Ilford liquid concentrate developer: which one?

[Pfreddee]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post, but here goes. I've got a mixed bag of Ilford 35mm films, and I'm looking for a liquid concentrate developer that would work for most of them. What do you all recommend? Thank you in advance.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

 

[ornate_wrasse]

I would recommend Ilford Ilfotec HC. I used this developer for many years with a variety of films and always had great results. It has a long shelf life which is another advantage. It meets your criteria of being a liquid concentrate developer. Here is a technical date sheet that shows concentrations and developing times.

https://www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/575/product/546/

I primarily used 1:31 concentration.

 

[DennisM]

Ilford Developer

Ilford Developer

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post, but here goes. I've got a mixed bag of Ilford 35mm films, and I'm looking for a liquid concentrate developer that would work for most of them. What do you all recommend? Thank you in advance.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

Make it easy on yourself; Use ID-11 powder (essentially the same as Kodak's D76) for HP5 Plus, and Ilford DD-X (liquid) for Ilford's Delta films.

 

[Freakscene]

Any of them will work well enough. If the films are medium-fast DD-X is fantastic, excellent speed, low fog, good grain. If they are slow-medium films Ilfosol 3 is extremely good, sharp, good speed, very even tones. Ilfosol 3 has better shelf life than earlier versions but is still farfrom bullet proof. If you get some, use it fast, but if you have a ‘bag’ of film that should be ok.

Tonality usually gets forgotten when discussing developers. Ilford do it more consistently than most. Ilfotec HC is Ilford’s KodaK HC-110 equivalent. I like the tones from Ilfotec HC better, but old HC-110 is fantastic for expired film because it has a lot of restrainers and the concentrate had a very long shelf life. The recently reformulated HC-110 I can’t say much about. I have some but I haven’t used it yet.

Marty

 

[John Bragg]

Ilfotec HC for versatility and long shelf life and Ilfosol 3 for sharpness and a great range of tones.

 

[titrisol]

DDX is the best developer from the Ilfotect line IMHO
Can;t go wrong with that one

 

[Rayt]

I would recommend Ilford Ilfotec HC. I used this developer for many years with a variety of films and always had great results. It has a long shelf life which is another advantage. It meets your criteria of being a liquid concentrate developer. Here is a technical date sheet that shows concentrations and developing times.

https://www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file/575/product/546/

I primarily used 1:31 concentration.

I have read conflicting reports online whether Ilfotec HC is exactly the same and can be used interchangeably with Kodak HC-110. Can you comment?

 

[Rayt]

Tonality usually gets forgotten when discussing developers. Ilford do it more consistently than most. Ilfotec HC is Ilford’s KodaK HC-110 equivalent. I like the tones from Ilfotec HC better, but old HC-110 is fantastic for expired film because it has a lot of restrainers and the concentrate had a very long shelf life.

The Massive Dev Chart shows different times for both. Are they the same but maybe differ in concentration? With “old” HC-110 discontinued I would like to switch to Ilfotec HC if they are the same.

DDX is expensive but I have developed some 100 sheets of 5x7 in 1:9 dilution and couldn’t see any difference compared to 40 souped in 1:7 or 1:4.

 

[Michael Markey]

Always use Ilfosol 3 myself .

 

[Freakscene]

The Massive Dev Chart shows different times for both. Are they the same but maybe differ in concentration?

They are equivalent but not the same; the concentrations of development agents are different and the pH is different and differently buffered so the times and dilutions are different. But they essentially work the same and produce the same tones.

Edit: The alkalis in developers are buffered. This helps keep the developer alkaline throughout development. Different buffers produce not only different final pH but different pH with dilution - I suspect this is where HC-110 and Ilfotec HC differ.

Marty

 

[Rayt]

They are equivalent but not the same; the concentrations of development agents are different and the pH is different and differently buffered so the times and dilutions are different. But they essentially Work the same and produce the same tones.

Marty

Thanks. I’ll start testing when I am done with the old HC-110.