Ansco 130 working solution capacity as dilution increases

jvonoldershausen · Jul 28, 2021

I'm using Photographers Formulary 130 paper developer and recently moved from a 1+1 to 1+3 dilution ratio. The tech info sheet states that "the developer has a capacity of about 50 8x10's per liter of working solution". Three dilution options are listed further below but no reference to their effect on capacity figures.

Since capacity is expressed in terms of working solution, wouldn't there be a corresponding change when using higher dilution ratios? One liter of stock solution yields 2L of working solution @ 1+1 or 4L of working solution @ 1+3 so I was expecting capacity per liter to be cut in half.

gone · Jul 28, 2021

My first guess, which may be completely wrong because it sounds logical, is that w/ weaker dilution you'll be developing the prints longer, so the capacity would be about the same?

MattKing · Jul 28, 2021

The 50 prints per litre capacity number refers to working solution diluted 1:1 (or 1+1 for those who prefer).
So for every 500 ml of stock, you can expect 50 prints.
If you use different dilutions, capacity numbers relate to how much stock developer is in your tray.

jvonoldershausen · Jul 30, 2021

MattKing said:
The 50 prints per litre capacity number refers to working solution diluted 1:1 (or 1+1 for those who prefer).
So for every 500 ml of stock, you can expect 50 prints.
If you use different dilutions, capacity numbers relate to how much stock developer is in your tray.

That's what I was expecting. I wonder why they wouldn't express capacity in terms of stock solution to avoid confusion when working with alternate dilutions?

esearing · Jul 31, 2021

1:3 is 250ml per liter so roughly 25 8x10 sheets. I generally watch for the print to come up within 30 seconds, if prints later in a session take longer I replenish with 100 ml stock. Since most of us tend to develop to completion the new dilution isnt as critical unless you are pulling earlier to manage contrast. I see no tonal change from 1:1 vs 1:3 on the Ilford papers I use.

jvonoldershausen · Aug 2, 2021

esearing said:
1:3 is 250ml per liter so roughly 25 8x10 sheets. I generally watch for the print to come up within 30 seconds, if prints later in a session take longer I replenish with 100 ml stock. Since most of us tend to develop to completion the new dilution isnt as critical unless you are pulling earlier to manage contrast. I see no tonal change from 1:1 vs 1:3 on the Ilford papers I use.

Good to know. In my experience with Ilford warmtone, i've never seen highlights fully appear until around 2 mins in developer - regardless of dilution. I've always developed for 3 minutes for that reason. After doing some max black tests with my usual 1:1 dilution (according to this post https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/paper-development-times.5516063/#post-5767760) I dropped down to the 1:3 dilution. With 1:1 dilution, maximum blacks were achieved in under 1 minute. With 1:3 dilution, it takes about 1.5 minutes for full blacks and then the highlights appear around 2 mins as before. Overall a more balanced development progression for my purposes.

Ansco 130 working solution capacity as dilution increases

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