Reformulated: Kodak HC-110

Ok, I think I have a theory.

According to my wife who works in the chemistry sector, since the beginning of the year, companies who trade chemicals harmful to environment, they need to be REACH registered. For anything above 1 tonne the registration becomes very expensive. If Kodak wants to sell within the EU she needs to register so it is possible that a reformulation of chemicals is more cost effective for them.
 
p.giannakis said:
Ok, I think I have a theory.

According to my wife who works in the chemistry sector, since the beginning of the year, companies who trade chemicals harmful to environment, they need to be REACH registered. For anything above 1 tonne the registration becomes very expensive. If Kodak wants to sell within the EU she needs to register so it is possible that a reformulation of chemicals is more cost effective for them.
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That's what I figured. B&W film chemistry is a small niche market and the regulations will make some things too costly.

Looking forward to hearing how the new formula works. I assume that aging issues will have to wait for, well, actual age to occur? Not sure if heat acceleration or other ways to speed up such tests will really match 'under the sink' conditions for most of us.

Well, with Fujifilm's ACROS II hitting the market this fall, might be time to update my standard developer.
 
Dan Daniel said:
That's what I figured. B&W film chemistry is a small niche market and the regulations will make some things too costly.

Looking forward to hearing how the new formula works. I assume that aging issues will have to wait for, well, actual age to occur? Not sure if heat acceleration or other ways to speed up such tests will really match 'under the sink' conditions for most of us.

Well, with Fujifilm's ACROS II hitting the market this fall, might be time to update my standard developer.
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REACH is not new. It's been around for a long time. The old formula would have had to have been REACH registered to be sold in the EU. The new formula would obviously have to be REACH registered.

It's also very unlikely that every single product Kodak makes having REACH issues all at the same time. D-76, XTOL, Dektol have all been reformulated.

Further, REACH registration would not necessitate moving production out of Germany back to the USA.

This whole situation is likely driven by the Tetanal bankruptcy. It has likely not gone as smoothly as we were told.
 
Ted Striker said:
This whole situation is likely driven by the Tetanal bankruptcy. It has likely not gone as smoothly as we were told.
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That would be my bet, too.

But more importantly, where are the highly connected insiders (to tell us that we are all wrong) when you need them... ;)
 
Wonder if this has to due with the financial issues faced by Tetenal. Who if I remember correctly produced the chemicals for HC-110, among other developers.

HC-110 is my favorite developer so I just picked some more up, never goes bad.
 
My most recently purchased HC-110 (February 2019 from Freestyle) is in the tall squared-off bottle.
It is the characteristic yellow color, made in Germany and bears the old Kodak product number.

I haven't seen the old-style rounded bottle in years, so I suspect the photo on the B&H website may lead to some confusion.

Chris
 
Just as well I threw all my chemicals and processing "stuff" out long ago and just let someone else do it for me. They can figure it out. The day no one can process my film....well....I may just buy another Leica digital M....
 
Thanks for the heads up. I mostly only use it for very old films or pushing certain types such as HP5+. Think I'll order a litre now.

I did read the thread at APUG (Photrio now I think). It was very helpful, thanks. It reminded me of why I virtually never post there. A few helpful members trying to shed light on the topic, and a bunch of others bickering with each other and dribbling—situation normal. No Forum is perfect but I think we have it pretty good here.
 
I've used many developers over the years. All have their plusses and minuses. HC-110 is reformulated? When I need more developer, I'll try it and if it doesn't pass muster, I'll use something else.

No big deal at all.
 
I've never used HC-100 but now I'm curious about the longevity issue. (I've never experienced longevity issues with any developer as I tend to use them up before problems would occur.) How many rolls of 35mm can be developed with the 1L bottle of HC-110? I'm guessing a lot based on the price.
 
jawarden said:
I've never used HC-100 but now I'm curious about the longevity issue. (I've never experienced longevity issues with any developer as I tend to use them up before problems would occur.) How many rolls of 35mm can be developed with the 1L bottle of HC-110? I'm guessing a lot based on the price.
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Depends on the film and dilution. Using dilution E and Acros, I can process just shy of 100 rolls of film with 1 liter.
 
Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
Thanks for the heads up. I mostly only use it for very old films or pushing certain types such as HP5+. Think I'll order a litre now.

I did read the thread at APUG (Photrio now I think). It was very helpful, thanks. It reminded me of why I virtually never post there. A few helpful members trying to shed light on the topic, and a bunch of others bickering with each other and dribbling—situation normal. No Forum is perfect but I think we have it pretty good here.
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You are very welcome.
 
Like other users who develop sporadically long shelf-life is a major reason I use HC-110 as my standard developer.
I too am concerned that the new formula may not have same keeping properties as the old. Only time will tell...

Chris
 
jawarden said:
I've never used HC-100 but now I'm curious about the longevity issue. (I've never experienced longevity issues with any developer as I tend to use them up before problems would occur.) How many rolls of 35mm can be developed with the 1L bottle of HC-110? I'm guessing a lot based on the price.
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Dilution "B" is 1:32 and is a pretty standard dilution. So at 500 milliliter per roll, that would be ~17ml per roll of developer stock. So 58 rolls plus or minus per liter at a typical dilution. Of course lots of variable in this number. For example, I use 425ml per roll and dilute 1:50, so 8.5ml stock HC-110 per roll so over 100 rolls per liter.
 
my bottle of hc 110 has been made in France in 1988 (!) and is in use since then - no problems at all, and still half full...
 
I've still got about 2 liters of the HC-110 made in Germany, and as I use dilution H, which is 64:1, I think it'll probably last me a few decades.

Best,
-Tim
 
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