Tri-X at ISO 800: hints/tips?

Nice. How long does Diafine last once it's diluted? The main reason I favor HC-110 is that it's easy to use as a one-shot developer...my film use is very haphazard and I tend to let, say, D76 go stale.
 
It lasts a very long time. Kinda like HC110.. I use hc110 under 800, and diafine for tri-x at 1200..
Same reasons why I use them, they last long..
 
OK, just did a little research on Diafine...holy moses. It seems kind of miraculous. As a lazy and impatient developer (and somebody who exclusively scans to digital) this seems like the stuff I need. I will get some.
 
mabelsound said:
OK, just did a little research on Diafine...holy moses. It seems kind of miraculous. As a lazy and impatient developer (and somebody who exclusively scans to digital) this seems like the stuff I need. I will get some.
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And it's been around forever.
 
mabelsound said:
OK, just did a little research on Diafine...holy moses. It seems kind of miraculous. As a lazy and impatient developer (and somebody who exclusively scans to digital) this seems like the stuff I need. I will get some.
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Diafine has some advantages in some circumstances. It is unusual because it's a two-part developer that develops 'to completion'. Since it does not keep on cranking away, time and temperature and agitation have little effect within reason. It keeps very well, better than most. It gives an effective speed boost to most films. It is great for old expired films, just toss it in the soup. No stop bath, just rinse, fix, wash. No presoak either.

With that said, it's better with higher contrast scenes, it tends not to be great with low contrast. Not every film works well with it, although Tri-X is good. Some people get weird waves in their negs, said to be a result of too much agitation? Not sure on that, but you can google and see examples, mostly in landscapes with cloudy skies.

I have a lot of old Chinese Shantou ERA film I'm going to shoot up, expired in 2007. I'm ordering Diafine in the morning. I can't think of a better developer for 'unknown' film like this.
 
I agree that Diafine is not for every film. It works very well with Tri-X, Plus-X, FP4+, and Fomapan 100. I've tried it with TMax 100 and the results were meh. I haven't tried iit with Double XX.

Diafine can work beautifully with low contrast scenes if you use a yellow filter. I often shoot Tri-X with a yellow filter and expose at 400 if I'm developing in Diafine; take the filter off and expose at 800 for indoors or low light.

You can re-use Diafine and it will last quite a long time, although dilution A will deplete because it's absorbed into the emulsion. I mix up a new batch when dilution B gets too loaded with sediment. It's a great developer for warm climates; in the summer, the water temp at my house in Sacramento is over 72 degrees, and I have to cool the chemistry down to 68 degrees F. With Diafine, the higher water temps don't matter.

With TMax and Fomapan 200, I use HC 110, which is a great all purpose developer. But Diafine is very useful with certain films.
 
+1 for Tri-x in Diafine. That's been my go to combo since 2008 and I'm on my 3rd box. Only bought Diafine 3 times in 7 years. I rate at about 800-1000 but get decent pictures between 400-1600.
 
Bingley said:
I agree that Diafine is not for every film. It works very well with Tri-X, Plus-X, FP4+, and Fomapan 100. I've tried it with TMax 100 and the results were meh. I haven't tried iit with Double XX.

Diafine can work beautifully with low contrast scenes if you use a yellow filter. I often shoot Tri-X with a yellow filter and expose at 400 if I'm developing in Diafine; take the filter off and expose at 800 for indoors or low light.

You can re-use Diafine and it will last quite a long time, although dilution A will deplete because it's absorbed into the emulsion. I mix up a new batch when dilution B gets too loaded with sediment. It's a great developer for warm climates; in the summer, the water temp at my house in Sacramento is over 72 degrees, and I have to cool the chemistry down to 68 degrees F. With Diafine, the higher water temps don't matter.

With TMax and Fomapan 200, I use HC 110, which is a great all purpose developer. But Diafine is very useful with certain films.
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I'm going to try that yellow filter idea, thanks!
 
Tri-X is my main film. I have been using this film for more than 40 years. When you rate this film 250 - 800 ISO you should good results with D76 or HC 110. When I rate Tri-X at 800 - 1600 ISO I use HC 110. Consitaty in temperature and agitation is very important to get repetetive results. If you shoot a film with a test card including a black and a white zone and the grey's in between, you will find out the right exposure. Take notes when developing a film including chemicals used, times and agitation and adjust accordingly when nesaccery. And most of all, have fun doing it.

Best regards.
 
From the developers I have used for Tri X @800 I would rate Acufine the highest, then Diafine, then DDX then probably we enter semi stand development region and there Acurol N worked well although there was some fog to cope with. If you go the Diafine route, remember to expose one frame on every film against the sky or a blank wall, to check for streaking. Agitate every 30 sec - anything less than that and the streaking gets really ugly.
 
Just an update on using Diafine. HOLY MOSES. It's a dream come true. Haven't tried TriX yet but I just shot a couple of rolls of 5222-XX at 640, developed in Diafine at 4 minutes per bath with gentle agitation every 30, and ended up with a huge increase in latitude from my usual process. Plenty of shadows to bring up; plenty of highlights to bring down. I like the grain, too. These were shot on a Pentax LX with the K 30mm f/2.8. Thanks so much for the tip.





 
Glad you like the Diafine. It's not perfect for everything, but for the things it works well for, it's indeed pretty amazing. I personally love the keeping power and the lack of need for strict control of time and temperature. I've been doing 5+5 minutes in A and B, with nearly zero agitation. Good results.

Your shots look very nice! Congrats!
 
anerjee said:
Try Ilford DD-X, which is a bit more expensive. Tri-X is closer to ISO 640 in DD-X, with nice tight grain and well controlled highlights.
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This. I don't use HC-110 for pushing, as it is not optimum for this. I use DD-X or Microphen. I get great results with either, but DD-X concentrate is handier. The developing times on the bottle are a good starting point, but I generally reduce the time by 10% or so.
 
XX is about as old-school an emulsion as you can get. Made by Eastman since 1958!
Nice to know it works well with Diafine. Those look great.
Acufine is the only developer I know of that really does increase shadow speed.
Honest to goodness real 800 shadow detail with Tri-X back in the seventies.
I always thought that 1000 or 1250 was the upper limit, not as good.
Honest 800
 
Taken last weekend, Arista Premium 400 exposed at 800 and developed in Diafine, 4+4. I do two inversions every minute, in both solution a and solution b. Never had a problem with streaking.

Caught by bingley0522, on Flickr
 
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