Acros in HC110

[Jeff L]

Has anyone here developed ACROS in HC110? What did you think? I have done ACROS in Ilford DDX and liked it very much. I preferred Delta 100 in DDX to HC110. This is one reason I'm asking.
Thanks all.
Jeff

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

What were the differences you saw between DDX and HC110 with D100?

 

[Jeff L]

To me it seemed smoother and more pleasing. I can't explain it any better than that. I just put it down to T Grain type developers for T Grain film. I really like HC110 with TriX, HP5 and FP4.

 

[DWThomas]

I think it works quite respectably. I usually shoot Acros at 80 and use "Dilution H." I did my first roll of Acros in D76 straight up, that worked too. I've pretty much standardized on HC110 1+63 as a one shot for most of my stuff and haven't done much experimenting with different developers.

Of course, I'm sure there are many variations in procedures and tastes among us, so YMMV!

DaveT

 

[Jeff L]

Hey Dave- what agitation and time did you use?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

You're likely to find the same differences between DD-X and HC-110 with Acros as you did with Delta 100. That's why I was asking.

Acros has finer grain than Delta 100, so the effect may be less pronounced. What are you trying to 'fix' by switching from DD-X to HC-110? Economy?

 

[Jeff L]

I have more HC110 left than DDX. I'll just buy more DDX....and more HP5 and FP4 for the HC110.
I wasn't trying to fix anything really. I value the groups opinions on stuff like this- so much knowledge and experience.
Thanks again.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Got it. For what it's worth, DDX is much like Xtol, which is cheaper... In case you did look at economy.

 

[DWThomas]

Hey Dave- what agitation and time did you use?

So far I use a stainless steel single roll tank. I agitate continously by inversions for the first 30 seconds -- with an occasional rap or two on the table to knock loose any bubbles, then four inversions at each one minute mark (about 5 seconds worth). Some recent stuff I was happy with was done for 9:00 at 68ºF.

FWIW, I use about 425 mL in the tank which leaves some air space and I also rotate the tank a quarter turn or so in my grip for each inversion. I've seen more even development since leaving the airspace.

DaveT

 

[Jeff L]

I see Xtol mentioned alot but have never tried it. Rodinal too. There is just never enough time.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

So far I use a stainless steel single roll tank....
<snip>
FWIW, I use about 425 mL in the tank which leaves some air space and I also rotate the tank a quarter turn or so in my grip for each inversion. I've seen more even development since leaving the airspace.

Single roll tank is perfect. One roll at a time will teach you more.

Air space. You have to have enough space in the tank to get enough flow and movement of the solution, so that every time you agitate fresh developer reaches all of the film area. If your tank is too full, sufficient movement cannot take place, in which case parts of the film would be reached by exhausted or partly exhausted developer instead. Makes total sense.

 

[r-brian]

I see Xtol mentioned alot but have never tried it. Rodinal too. There is just never enough time.

For 120 Acros, I use Rodinal 1+100, 18 min @ 68F and haven't seen a need to change. Wonderful negatives. May have to try HC-110 as it's the only other developer I use.

 

[DanielStone]

very nice combination if you ask me. This last term at school, I started using it b/c that's the developer in the lab there. I've noticed the grain doesn't seem as fine in comparison to d76 1:1, but the sharpness, at least to me seems a little higher, maybe because of a bump in contrast?

I use a s.s. tank (1 reel or 2 reel) HC-110 at dilution H (1/2 dilution of b). using this also allows me to be a little more flexible in my development time, b/c some films, such as tri-x, are VERY short (3:45) in dilution B. using H allows a little more control over the process. just double your time compared to B.

all chemistry is kept in a tray at 68F.

acros is usually my go-to film for 100 speed in 120, but I've found that in 35mm and 120, the new T-Max 400 (TMY-2) is a very fine-grained film, and does a very nice job IMO in hc-110H. I'm still working on dev times for this combination, as I've only shot 3 or 4 rolls so far, but so far I've liked what I see

-dan

 

[jasonhall]

I used Acros with HC-110 at 1:49, 20C for 8min and normal agitation. It was a hair on the thin side so might would add half a min next time. Thats a good starting point if nothing else.

 

[Jeff L]

This is great info. Thank you all.
Jeff

 

[Rolleijoe]

I tried it in my usual dilution (1:50), and yes, there was a smoothness to it, just not a look I preferred. Next Acros will be in Rodinal 1:50. Even Neopan 1600 in Rodi 1:50 is relatively grain-free.