What film developer is your favorite and why ?

[SilverShutter]

I am a confirmed D-23 user but I have been using Caffenol more and more often myself and am quite impressed with it. It does have a bit of an odor though but that is really a small downside.

I'm totally ignorant about this but is caffenol more economical compared to other film developers? Like what exactly is the advantage, other than using readily available ingredients, to say a 500ml bottle of Rodinal? I've never paid much attention to it other than seeing people going on detail about what brand of instant coffee works for them.

 

[santino]

Maybe it's the right thread to post this question: Does anyone have any experience with the shelf life of the new HC110?

I‘d like to know that too. I‘m about to order a new bottle of developer and can’t decide between my trustworthy R09 or Hc110 and shelf life is what interests me the most.

 

[Pioneer]

I'm totally ignorant about this but is caffenol more economical compared to other film developers? Like what exactly is the advantage, other than using readily available ingredients, to say a 500ml bottle of Rodinal? I've never paid much attention to it other than seeing people going on detail about what brand of instant coffee works for them.

I am not sure how economical it is. But it is always fresh because I mix it just before I use it. I have been caught in the past by using developer that had expired before I got around to using it. That is why I prefer D-23, Caffenol, Rodinal or HC110. The D-23 and Caffenol are usually mixed a short time before using them and the other two are famous for lasting a lonnnng time.

The other advantage for me is that all the ingredients for Caffenol are easily available locally. I don't have to send out for anything.

It also dissolves in solution very easily so it is easy to mix up.

Truthfully I don't think it matters what brand of instant coffee you use. I think the point others are trying to make is that you shouldn't worry about buying the best you can find. The best brand will probably work but it certainly isn't necessary. Obviously decaf is out since it is the caffeine that you are looking for. I actually think tea will even work.

 

[wlewisiii]

I'm crawling through some Nietzsche right now, I don't think I care for the guy.

The earlier the work in his corpus, the better it was (Try not to let how others misuse him color your perceptions either). The Birth of Tragedy was probably his best work. After that I'll stick to Camus & Wittgenstein.

 

[SilverShutter]

I am not sure how economical it is. But it is always fresh because I mix it just before I use it. I have been caught in the past by using developer that had expired before I got around to using it. That is why I prefer D-23, Caffenol, Rodinal or HC110. The D-23 and Caffenol are usually mixed a short time before using them and the other two are famous for lasting a lonnnng time.

The other advantage for me is that all the ingredients for Caffenol are easily available locally. I don't have to send out for anything.

It also dissolves in solution very easily so it is easy to mix up.

Truthfully I don't think it matters what brand of instant coffee you use. I think the point others are trying to make is that you shouldn't worry about buying the best you can find. The best brand will probably work but it certainly isn't necessary. Obviously decaf is out since it is the caffeine that you are looking for. I actually think tea will even work.

Makes sense. Funny enough, I've only ever had a developer fail completely and it was Rodinal, after 5 months of opening it. But like I can see why you would want to make up developer on the moment if you dont shoot often, it's far less wasteful.

 

[agentlossing]

The earlier the work in his corpus, the better it was (Try not to let how others misuse him color your perceptions either). The Birth of Tragedy was probably his best work. After that I'll stick to Camus & Wittgenstein.

That explains it, I am going through his Twilight of the Idols which feels like he is losing his grasp on all but his high opinion of his own intellect. Birth of Tragedy sounds like something I would enjoy based on a description of its subject matter. I should have probably read him chronologically; I was going to tackle Beyond Good and Evil next.

Or just go back to Kierkegaard.

 

[Coldkennels]

Thanks for that link. It is out of stock everywhere in the UK and has been for a while. I wonder what the postage would be like...

Go for Bellini's liquid version at Nik & Trick that @Joao linked to earlier: BelliniFoto DF2 Duo-Step ~ B&W Film Developer a Liquid Version of Diafine - Nik & Trick Photo Services

It'll be a lot cheaper, and Bellini's chemistry seems (generally) to be pretty good. I'm on my second bottle of their Rodinal clone now.

Makes sense. Funny enough, I've only ever had a developer fail completely and it was Rodinal, after 5 months of opening it.

The only time I've ever had Rodinal (or a Rodinal clone) fail completely was when I left it out on a shelf in a translucent plastic bottle. Keeping it in the dark seems to do the trick.

 

[Pioneer]

Makes sense. Funny enough, I've only ever had a developer fail completely and it was Rodinal, after 5 months of opening it. But like I can see why you would want to make up developer on the moment if you dont shoot often, it's far less wasteful.

Interestingly the last developer that went south on me was a bottle of TMAX Developer. I have read several testimonials of this developer lasting over 24 months but mine did not go that long. Not too sure what happened but it died on me in a bit more than 18 months. To be fair the bottle was about 2/3rds gone but I still did not expect it to go when it did. Usually if I have a bottle that has gotten old I'll test it before I use it but I was not expecting it to go quite this quickly.

Since I started to mix my own developers I've not had any problems. A freshly mixed liter of D23, which is my primary developer,. rarely lasts me more than 3 months and my Caffenol is mixed just prior to use. My 250ml Parodinal mix will sometimes go a bit longer than 12 months before I use it all but it is in a small brown bottle so I've not had that developer go bad although I seriously doubt it will last as long as traditional Rodinal. The only other developer I use at all is Adotech 1V and so far I have had not problems with that one.

 

[yossi]

I‘d like to know that too. I‘m about to order a new bottle of developer and can’t decide between my trustworthy R09 or Hc110 and shelf life is what interests me the most.

I ordered one bottle of new HC-110 (CAT No. 660 1777) made by Sino Promise of China back in August 2022. It was produced in Jan 2022 and has an expiry date on the bottle is 2024-01. I had opened the bottle since and have been using it regularly from the bottle. No special storage or temperature control, and the nominal temperature in Singapore is 26 to 33 degree C.

More than 1.5 years on, I have used up only about half bottle of it, and the expiry date has passed 3 months ago. Still, the new HC-110 works great, without any issues. No crystals formed, no loss of potency. I intend to keep using it until the end, then I would likely switch to Ilford Ilfotec HC which is supposedly similar.




(Oh, I just see that the one listed at B&H has a different packaging and Cat No. and it is the 2019 version. That means it was produced earlier than the one shown above. Now I am not too sure if they are the same things, or whether they would behave similarly ?!!)

 

[shawn]

The original pours almost like a syrup, the newer formulation is supposed to be thinner. I haven't finished my original bottle yet so I haven't tried the newer formulation.

 

[kiemchacsu]

HC-110 with a bottle from around 2010. I process everything one shot at 100:1 stand for 60 minutes with 4 inversions at the start and again at the 30 minute mark. Works great with all the films I tend to shoot (Foma 100, 200, Kentmere 400, TMAX 100/400) and lets me process it all together.

Fomapan 100

I've heard a lot about stand developing but never tried.
Do you control the temperature during the process?
Thanks.

 

[kiemchacsu]

I ordered one bottle of new HC-110 (CAT No. 660 1777) made by Sino Promise of China back in August 2022. It was produced in Jan 2022 and has an expiry date on the bottle is 2024-01. I had opened the bottle since and have been using it regularly from the bottle. No special storage or temperature control, and the nominal temperature in Singapore is 26 to 33 degree C.

More than 1.5 years on, I have used up only about half bottle of it, and the expiry date has passed 3 months ago. Still, the new HC-110 works great, without any issues. No crystals formed, no loss of potency. I intend to keep using it until the end, then I would likely switch to Ilford Ilfotec HC which is supposedly similar.

View attachment 4835701


(Oh, I just see that the one listed at B&H has a different packaging and Cat No. and it is the 2019 version. That means it was produced earlier than the one shown above. Now I am not too sure if they are the same things, or whether they would behave similarly ?!!)

I also using these bottle after the Tetenal manufactured was discontinued
And I found it identical to the Tetenal one.
Do you mean the these are the last batches from SINO factory? I may missed something here.
Thanks.

 

[shawn]

I've heard a lot about stand developing but never tried.
Do you control the temperature during the process?
Thanks.

I do a tempering bath/pre wash at 68 degrees for a minute. Hc110 is mixed with 68 degree water but after that it is just sitting at room temp which is around the same temp. I don’t go to any great lengths to keep it exactly the same temp. The developer would likely exhaust itself a little faster if it were warmed but ends up around the same place in the end.

 

[agentlossing]

Interestingly the last developer that went south on me was a bottle of TMAX Developer. I have read several testimonials of this developer lasting over 24 months but mine did not go that long. Not too sure what happened but it died on me in a bit more than 18 months. To be fair the bottle was about 2/3rds gone but I still did not expect it to go when it did. Usually if I have a bottle that has gotten old I'll test it before I use it but I was not expecting it to go quite this quickly.

Wonder if I should rebottle mine, store some in a smaller container so there's no oxygen contact. Mine is around 3/4 full, but it has been over a year I think...

 

[chuckroast]

I've heard a lot about stand developing but never tried.
Do you control the temperature during the process?
Thanks.

If you are reasonably close to 20F/68F, say +-5 degrees F, it doesn't much matter. Leaving the film in for an hour will just immediately develop the highlights to exhaustion, and eventually, the shadows to completion.

The old camera shops used to stand their development overnight, with one agitation at the beginning, and another before they closed up shop for the night, and pulled the film in the morning. It didn't much matter what the film was nor the actual temp (within reason).

Once you conquer the bromide drag issues, stand development - well semistand, anyway - is probably the most forgiving of all development schemes. You do have to deal with the aforementioned bromide drag issues, though. Hence the documentation I provided upthread to help.

 

[John Bragg]

This is a trial with HP5+ rated at my usual ei200 and developed in Ilfotec HC at 1:49 dilution. I have always used HC-100 at dilution H or 1:63, but on moving over to Ilfotec, I thought that I would modify my routine for greater ease. 5ml per film in a 500ml tank dispensed with a syringe makes life so much easier. Developed for 7 minutes @ 20°C with reduced agitation : 30 seconds initial then only 2 invertions at 3 mins and 2 more at 5 mins. My first impressions with Ilfotec HC were that it was slightly more active than HC-100 and times didn't directly correspond. I had used 12 mins @ dilution H with HC-110, but it seemed harsh and gritty at thiis time with Ilfotec HC and the grain was ugly. Here the highlights seem ok and skin tones are good. This has potential to be one of my favorites.

Untitled_254004GB by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

 

[xayraa33]

D76 and Rodinal are my favourite developers, I always have used them and see no reason to change.

 

[yossi]

I also using these bottle after the Tetenal manufactured was discontinued
And I found it identical to the Tetenal one.
Do you mean the these are the last batches from SINO factory? I may missed something here.
Thanks.

I am not sure if the bottle of HC-110 I got was the last batch produced by SINO. It is still available at China e-commerce site Taobao at this moment, some stores claim the expiry date to be 2025.

Since the price gap is quite close now, I think it might be better for me to just switch to Ilfotec HC.

 

[Tom R]

Ouch. Wait until you hit Heidegger or Bultmann. It's a study in mental pain.

I have one undergraduate degree in Philosophy (the other in linguistics) and my Undergraduate Advisor was a native German speaker. I have a German name but did not grow up in a German-speaking environment. Struggled with Bultman, et al. My undergraduate advisor found a few good translations and strongly suggested that I not bother learning German if I was only interested in its academic application. He added that he found good translations easier (clearer) than the original text … especially in the case of Heidegger.

A few years later … in Graduate School studying Mathematics and Computer Science (did my research, thesis stuff, … etc in an AI related area)… . My Graduate advisor was also a German speaker. Early in our time together he asked me two questions: One was if I spoke or understood German, the other was whether I could solve a complex differential equation that he scribbled on the blackboard while we spoke. I replied “No” to both. He paused for some time and finallly said that he was more concerned about my answer to his first question than the second, and that my time would be difficult; but he believed that my will was up to the task.

 

[chuckroast]

I have one undergraduate degree in Philosophy (the other in linguistics) and my Undergraduate Advisor was a native German speaker. I have a German name but did not grow up in a German-speaking environment. Struggled with Bultman, et al. My undergraduate advisor found a few good translations and strongly suggested that I not bother learning German if I was only interested in its academic application. He added that he found good translations easier (clearer) than the original text … especially in the case of Heidegger.

A few years later … in Graduate School studying Mathematics and Computer Science (did my research, thesis stuff, … etc in an AI related area)… . My Graduate advisor was also a German speaker. Early in our time together he asked me two questions: One was if I spoke or understood German, the other was whether I could solve a complex differential equation that he scribbled on the blackboard while we spoke. I replied “No” to both. He paused for some time and finallly said that he was more concerned about my answer to his first question than the second, and that my time would be difficult; but he believed that my will was up to the task.

My German language development ended at age eight when we moved from there back to North America. But it's weird. Lo, these many decades later, when I return to Germany, some deep neural network kicks in and within a week I am vaguely able to apprehend what people are saying and what is in the newspaper. I have to take care to not speak what little German I know, because my accent is pretty good and people assume I am a native speaker. The brain is a weird and wondrous thing. (Oh, and Chomsky was wrong about almost everything bwhahaaaaaa...)