Ansco 130

[Ray Bidegain]

Hi:

I am trying ansco 130 for the first time and have been using 1:1 dilution and 60 sec as was recommended. I feel like 60 sec is to short, and am wondering what the rest of you who use this developer use for time and dilution.

 

[removed account4]

hi ray

for paper - 72º ( glycin likes to work warmer than 68º ) 1:2 about 2 minutes.

for film - 72º, 1:5 about 7 1/2 mins.


- john

 

[Ole]

I use 1:1 for 2-4 minutes - with fiber paper, there is a litle change in contrast with extended times. Rare prints get up to 10 minutes...

I have no idea of temperature. I'm happy as long as my darkroom is comfortable to warm (19-24 °C).

 

[steve simmons]

I have used Ansco 130 at a 1:3 dilution for 3 minutes. More time made little noticeable difference.

This is my favorite developer for paper.

steve simmons
www.cameraarts.com
www.viewcamera.com

 

[removed account4]

hi again

i mention the film times because most people these days only use ansco 130 for paper, and it seems folks don't know that it was marketed for developing film as well. about 7 years ago i lived in a loft outside of boston. there was a can of "GAF Universal Developer" that sat on a drafty sill in the darkroom. i ran out of $$ at one point, and while i had a bunch of film, i didn't have a lot of money for developer ... so i thought "what the heck". i mixed the can that made 5 gallons of developer and decided to use it. first i made prints with it, to make sure it was okay, after all it was a can in a window sill for the better part of 20 years .. and boy did the darkroom get hot in the summer and cold in the winter ...
my prints were really nice - grays i hadn't seen before seemed to just appear ...
you folks that use ansco 130 / forumlary paper developer know what i mean

i thought, wow, if it does this for paper, what the heck will my film look like!

i shot as much film as possible that summer - roll and sheet, and processed like mad. now i know that ansco 130 has a huge shelf life, but back then i had never heard of ansco 130 so i thought, "if this summer is like last summer i better shoot and process fast cause the developer will die and die quick" ..

i must have shot 100 rolls of 35 mm film and 3 boxes of 4x5 film. my negatives looked as nice as the paper i printed.

when i finished up with the 5 gallons: i was kind of depressed. i asked as many people as i could about GAF Universal, and the only people that had a clue were old timers, and they smiled and said that i was outta luck since GAF was out of the photo-biz ... the internet was kind of young in those days and even though i did searches, i found nothing.

over the years i had been intouch with jc welch at equinox photographic in oregon. we got talking about "stuff" and i mentioned the developer - he knew it, and looked the name up in a reference book he had. he told me that it was the same as ansco 130 - the same stuff that the forumulary sells as their paper developer

... that was 3-4 years ago, and i haven't used another developer since. all i can say is that if you like what it does for your paper, try it with film. it is a fine grain developer, and gives really nice tonal values.

have a nice new year!

john

 

[Francesco]

Anyone has experience using Ansco 130 and AZO paper? Thanks in advance.

 

[ronlamarsh]

I have used a form of ansco 130(photographers formulary 130) for year and love it. I normally use it diluted 1:3 with either Ilford multi IV fiber or forte polygrade fiber.
I recently discovered that extending dev to 4min(my norm is 3min) made a significant improvement when using lower contrast filters i.e. #1 overall.
It is a very versatile developer but like all things in photography you must use it for awhile to learn all of its capabilities.

 

[juan]

Back in 1968, I bought my first darkroom kit and it included a can of GAF Universal Developer. It was used at one dilution for film and another dilution for paper. I've always though this stuff was Ansco 130, but now I'm not sure. My 1963 Photo Lab Index lists Ansco 125 as a paper and film developer. It's a M-H developer. Does anyone have a Photo Lab Index from the late 60s or early 70s who can look up GAF Universal Developer? I've always been curious about this stuff.
juan

 

[MikeK]

I have the 1979 Edition and page 452 it lists GAF 130 (Univrsal Paper Developer)

Water 750ml
Metol 2.2 grams
Sulfite 50. grams
Hydroquinone 11.0 grams
Sodium Carbonate 78 grams
Potassium Bromide 5.5 grams
Glycin 11.0 grams

Dilute 1:1 for normal use or 1:2 for softer working.

- Mike

 

[removed account4]

that makes sense that gaf would have called ansco 130 gaf 130 ... gaf got a bunch if not all agfa-ansco's american holdings after ww2 when the company was broken up.

... mike - does it give any film dilutions for "gaf" ( ansco ) 125 developer?

- if it says 1:5 for film ... it might be the same thing that juan and i used.

- john

 

[juan]

The 1963 Photo Lab Index says dilute Ansco 125 1:2 for paper, for film, dilute 1:1 and for softer results, 1:3.

I seem to remember the film developer was diluted more than the paper developer, so it seems this would not be it. I think I remember something more like 1:5, but it's been 35-years.

My Ansco 130 formula is the same as Mike's GAF 130.
juan

 

[MikeK]

[quote="

... mike - does it give any film dilutions for "gaf" ( ansco ) 125 developer?

- if it says 1:5 for film ... it might be the same thing that juan and i used.

- john[/quote]

It sure does:

Water 750 ml
Metol 3.0 grams
Sulfite 44.0 grams
Hydroquinone 12.0 grams
Sodium Carbonate 65.0 grams
Potassium Bromide 2.0 grams
Water to 1 liter

Paper development dilute 1:2 or 1:4 for softer prints
For Film Dilute 1:1 for 3-5 minutes or 1:3 and develop 3-5 minutes


This version of the handbook has some other intersting GAF formula, if anyone is interested I would be willing to publish them

- Mike

 

[removed account4]

thanks mike

 

[juan]

I am now convinced that absolutely everything is for sale on ebay. I did a search there and found one of the darkroom kits I had bought in 1968. I was wrong about the name of the developer - it's actually Vividol.

Of course, that raises more questions as neither my Agfa book nor my Photo Lab Index list any developer called Vividol - and a google search turns up nothing. Does anyone have anything on this developer?

juan

 

[MikeK]

Vividol is a proprietry GAF developer, and part of the Vivi series of chemicals, Vividol, Vivistop, and Vivifix.

According to the description Vividol is a universal developer for roll and sheet film as well as papers.

Interesting note on storage life:

Unopened can - indefnite
Solution in tank with floating lid - 1 month
Solution in completely filled bottle - 6 months

The description does not provide dilution details and refers you to the instructions on the can.

Source Page 426 1978 Version of the PhotoLan index.

Regards

- Mike

 

[removed account4]

i emailed the guy selling the ebay "kit" - the package of vividal says :

All-Purpose Developer for Papers and Film..... use full strength for paper development and 1 to 3 parts water for film.. Tray use full strength..Tank 1 to 3.

Seems like different stuff than I had ( Juan too ) ...

 

[MikeK]

Vividol is a proprietry GAF developer, and part of the Vivi series of chemicals, Vividol, Vivistop, and Vivifix.

According to the description Vividol is a universal developer for roll and sheet film as well as papers.

Interesting note on storage life:

Unopened can - indefnite
Solution in tank with floating lid - 1 month
Solution in completely filled bottle - 6 months

I should have figured this out earlier as with my experience with the keeping properties of Glycin I think this eleiminates ANSCO 130 as another name for Vividol.

- Mike

 

[Ole]

I just tried my old working solution (1:2) of Ansco 130 - it's over 2 months old by now.

It still works. No discernible difference from new, even with FB papers.

I tried it with just about the whole range from Bergger, plus Forte Polywarmtone, old Guilleminot, and Ilford MG IV RC.

 

[MikeK]

My problem is with the raw glycin before it is put into solution. Wthin 4 weeks or so it has turned light brown and nowhere near as potent as fresh.

- Mike

 

[Ole]

My Glycin is also light brown, but I've seen no loss of potency. I bought 100g from Monocrom last October, so I still have 09g or so to se if it changes with time. On a side note, my FX2 film developer was left in an open glass beaker for a week between uses with no ill effects. Given that I stand-developed the last batch for 90 minutes it would probably have worked anyway...

 

[removed account4]

ole -
they say that ansco 130 is good for a month in an open tray )g(
i wouldn't be surprised in the fx2 is good for about that long too

 

[Adrian Twiss]

On January 3rd Mike K Wrote

I have the 1979 Edition and page 452 it lists GAF 130 (Univrsal Paper Developer)

Water 750ml
Metol 2.2 grams
Sulfite 50. grams
Hydroquinone 11.0 grams
Sodium Carbonate 78 grams
Potassium Bromide 5.5 grams
Glycin 11.0 grams

Dilute 1:1 for normal use or 1:2 for softer working.

I have just checked Anchells Darkroom Cook book. This formula is exactly the same as the one Anchell gives for Ansco 130

 

[Silverpixels5]

I've been using this developer for about a year (the original solution) now with paper and I really love it. I'd really like to try it out on film now. My standard film developer is Pyrocat HD, and while is excellent for most subjects, I don't really like the way it yeilds skintones. A few of you posted the film dilution as 1:5 or so for somewhere around 5 minutes. Is this for 100 speed film? Does anyone have any film specific times for Ansco 130 as a film developer, or know where I could find them?

 

[removed account4]

the times/temps that i posted were pretty much for any film, any speed
i have used it on forte, trix, plusx, tmax100+400.
i had originally thought that ansco 130 was gaf universal and the time/temps were written on the "red can". i have since realized, thanks to the great folks here at apug, that it is indeed NOT the same developer ... but all that said, the dilutions + temp/time seem to work well ...

i really like what it does with sheet film - outside work as well as portraits. i haven't really done a lot with 130 + roll film - - so you might want to do some tests to see if what works for me, will work for you

good luck !

- john

 

[Silverpixels5]

Thanks! I'll try it out on some 120 roll film this evening. Probably J&C Pro 100.