educate me on different developers

[mkyy]

Hi all,

I'm relatively new to darkroom. That said, I've developed ~20 rolls film so far, mostly with Rodinal mainly because they come in liquid form, concentrated, easy to store and works with a wide range of film. Now I want to experiment more with other developers. I've read up on photo.net and heard developers falls in a spectrum like this:

sharpess & grainy <------------------------------> fine grain + less sharp

Is that true? What developer you use and where in the spectrum it falls? and what is speed gain developers? educate me!

 

[titrisol]

That is about right. I'd really encourage you to read-read-read technical books on the subject. Laso read from good places such as unblinkingeye.com, photo-techniques magazine, etc.
Photographic processing chemistry, by L. F. A. Mason comes to mind, also the Darkroom Cookbook and the Film Developing Cookbook by Anchell and Tropp


IMHO there is a 3rd type of developer in the single solution developers. They base their action in Vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
Xtol/DDX/Fx39 are this new type, which are a new low grain good shrapness developers.


A speed gain developer is one that is very active and "brings" more detail to the shadows. Examples are ACUFINE, DDX, etc.

SOME VALUABLE LINKS:
Ryuji Suzuki's site
National Academy of Photography
Unblinking eye

 

[alansoon]

I've just developed my second roll, so I'm in need of an education as well. Neopan 400 in Fujidol.

 

[mkyy]

for those in N.America, where can you buy Fujidol? and how does it behaves?

 

[titrisol]

Look in Ryuji's suzuki's website
Fujidol seems to be very similar to Xtol

Fujidol E is a standard fine grain developer supplied in dry powder package. This developer uses isoascorbic acid. Mildly alkaline solution pH is maintained by sodium sulfite with addition of a very small amount of sodium metabisulfite. No buffering agent is listed in the MSDS, so small amounts of carbonate, phosphate, borates, etc. are possible. Also, this developer is likely to contain phenidone or its derivative as a nucleating agent, and possibly potassium bromide.

 

[eric]

Film Developing Cookbook has just about what you need.

Basically, there are solvent developers and non-solvent developers. non-Solvent=finer grain, lower accutance. solvent=higher grain, greater accutance.

You will need to look at a lot of negatives and prints.

Advice: Buy lots of film. User non-solvent developers for 6 months. Then use solvent developers for 6 months. Spread out some prints (not contacts, you can't tell sh*t in contacts) and see what you like.

 

[Honu-Hugger]

David Vestal's "The Art of Black and White Enlarging" is also very useful in helping to determine the effects of different developers and development time, EI for particular films, etc. all in a very concise manner. He addresses proper exposure/development as the foundation for good printing.

 

[Theo-Prof]

When you start looking for information on printing, I can highly recommend "Creative Elements: Darkroom Techniques for Landscape Photography" by Eddie Ephraums. This book is worth the money just for the chemical formulary for various toners and such in the appendices--even if your thing is not landscape photography. His book "Gradient Light," which covers effective use of variable contrast papers is also good.

Kevin

 

[xcapekey]

it's good to experiment, but don't spend too much time on it, otherwise you spend more time being a lab tech than a photographer....i would say, find a combo for normal development and a combo for when you need fast film...

my standards are hp5 and d76 1:1...works great..good detail...smooth grain

if i need something faster, i shoot neopan 1600 and dev. in d76 1:1...

that's it...i experimented with rodinal, hc 110, diafine, microphen, but have always gone back to d76

 

[mkyy]

Thanks for the pointers and advice.

 

[solane]

xcape key, you're the first person i've seen on RFF that admits to using D76! i've been wondering if there was something i was missing. i was trained on D76 and moved to rodinal when i had to start working in my kitchen sink but i've always had good luck with D76 and thought maybe i had underdeveloped sensibilities! are there other closet D76ers out there?

 

[aizan]

lots of people here use d76. i used it yesterday, and the week before...

 

[Doug]

Somehow I keep remembering one particular Tri-X shot developed in D-76 1:3, summer 1967 on a dock on the Seattle waterfront. It was of a man seated on the dock with a checkered jacket. I was "exercising" my then-new Pentax 200mm, and what is memorable is the sharpness and rich tonal qualities that I largely attribute to that film and developer combo. I have an 11x14 print stashed somewhere... I need to scan some of that old work. When it all comes together, D-76 works great.

 

[solane]

is there a down-side to D76? i don't know much about developers -- just D76 and rodinal.

 

[phototone]

is there a down-side to D76? i don't know much about developers -- just D76 and rodinal.

There is no "down side" to D-76 for developing roll and 35mm film.

It is the best overall b/w film developer, achieving the best balance between sharpness and grain while maintaining full emulsion speed. Sharpness with D-76 is enhanced by using the 1+1 dilution with water, and used as a one shot.

Other developers may be sharper but they will be grainier. Other developers may be less grainy than D-76, but they will be less sharp also.

There are other good choices for large-format negatives, but they are not so good for small negatives.

FYI: Ilford ID-11 is identical to D-76.

Oh, well, perhaps the fact that D-76 is only available as a powder and has to be mixed with water might be considered a downside by some people.

 

[mkyy]

Does the D-76 has good shelf life?

 

[T_om]

What developer you use...

Diafine. For a whole host of reasons.

Read up on it a bit and see if its characteristics suit your needs and style.

There could certainly never be an easier developer to use. Not time critical, not temperature critical, and it lasts a LONG time.

As to the comment that D-76 has no "down side" I would beg to differ. But it IS a nice all-round developer.

Tom

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Xtol is a good choice, I use it 1:1 and 1:3, it behaves alot like D76 but maybe alittle safer for the enviroment. It also looks sharper to me IMHO.

Todd

 

[mkyy]

I thought there's an issue of "sudden death" with Xtol. Do you have any bad experience on that todd?

 

[Justin Low]

Mack, I've not encountered any 'sudden death' problems with XTOL, even when mixed with tap water. That said, I store my XTOL at twice the normal concentration (mix it to 2.5 liters instead of 5), and it has kept well for 6 months, at which point I'd have finished using it. I did have a little leftover in a bottle (perhaps 9 months or so), and it had turned yellow—I threw it out.

I had a problem with my Rodinal recently: it was the last bit of a 2 year old bottle, and developing a roll of Tri-X, I had excessive base fog. First time it's happened.

I use D76 in place of XTOL these days as it's much easier to obtain in Singapore, and is inexpensive. I also use Diafine when I need to push my film.