how many times can i reuse tri-x 1+1 in a single session ?

[raytoei@gmail.com]

hi,

i am thinking of developing my film in d-76 1+1 dilution.
how many times can i develop my film in a
single session ?

i typically have about 4-8 film rolls in a course
of a week. Can i develop it 3-4 times before I
dump the chemicals ?

doing a search of this forum, someone mentioned
that three times would be the limit.

Can someone share their info if they reuse the
developers.

thanks
raytoei

 

[Bill Clark]

I throw away any film developer after using it once.

I buy D-76 in 10 gallon powder packets from Freestyle for $37 or $3.70 per gallon.


http://www.freestylephoto.biz/c301-Black-and-White-Chemicals-Developers

Then check Legacy.

128 ounces of stock, working is 256 ounces at 1+1. Each 35mm film uses about 10 ounces with Patterson tanks. 3.70 divided by 25 equals .15 cents per film. What do you think? Is 15 cents per film worth trying to use the working solution more than once?

Your choice.

Hope this helps you.

 

[Morry Katz]

D76 1:1 is very inexpensive. Why risk it? D76 1:1 is a one-shot developer in my book.

 

[Roger Hicks]

D76 1:1 is very inexpensive. Why risk it? D76 1:1 is a one-shot developer in my book.

Same here. Or go 1+3 for even more economy... Sharper but grainier, and with longer dev times.

Cheers,

R.

 

[StefanJozef]

You should only use it once. 1+3 is good.

 

[Terry Christian]

Besides, the more dilute the working developer mix, the faster it will exhaust. You might be able to develop about four to six rolls in a liter of full-strength D-76, but 1+1 or 1+3 you'd be tempting fate.

 

[Moto-Uno]

My Scottish side is coming out,however I've used it reasonably well over about a three day span and I thought it was ok.Previously I'd let it go long enough to darken( a week or so ) and it wasn't such a good idea.I pretty well always use it 1:1. I should say that it was always stored in an airtight container that I exhaled into before closing (an old red wine thing)!
Regards,Peter

 

[Moto-Uno]

I should also have mentioned that frequently I'm not overly critical,others with a sharper(or more critical) eye may not be so satisfied. Sometimes it just amounts to more darkroom time to get the print you want.So,YMMV.
Regards,Peter

 

[valdas]

for me it is also one shot dilution. i tried many times 1+3 but never really liked the grain, especially in the shadows.

 

[pacco]

When I was out of chemicals and borrowed D76 from a friend, I used the same dillution several times - but can't recommend it. The development already suffered the second time, but cleary the third time. It was dilluted at 1:3 (or 1:2) - not sure anymore.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

okay.. thanks for the advice everyone. this is what i will try out this weekend:

1 Gallon D-76.

Per use:
=====

300ml syrup + 300ml water making it 1+1 dilution
develop for 02 rolls

After dev, store it to develop another 2 rolls right after
For the 2nd time round, I would perhaps add 30sec - 1min
to the development time.

I have been using the same AE camera with the fomapan the whole
week, so the exposure would be consistent. I hope that I can "spot"
the differences in developer reuse.

thanks, will report back...

raytoei

 

[enasniearth]

D76 1:1

D76 1:1

I have always been told. D76 1:1 is a single use developer ,
There are replenishing kits for d76 and you add so much replenisher for so many sq inches developed but these are for d76 straight .
I suppose there may be some use left in d76 1:1 for me it's not worth the risk , you spend all that time shooting two 36 exposure rolls of tri-x that cost $7 and you risk the process over 75cents of developer .
If you use it single shot your negatives will be consistent and easier to print , so less paper and print chemistry . Really the film and paper are the expensive parts , the chemistry is affordable .

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

okay....

yesterday i mixed a gallon of d-76 and
developed 6 rolls of fomapan 400. due to
the temperature here in asia, i used 30c
for dev, this comes at the expense of
grains and potentially uneven development.

one batch of 6 rolls, broken into 3 development
of 2 rolls each. the same chemical was reused twice
and i compensated by using 20% additional time.

I developed the first 2 rolls at 5mins 30sec. the next
two at 6mins and last 2 at 6mins 30secs. all except one
roll was shot using the same camera, the contaxt t with
aperture priority.

Overall, the first 2 was underdeveloped, contrast was a
little low. roll 3&4 yield the best negatives, the last 2 was
okay as well. contrast wan't scary.

for my next development, i will increase the dev time
to perhaps 6mins or 6mins 30seconds to start for the
first 2 rolls and perhaps increase it by 15 secs for the
subsequent rolls.

the images below are post processed so the issues
mentioned above can't really be seen PP. anyway,
here are the images, all captured this past week.

images from first 2 rolls:

images from roll 3/4:

images from roll 5/6:

 

[mwoenv]

According to the D76 data sheet, 1:1 should be used only once and discarded.

I don't like the grainy look using 1:1 and use stock solution. 4 rolls per liter is still economical.

 

[grapejohnson]

I just tried this, I developed a roll of Tri-x in 1:1 and hadn't put it in my "used developer" bucket yet, and out of laziness I used it for a second time the next day. I noticed absolutely no differences in grain, under or over exposure, or anything else. The results would probably suffer if I continued and tried it again, however.
As to what mwoeny said earlier though, of course the data sheet would tell you to discard it after one use, they want you to buy more! I've re-used D76 at stock 5 or 6 times when I first got into developing because a book said you can get about 20 rolls out of your developer. The negs still look pretty good, although I really had no idea what I was doing then.

 

[mervynyan]

id11 and d76 are cheap, I don't bother to save money there.

 

[Rayt]

I just came back from Phnom Penh with 18 rolls of exposed 120 TMY. These rolls get fresh Tmax developer because I have a feeling there are many great shots in them, and I don't travel to Cambodia often. I also have a bunch of TMY from shooting around the neighborhood. There may be some good stuff in there but maybe not. I reuse the liter of Tmax developer for this stuff. Are they snappy throw away shots or are they Magnum material? I process accordingly. I think you did right.