HC110 ... your method of usage and your thoughts?

lawrence said:
How about Tri-X? If different, how different?
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I have had bad luck with TMax developer and ANY film other than TMax. I don't know if that is other peoples experience. But I had muddy tones, and nasty grain with TriX, PanF 50+ and PlusX - TMax of course, was lovely.

*shrug*

I didn't see any reason to experiment further. I use Tmax dev only for Tmax. And just about anything else for other films.
 
I love the creminess of 120 Acros in HC110 dilution H. My usual combo is 11 minutes, plus or minus 10% depending on the contrast of the scene.



But it is quite grainy with HP5+, although these are 135 and rated at 1000.
 
Twigs said:
I love the creminess of 120 Acros in HC110 dilution H. My usual combo is 11 minutes, plus or minus 10% depending on the contrast of the scene.



But it is quite grainy with HP5+, although these are 135 and rated at 1000.
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I have been saying this for 2years, not with Acros but with any slow film ISO100); great shots.
 
HC-110 is my co-pilot. (Diafine is a close second.)

Dilutions B and H, with Plus-X, Tri-X, and HP-5. Once I get going again with home-souped stuff (haven't done it in about 3+ years), I'll be back at the HC-110, and my one, unopened, Diafine kit.


- Barrett
 
One thing that has not been mentioned is that in the United States HC110 syrup is twice as concentrated as it is in Europe. I am not sure which syrup is sold in Australia, Keith. US syrup is almost the same viscosity as honey. If you shake the bottle it does not splash.

I use two different dilutions, B and H, B for pushing or normal development, H for pulling. It pulls Delta 3200 to 1600 or less very nicely, and the grain becomes very well blended, sand so much less pronounced.

Make B by diluting 17 mL to 500 mL., and H by diluting the same 17 mL to a liter. Use it once then flush it, but in a pinch you can get two uses out of it. They make a replenisher, but that's for commercial use, and a waste of time, as it is not expensive, and a $15 bottle (473mL) develops over 100 rolls as a dilution H one-shot.

It can be diluted even further, the limit is 3 mL of US syrup per roll of 36 exposure 35mm film. That dilution (approximately 1:125 - called dilution NB - but the dilution doesn't matter, the amount of syrup does) can be used with stand development. As all of the developer is consumed at that dilution, the amount of time isn't important as long as it is enough. Like an hour or so at room temperature.

My favorite thing about HC110 (except for the color - oh yeah, and it's developing qualities) is that it lasts in syrup form forever! Or at least 8 years in an opened, bottle. It turned brown, but worked just fine.
 
HC110, in my experience, is AWESOME with Ilford FP4. Just spectacular. It also keeps much much longer than any other liquid developer I've used. I use the mix and time illustrated on the ilford film table. I LOVE.
 
Chris101 said:
One thing that has not been mentioned is that in the United States HC110 syrup is twice as concentrated as it is in Europe. I am not sure which syrup is sold in Australia, Keith. US syrup is almost the same viscosity as honey. If you shake the bottle it does not splash.
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Well, as of just recently Kodak is no longer supplying it in Australia so those of us who use it will have to import it - probably from the US as that's where we tend to source our film. (Fortunately, there's nothing dangerous about shipping it.) The HC-110 I have bought in Oz was at US rather than European concentration (I checked, then double-checked, before using it and made sure all bottles were the same).

...Mike
 
One thing that has not been mentioned is that in the United States HC110 syrup is twice as concentrated as it is in Europe
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Actually, I think it's something more like 4.2 times as concentrated (and they're both available in Europe - the more concentrated one in 1L bottles, and the more dilute one in 500ml bottles).

I use HC-110 a lot with APX-100 and ERA-100 (the latter, from China and really cheap, is excellent), and various other films.

It's not the finest grain developer in the world, but it gives a much less grainy look than Rodinal.

I use either dil B or dil H (dil B x 2), depending on the lighting. In brighter, more contrasty, lighting, I use the more dilute dil H, and I also vary agitation according to lighting conditions - to control higher contrast lighting, agitate less.

Sorry I don't have actual timings to hand, cos I'm away from my dev materials and my notes.
 
mfunnell said:
Well, as of just recently Kodak is no longer supplying it in Australia so those of us who use it will have to import it - probably from the US as that's where we tend to source our film. (Fortunately, there's nothing dangerous about shipping it.) The HC-110 I have bought in Oz was at US rather than European concentration (I checked, then double-checked, before using it and made sure all bottles were the same).

...Mike
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The bottle did actually come from the US courtesy of Freestyle ... the trouble with these liquid developers is the weight is significant and really adds to postage costs.

It amazes me that Kodak will no longer sell it in OZ!
 
Hc-110

Hc-110

Lawrence said;

"Strange article: "Once you open them (particularly Rodinal), they start to decompose in air at an alarmingly fast rate." Rodinal may go rather brown when the bottle's been opened but 'decompose' it doesn't."


This is Greg Mironchuk... I wrote that piece (it's not an "article", which implies that it was published, somewhere), originally, around 1994, at the urging of several friends, who wanted to know why my B&W pix looked the way that they do. It was (in large part) originally printed out, and privately given to friends in the Newspaper Business. Much of it found its way onto the old Leica Users Group listserver, where the moderator considered all content on that list to belong to him, and "gave" it to other entities.

The general consensus, amongst my peers, at the time, was that I was a "good printer"... but, I'm not. I'm a crappy printer (no patience) who discovered that a Stable Workflow, when exposing and developing one's film, was the key to easily-achieved quality output.

Photographers (in my experience), back then, quite often exposed and developed their film in habitual ways ("I always develop for 7 minutes in D-76"), and didn't really explore the relationship between tonality, exposure, development, and workflow.

Since I was working under a vast continuum of different conditions and lighting (as a news photographer), I wanted to find ways to simplify the whole process, without going Whole Hog into a Zone System regimen. Freelance News Photographers need to minimize the time that is taken up in stuff like film developing, or nowadays, RAW converting their digital files, because Time Is Money. Carrying eight cameras, and exposing short rolls under eight different contrast ratios, and developing those films individually was not an option.

Sooooo... I set about to systematize the process, for ME. The basic message in that piece is... this is how YOU can customize YOUR OWN workflow.

Sadly... there are lots and lots of people who read that piece, and just zoom in on details about HC-110, Time, and Temperature... not paying much, if any, attention to how one can go about learning to control the process for themselves.

Some of those people are nasty, and mean-spirited, and under the cover of Internet Anonymity, say nasty things about the piece, or about me.

Here's The Deal... I put that up as a favor for anyone who might be interested in exploring HOW to go about learning to develop film, for themselves. I did not put it up to Become Famous. I certainly didn't ever intend to become Rich (and I have absolutely achieved that).

I put it up as a favor to photographers... not as any sort of a Pronouncement. I do not live in Valhalla, with The Gods (just ask my wife, and my little boy!!), and I certainly do not feel that everyone should wear a particular uniform, shoot with a particular camera, and always always develop the same film... in the same way... as I do.

If you find me or the piece strange... please move on. I don't really care, one way or the other, except to be a bit hurt that when I do everyone a favor, it opens me up being insulted or ridiculed.

Thank you, anyway, for taking the time to read it... and, BTW... since I do not make prints anymore (I still shoot film, and scan it, because ALL my clients want digital files, and many of them are so very, very young, and don't even know what a print IS), I no longer use that particular methodology to develop film.

If anyone cares, my standard base exposure index for Tri-X and other 400 speed films is still 200... I still make HC-110 to 1/64, and use it as a one-shot... but I now put in four level teaspoons of Sodium Sulphite, per 16 ounces, and develop at 70 degrees F., for 3 minutes and 15 seconds... one or two agitations at 1:35.

This makes a nicely fine-grained, full-toned negative (for me) that scans excellently well. I use colder developer for developing film exposed at lower exposure indexes... warmer developer for "pushing" film.

Thank you all, for suffering through this...

Greg.
 
Hc-110

Hc-110

"Greg: Thank you for all the info, and work behind it."

- Barrett

Thank you, very much...

And... thank you for quoting one of my Heroes, Frank Cancellare, in your sig.

Cancy was The Best That Ever Was, in my biz.


Greg.
 
Hi Greg! Great to have you at RFF. We can benefit from your photo experience and your clear communication style.

I think what was pointed out in your information piece as being odd was that you felt that Rodinol was unstable after a short time once opened. Seems as though the accepted view is the opposite. I'm sure this wasn't meant to be mean-spirited, just to note a discrepancy.

Anyway, welcome here, Greg!
 
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Greg M. said:
"Greg: Thank you for all the info, and work behind it."

- Barrett

Thank you, very much...

And... thank you for quoting one of my Heroes, Frank Cancellare, in your sig.

Cancy was The Best That Ever Was, in my biz.


Greg.
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I would like to thank you too. I have used your info and found it to be right on. AND extremely helpful, when I started using HC-110.
 
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