What other developer besides Ilfosol 3

M

msinderson

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I'm getting near the end of my 1st bottle of Ilfosol 3 and am thinking about trying an alternative developer, just to experiment a little. There are so many out there that I was hoping for some suggestions. I use a one reel tank and will be doing 35mm in addition to 120 once my Yashica GSN shows up:) Here's the film I seem to be gravitating towards and plan to use for the forseeable future:

Acros 100
HP5+ 400 or Delta 400 (still deciding which one I like more)

Any suggestions?
 
Kodak D-76 is "the standard," the developer to which everything else is compared.

Kodak HC-110 and Rodinal (available as Adox Adonal, Foma Fomadon R09, or Compard One Shot R09) are both excellent and classic developers. Rodinal is especially noteworthy for its uses for stand development.
 
Rodinal and HC110 are liquid concentrates with long shelf life even after being opened.

I use Rodinal for 100iso films and HC110 for 400iso films.
 
HC-110 is a fine developer and capable of a number of looks and uses. I use it dilution 1:63 as a semi- compensating developer and it is all I use these days. It lasts forever and is very cheap and reliable.
 
I used D-76 for years but have been using HC-110 & Rodinal since coming to RRF...
I find I don't have to worry about my D-76 Stock solution expiring if I don't use it in time...Plus the other two are already in liquid form for mixing...
 
+1 for HC110, i have been using dilution B. Overall lovely tone and low grain.

I just started using microphen for pushing Tri-X to 1600, and so far I like the results.

Randy
 
Hi Sam,

Suggestion to help....

I find that D-76 using empty 2 liter soda bottles has the longest life, at least that's been my experience. I surmise that the cap seals real well over & over, again & again. Perhaps this is because soda would lose its fizz otherwise.

7 Up or Sprite has green plastic and I think this may help with developers as well. I keep mine under the sink, our main level bathroom. I've used D-76 that's 2 years old & still works real well.

Thought I would mention it to you to help!
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I think that I will go ahead and try some hc-110. It seems to be well regarded and from an economy standpoint it is very affordable.

Looking forward to giving it a try.
 
scottyb70 said:
You can use HC110 as a stand developer 1ml hc110 to 119ml water or 6ml hc110 to 720ml water @20C.
Click to expand...

1ml HC 110? thats not much. Whats the minimum requirement of dev/film when using HC110?
When using Rodinal the official recomandation is 10ml and most people recommend no less than 5ml/film though some has used as little as 3ml/film but I would say we are on the edge here.
Best regards
 
If you want to stick to liquid developers, HC110 is a good universal choice, with some limitations, but well worth trying and experimenting with at various dilutions and semi stand agitation too. Another interesting liquid developer, particularly good with higher speed and t grain films, is Ilford DD-X. I use it at 1+8 dilution for greater flexibility and economy. It is one of the best developers for gaining speed.
 
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