that maybe I'll spring for a little more $$$ and get better quality.
Click to expand...

No one ever said the Arista stuff was bad, just that you didn't need to get arista chems for the arista films. The premium liquid, which is F76, is good stuff. Good grain, moderate sharpness (so a good compormise between the two), and very good speed.

allan
 
Neopan 400 in DDX is a thing of beauty

F76+ is very similar to DDX with Delta400, Efke100, Delta3200 and FP4 (the ones I tried)
so I assume it'll be the same.

Since DDX and F76+ work great on T/epitaxial/sigma films it should work great also on Fuji Acros.
You can email lowell huff at clayton chemical, very helpful person and he sent me time/temp tables for most films.... and a free sample as well ;)
askus@claytonchem.com


shutterflower said:
Anyone use the Clayton F76 with Neopan? I read that it is beautiful with Tmax, but I want to shoot with Fuji film.
Click to expand...
 
May I make a gentle suggestion?

For the beginner (in terms of home processing of B&W film), I suggest a single film and a single developer - to start with.

I began with Kodak Tri-X and Kodak D-76 so long ago it isn't funny. And I used it until only this year, when I finally decided to try a couple of different developers and films.

Why? Consistancy. There are so many variables to processing B&W film - temperature, dilution, agitation method, even choice of reels/tanks - all of which can affect the finished product.

Is D-76 a high accutance developer, even though M-H developers have a solvent (grain dissolving) action? Sure! Just cut it 1+3 and increase dev time substantially. Low contrast? Sure! High contrast? You bet!

I'm not saying D-76 is a do-all developer or that Tri-X is the do-all film. I'm suggesting that picking one combination gives you more range than you think in most cases, and getting to know one very well is better than flailing about with many others.

I've watched Rodinal wars become religious - everyone claims it will (or won't) do everything but make you a balogna sandwich. These are all based on personal experiences, years of practice, and STILL even the experts get different results from even each other.

I'm not suggesting that it is useless to seek advice as you're doing. But you seem to be thrashing to some extent - you want the cheapest, you want the best. If there was a cheapest/best combination that everyone could agree on, we'd all be using it.

As it is, we can barely decide what 'cheapest' means, and 'best' is just way too subjective.

If you want to shoot Fomapan 100, my suggestion is to pick a single developer, no matter what it is, and use it until you feel confident that you can repeat your results as well as make it render different effects under your control ("I meant to do that" as opposed to "What the heck happened?"). This will take about 30 years.

Then feel free to try something new.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
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