Fresh D76 with brownish color?

[daninjc]

Dear RFF Friends,

Today I mixed a new batch of D76, and as soon as I mixed it, the solution turned brownish (see picture). This never happened to me before. The plastic bag was sealed, and the expiration is 01/2023.

What do you think is going on? Should I use it?
(I'll also mix a new bag to see if it happens again.)

Thank you All,

Daniele

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Don't use it. D-76 is clear with no color or a VERY SLIGHT yellow tint when it is good.


What happened to yours? Maybe you got a bad package. Maybe the graduate you mixed it in was not clean and the D-76 was contaminated from tat. Don't know...but those are the two reasons you'd get brown D-76.

 

[john_s]

How the mighty has fallen. After 50+ years of using Kodak products, they've lost me.

 

[PKR]

I've been wondering about Kodak QC for some time. I'm a long time D76 user.

Iooking up the Kodak formula for D76, it looks pretty easy to make, given that you can find the chemicals.
http://www.afterness.com/kod_d76.html

I no longer use many Kodak film products. I've moved to FP-4, HP-5 but, still process in D76 1:1.

There's some original Tri-X and Neopan Acros in the freezer. Once it's gone, I'll use Ilford Film, and maybe look for a Acros replacement.

Any suggestion on an Acros like film (Chris) ? No Reciprocity Failure!

Mix your own Chemistry
https://www.homesciencetools.com/product/digital-scale-2000-g-x-01-g/

 

[Freakscene]

It seems that there are substantial problems with formulation and packaging after Kodak moved the (outsourced) production of their chemistry. Sad.

As Chris points out, D-76 should be clear or slightly yellow. The dark colour indicates oxidation of the hydroquinone to semiquinones. This is a problem.

Marty

 

[xayraa33]

It looks like an old batch of D-76...probably the powder mixture batch was left in the open
for a long spell before packaging. Terrible QC by who ever the contractor is that Kodak picked.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Any suggestion on an Acros like film (Chris) ? No Reciprocity Failure!

Acros is the only B&W film with such incredible reciprocity failure characteristics. Kodak Tmax 100 and 400 needless compensation that most films, but they're still nowhere near Acros.


Fuji somehow figured out how to make films that need little compensation. Their Provia 100F slide film is the same way.

 

[Freakscene]

Acros is the only B&W film with such incredible reciprocity failure characteristics. Kodak Tmax 100 and 400 needless compensation that most films, but they're still nowhere near Acros.

Acros II is the same, but as Chris points out, TMX is the next closest.

Fuji somehow figured out how to make films that need little compensation. Their Provia 100F slide film is the same way.

There is an organic adjuvant in the emulsion of Acros that decreases reciprocity failure. It is relatively difficult to incorporate into a B&W film, and its presence is probably responsible for some of Acros' less desirable and stranger characteristics. But the lack of reciprocity failure really puts Acros into a class of its own.

Marty

 

[PRJ]

I think there was a recall on certain D76 packages. Check with Kodak.

 

[PKR]

Acros is the only B&W film with such incredible reciprocity failure characteristics. Kodak Tmax 100 and 400 needless compensation that most films, but they're still nowhere near Acros.


Fuji somehow figured out how to make films that need little compensation. Their Provia 100F slide film is the same way.

Thanks Chris..

I'm saving my remaining rolls for instances where a Time Exposure must be made. I'm on a tripod a lot.


Also, a favor..

When you have some time, would you link some of your favorite stuff to Camera Work ? It's been quite a while since that thread had an update of your work.

Thanks, and hope your doing well,

pkr

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Thanks Chris..

I'm saving my remaining rolls for instances where a Time Exposure must be made. I'm on a tripod a lot.


Also, a favor..

When you have some time, would you link some of your favorite stuff to Camera Work ? It's been quite a while since that thread had an update of your work.

Thanks, and hope your doing well,

pkr

Have you tried the new version of Acros? It is supposed to have the same long-exposure characteristics as the old. I haven't tried it yet, but if its as good as the original, no need to hoard the old stuff.


I'm doing ok. Trying to catch up on editing stuff from my huge backlog of stuff I've shot that I never found time to work on. Some of it is from 4-5 yrs ago! Of course, I'm still shooting new stuff, which I'm making an effort to finish quickly so it doesn't add to the backlog 😛


I'll look for some stuff to put in your camera work thread

 

[miha]

Dear RFF Friends,

Today I mixed a new batch of D76, and as soon as I mixed it, the solution turned brownish (see picture). This never happened to me before. The plastic bag was sealed, and the expiration is 01/2023.

What do you think is going on? Should I use it?
(I'll also mix a new bag to see if it happens again.)

Thank you All,

Daniele

Hi Daniele, looks like a bad batch. Below is a quote from Kodak Professional's FB:


Let’s talk D-76.

If you have Catalog #1058270 (Batch 2020/01/23 8438 & Batch 2019/10/09 8432), you may have noticed a discoloring of your product. Please know we’re aware of this and apologize for the inconvenience or confusion this may have caused for a product you’re well used to.

Rest assured we want to get this taken care of for you. Please email us at ProPaperChem@KodakAlaris.com and our team will be back in touch to provide you with next steps on this specific product.

*If you have the product in your care and have not yet opened it, we encourage you to reach out to us for next steps as well.
For any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with us via email or private message!

 

[daninjc]

Dear RFF friends,

Thank you so much for the help! So much knowledge on RFF. It looks like the issue is a bad batch from the factory. I'll request a replacement.

@Chriscrawfordphoto: Thank you! I'll definitely NOT use it, and wait for a fresh batch.
@PRJ and @miha: This is also very helpful. It looks like the serial number on my bags is the same of the recalled batch. I'll send an email!

Daniele

 

[KenR]

Old D-76

Old D-76

A number of years ago I bought a gallon bag of D-76 from a camera store (no longer in business) that as was brown upon mixing. This was certainly not related to the recent Kodak issues discussed above. In my case, my thought was that this had been sitting around in the store for a long time. I tried to find out when the lot had been manufactured, but was unable to discover this. The store owner did refund my money, but was convinced that a pinhole in the bag, which allowed air to get in, not age, was to blame. Who can say?

I switched to HC-110 after that, although now I'm worried about whether new HC-110 is the same as old HC-110. The worries of a film photographer never end!

 

[xayraa33]

A number of years ago I bought a gallon bag of D-76 from a camera store (no longer in business) that as was brown upon mixing. This was certainly not related to the recent Kodak issues discussed above. In my case, my thought was that this had been sitting around in the store for a long time. I tried to find out when the lot had been manufactured, but was unable to discover this. The store owner did refund my money, but was convinced that a pinhole in the bag, which allowed air to get in, not age, was to blame. Who can say?

I switched to HC-110 after that, although now I'm worried about whether new HC-110 is the same as old HC-110. The worries of a film photographer never end!

Pin holes in packs of Kodak D-76 are something I am familiar with, as in my 20s when travelling to international destinations by air and having packed some developer and fixer powder and developing tank and reel in my onboard luggage..customs would be curious to know what that white powder was inside those Kodak yellow envelope packs.

 

[Ronald M]

I've been wondering about Kodak QC for some time. I'm a long time D76 user.

Iooking up the Kodak formula for D76, it looks pretty easy to make, given that you can find the chemicals.
http://www.afterness.com/kod_d76.html

I no longer use many Kodak film products. I've moved to FP-4, HP-5 but, still process in D76 1:1.

There's some original Tri-X and Neopan Acros in the freezer. Once it's gone, I'll use Ilford Film, and maybe look for a Acros replacement.

Any suggestion on an Acros like film (Chris) ? No Reciprocity Failure!

Mix your own Chemistry
https://www.homesciencetools.com/product/digital-scale-2000-g-x-01-g/

Photographers Formulary metol hydroquinone
the chemistry store sodium sulfite -sodium carbonate if you want paper developer D72
laundry aisle at store 20 mule team Borax

Look on line for photo chemicals but Formularm has always been good to me

 

[Rob-F]

As Chris points out, D-76 should be clear or slightly yellow. The dark colour indicates oxidation of the hydroquinone to semiquinones. This is a problem.

Marty

I think I'm about to learn a new word! Excuse me while I Google it!

 

[Rob-F]

Here we go: "Semiquinone (or ubisemiquinone) is a free radical resulting from the removal of one hydrogen atom with its electron during the process of dehydrogenation of a hydroquinone, such as hydroquinone itself or catechol, to a quinone or alternatively the addition of a single H atom to a quinone."

 

[PKR]

Have you tried the new version of Acros? It is supposed to have the same long-exposure characteristics as the old. I haven't tried it yet, but if its as good as the original, no need to hoard the old stuff.


I'm doing ok. Trying to catch up on editing stuff from my huge backlog of stuff I've shot that I never found time to work on. Some of it is from 4-5 yrs ago! Of course, I'm still shooting new stuff, which I'm making an effort to finish quickly so it doesn't add to the backlog 😛


I'll look for some stuff to put in your camera work thread

Hi Chris,

I just read about Acros II. I'll have to try some when i can compare it with the old stuff on the same scene.

Locally, (freestyle) it's selling for $12/roll. Film is getting more and more expensive, as the price of silver goes up.

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/7410135-Fujifilm-Neopan-ACROS-II-100-ISO-35mm-x-36-exp.

 

[Freakscene]

Here we go: "Semiquinone (or ubisemiquinone) is a free radical resulting from the removal of one hydrogen atom with its electron during the process of dehydrogenation of a hydroquinone, such as hydroquinone itself or catechol, to a quinone or alternatively the addition of a single H atom to a quinone."

This is the reaction that happens when hydroquinone develops silver. The semiquinone-quinone complex is the brown colour in used hydroquinone developers. Formation of these products is why used D-76 is brown, and you can get a reasonable idea of how used D-76 is by its colour. The lack of hydroquinone in Xtol, among other developers, is why Xtol does not change colour when it oxidises.

In the dim past when high volume commercial labs used replenished D-76 in large tanks the developer looked like mud, and the only way to judge its state was by running control process strips. Negatif + in Paris, for example, had an amazing system based on replenished D-76 in the 1990s.

Marty