HC110 or Diafine for Acros 100, APX100 and Foma 100?

[philipus]

Hello film wizards,

I have shot a few of the above-mentioned rolls (Acros in 120 and 135, the others in 135) and have difficulty deciding whether to develop them in Diafine or HC110.

They were all shot under contrasty daylight conditions with lots of sunlight. When developing, I'd like to keep the grain as fine as possible.

I have read these films should go well with Diafine but I am not sure since that developer (in my humble experience) seems not to give the finest grain. I've used it with Double-X (a different film entirely, I know) at EI200 and while the results are nice the grain is slightly pronounced (see this one for instance).

If I go with HC110 (provided that should give finer grain), am I right in thinking that a thinner dilution should be better in that it would it give more time for the shadow areas to develop? Any suggestion which dilution I should use?

Thank you in advance
Philip

 

[John Bragg]

Hi Philip, I have no experience of Diafine but I do know a bit about HC-110 and I would go with that. Dilution H 1:63 is a great place to start and double the times for Dilution B 1:31. It is very economical and lasts for a very long time without any deterioration. Grain should be normal for the given film, sharp but not obtrusive.

 

[mfogiel]

The first question is: have you exposed generously or not? If yes, then HC 110 developed 20% shorter at low dilution (B) would foot the bill, but the times are likely to be quite short. You might try a higher dilution with semi-stand.
Overall for these kinds of films the best developer would be Acurol N at high dilution (1+100). You don't need to fear the grain, particularly with Acros.
Diafine can give you both higher grain and also quite mushy look.

 

[philipus]

Thank you for the replies. I only have these two developers at home currently (but will bear in mind Acurol N for the future).

I exposed according to the meters in my cameras and did not make any adjustments, such as over-exposing.

As for HC110 dilution, wouldn't one that gives a shorter time, such as B, prevent shadows from developing as fully as possible (given the constraints of the exposure)?

 

[Fotohuis]

In Diafine you have to extend your developing time to 5+5 minimum.
You can expose on iso 160 then. But you won't have any control of the contrast anymore.

Acros 100 you can develop with succes in a lot of developers.

About Diafine:
http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Diafine-data.pdf

 

[esearing]

Diafine if you have little control over temperature and several different subject brightness ranges between frames. I tend to use around 72-75 degrees for 4+4 mins. 5+5 if I want to add slightly more contrast.

HC110 @ 1:63 for mostly high contrast scenes - make sure enough developer for the rolls in tank. Min 5-6ml per roll if I remember correctly.

HC110 @ 1:31 for mostly normal contrast scenes and quick processing

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Overall for these kinds of films the best developer would be Acurol N at high dilution (1+100). You don't need to fear the grain, particularly with Acros.
.

Do you have any examples of Acros in Acurol-N at this dilution? Just curious. I use HC-110 semi-stand frequently, and like it, but always looking for refinements.

 

[mfogiel]

I seldom use Acros, but you can find samples of all kind of combinations of films and SPUR developers here: http://acurol.net

 

[charjohncarter]

Diafine if you have little control over temperature and several different subject brightness ranges between frames. I tend to use around 72-75 degrees for 4+4 mins. 5+5 if I want to add slightly more contrast.

HC110 @ 1:63 for mostly high contrast scenes - make sure enough developer for the rolls in tank. Min 5-6ml per roll if I remember correctly.

HC110 @ 1:31 for mostly normal contrast scenes and quick processing

According to Kodak, HC-110 loses a little speed and is not their finest grain developer. But the difference on their chart looks like nit-picking. If you want to somewhat reduce contrast try agitating every five minutes after a 30 second agitation. Your shadow area will not be a problem as these areas have lightly exposed silver and will be developed in 3 minutes. The minimal agitation will control the highlights: this is with dilution H.

 

[philipus]

Thank you very much for the further replies.

With Acros 100 I've settled on dilution H for double the B time, so somewhere between 9-10 minutes. I will also try reduced agitation, perhaps 3 turns every two minutes because I don't think precisely all photos are very high contrast (though most are).

According to the MDC I can use the same time for Fomapan 100 but for APX 100 I'd have to extend to 14 minutes so I'll have to develop that separately (the other films will probably fit in my 1-litre tank).