4 rolls of HP5+ to develop

I can use D76,HC-110 or Rodinal.
Suggestions please.

Those are good ones.

D76 1+1 always works for me.

Personally I don't find Rodinal a very good choice for HP5+.
Some use it on esp. Tri-X to enhance grain when that is a wanted effect. On HP5 i find the grain to be unattractive. I can't really precisely describe with words, other than unattractive. They are very visible thou.

I have for several years been using the late Barry Thornton's 2-bath metol developer (as per his book "Edge of Darkness"). Lately I have been trying Gainer's PC-TEA on HP5+ and so far it seems very good. It is certainly a very convenient developer with very good keeping qualities (shelf life) and low toxicity.

Unless you like grain, I wouldn't use HC-110 or Rodinal on 35mm.
Aside from that, it's hard to go wrong with any of them.

We have always used D76 1+1 with HP5 and had great results.

Mike Kennedy said:

I can use D76,HC-110 or Rodinal.
Suggestions please.

Click to expand...

I would say D-76 is probably your best bet, it's essentially Kodak's version of ID11, so you can simply follow Ilford's recommendations for ID11 and you will get the same results (or very close to it).

I agree about the Rodinal advise - It just doesnt work for me.

For some time now I have stuck with Aculux.

Matt

Another vote for D-76.
I dilute 1:1 and soup for 12 minutes at 68º F... At least that's my choice for the HP5+ I shoot at EI 320, and soup in my home-brew D-76.

Rodinal & HC-110 are great for inherently fine grain films but not HP-5 or Tri-X. Another vote for D76.

Ian

I like Rodinal:


But if you are using 35mm and don't like pin sharp grain, so personal choice- other than Rodinal I like DDX/Microphen
Mark

I agree about Rodinal except that I do find that it works well with slow films in the 35mm format. I had good luck with it with Agfapan 25, and have used it on Ilford Pan-F Plus and Efke 25 with good success. These days I do my Pan-F Plus in PMK though, because I like it better.

I prefer HP-5 Plus in PMK, personally - I love the creamy tones I get with it - but of the developers you are asking about, D-76 1:1 is a solid choice. D-76 undiluted will give you slightly finer grain, but slightly less sharpness. I figure a grainy film looks best if sharp so I dilute.

I'm really perplexed by the reports of bad graininess with HC-110/Ilfotec HC. I have never had a problem with it being grainy. I don't know how many times I have heard someone say of HC-110 something like, "That stuff is horrible crap. I use a real good developer like D-76 instead." Aside from the working EIs being a third off from each other in my tests (ID-11 1:1 made for the higher EI than Ilfotec HC 1:31), I can't tell the difference between them. I use HC instead simply because of the convenience and longevity. Kodak has a chart that compares their developers, and if my memory serves me correctly, the chart sez that D-76 caused higher levels of grain than HC-110 in their tests. (I do not remember the dilutions, however.) Also, I have never found HP5 to be particularly grainy either. HP5/HC is my most often used combo in all formats, and the grain has never bothered me even when pushed. I guess it really depends on the individual's methods and grading criteria. You can squeeze some nasty grain out of HP5 if you grossly overexpose it. This is what I do when I want gnarly grain, and I shoot Delta 3200 when I want a more neat grain pattern.

I have to concur about the HC110, I get less grain with it than D76.

Mike

I use HC-110 dil B for 5 or 6 mins (depending on the contrast that I want) on HP5 in 4x5 and 8x10 rated at 320. When shooting HP5 in 35mm I rate it at 200, and develop in D-76 1:1 for 11 mins. All processing done at 20C

Use any, but note that Rodinal will give more grain and that the Ilford recommended time for Rodinal and a speed of 400 does in fact constitute push processing with a contrast gain. Did you rate the film at 400 - if so, D76 or HC110 are the only options for normal contrast, most people would use a meter setting of 200 or 250 and maybe a 5% reduction on Ilford's recommended time.