Availability of Diafine

[pschauss]

My usual sources (B&H, Adorama, and Freestyle) all list Diafine as "out of stock". Freestyle has removed it from their menu. This has been the case since at least mid-November.

Is this a "normal" supply chain problem or has Acufine discontinued this product?

 

[wiedzmin]

Per Freestyle customer service "it is not discontinued but as of now they do not have ETA from manufacturer".

 

[gone]

I thought I'd found some here, but they're out of stock too. Everyone certainly seems out of it.

https://omegabrandess.com/shop/diafine-film-developer-quart/

 

[ArgentixCa]

Not 100% sure of what may be involved here but here is a reply from the manufacturer.

***************************************************************************
Yes we have not been able to have it manufactured for 2 years due to chemical shortages. We are now being hit with large minimums which may doom its return.
regards
Jim Graham
Omega Brandess
**********************************************************************************

 

[John Wiegerink]

Not 100% sure of what may be involved here but here is a reply from the manufacturer.

***************************************************************************
Yes we have not been able to have it manufactured for 2 years due to chemical shortages. We are now being hit with large minimums which may doom its return.
regards
Jim Graham
Omega Brandess
**********************************************************************************

Wow! That sounds a little hard to believe. I might believe the shortage is due to lack of demand, but lack of chemicals sounds strange. I didn’t know Diafine had any exotic chemicals in it? JohnW

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

In case anyone wants to brew Diafine at home, here is the formula that @doctorpepe inferred from MSDS and tested:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/diafine/discuss/72157699627118502/

 

[Paul Howell]

Also does not sound good for Acufine, Freestyle has quarts. You keep checking Ebay, from time to time old stock cans a Diafine show up, just be prepared to pay. Photographer's Formulary carries a couple of divided developers, you make divided D23. I tired divided 23, works rather well, just not the increase in ISO that you get from Diafine. I think the same issues killed Edwal FG7 and Bluegrass 777.

 

[Jonno85uk]

Not real diafine but Belini foto make something they claim is a working equivalent to diafine https://ntphotoworks.com/product/bellini-duo-step-diafine-film-developer/

Macodirect suggests it can't be shipped outside of the EU, however.

 

[relistan]

Not being able to have it made for two years might imply it was made by Tetenal. Could also just be Covid. But changing manufacturer anf supply chain for a low volume product might not be worth it. I used a lot of Diafine but stopped after the second huge price hike. Would be sad if it's gone though!

 

[jim appleyard]

Time for Formulary to step up and make a version. I have followed various posted formulas, but have found limited success. The best I got was using carbonate instead of borax or metaborate.

 

[Paul Howell]

Formulary makes a few divided developers, Divided D76, Dixactol and Dixactol ultra, Berry Thornton's exactol.

 

[pschauss]

I followed the link above for the formula and made a few changes. I used it to develop a roll of Double-X which I had exposed at 650. Results were similar what I normally get with original Diafine.

Here is what I used to make one liter of Part A:
Sodium Hexametaphosphate (g) 2
Sodium Metabisulfite (g) 6
Sodium Sulfite (g) 35
Hydroquinone (g) 24
Metol (g) 6
Benzotriazole (g) 0.05

For now, I am using this with a fresh packet of Part B that I had left over from a previous batch.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

I followed the link above for the formula and made a few changes. I used it to develop a roll of Double-X which I had exposed at 650. Results were similar what I normally get with original Diafine.

Here is what I used to make one liter of Part A:
Sodium Hexametaphosphate (g) 2
Sodium Metabisulfite (g) 6
Sodium Sulfite (g) 35
Hydroquinone (g) 24
Metol (g) 6
Benzotriazole (g) 0.05

For now, I am using this with a fresh packet of Part B that I had left over from a previous batch.

Congratulations! Just curious to understand from you what necessitated the changes to @doctorpepe's Diafine substitute formula which is based on MSDS.

 

[albada]

I followed the link above for the formula and made a few changes. I used it to develop a roll of Double-X which I had exposed at 650. Results were similar what I normally get with original Diafine. Here is what I used to make one liter of Part A:
Sodium Hexametaphosphate (g) 2
Sodium Metabisulfite (g) 6
Sodium Sulfite (g) 35
Hydroquinone (g) 24
Metol (g) 6
Benzotriazole (g) 0.05
For now, I am using this with a fresh packet of Part B that I had left over from a previous batch.

At 24 grams, you have about four times as much Hydroquinone as doctor Pepe's and other Diafine formulas I've seen.
Is that 24 correct?

Mark Overton

 

[ruilourosa]

I followed the link above for the formula and made a few changes. I used it to develop a roll of Double-X which I had exposed at 650. Results were similar what I normally get with original Diafine.

Here is what I used to make one liter of Part A:
Sodium Hexametaphosphate (g) 2
Sodium Metabisulfite (g) 6
Sodium Sulfite (g) 35
Hydroquinone (g) 24
Metol (g) 6
Benzotriazole (g) 0.05

For now, I am using this with a fresh packet of Part B that I had left over from a previous batch.

Metol will not be a good substitute for phenidone here... The claimed diafine boost in speed would be lost...

 

[ruilourosa]

For bath b dignan calls for 20 gr of metaborate and 65gr of sulfite and anchell calls for 20gr of borax and 65gr of sulfite...

Experimentation is advised

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Metol will not be a good substitute for phenidone here... The claimed diafine boost in speed would be lost...

OP wrote he got results similar to original Diafine on the film he tested and seems to be happy. Could it be that this film, Double X, renders itself nicely for push processing with just any reasonable developer and on a different film the Metol substitution might not do so well?

 

[ruilourosa]

It could! But its does not seem a experiment based conclusion.
Although the divided procedure can give some tolerance for being acceptable, the speed increase wont be there.

 

[ruilourosa]

Probably it will be more temperture sensitive although i do not have much experience of being wreckless on temperature control...

 

[pschauss]

For reference, I have been using Double-X with Diafine, rated at 650, as my primary film for about ten years. When I realized from the responses to my original post that I might be losing my favorite film/developer combination, I decide to try to learn a bit about photochemistry and do some experimentation.

I showed @doctorpepe's Bisulfite formula to a friend who knows a bit more about photochemistry than I do and he suggested the following:
Sodium Hexametaphosphate (g) 2
Sodium Metabisulfite (g) 6
Sodium Sulfite (g) 35
Hydroquinone (g) 6
Metol g 2 (substitute for Phenodone)
Benzotriazole (g) 0.05

Results were VERY thin negatives with very poor shadow detail. I found formula for D-72 ( http://www.afterness.com/kod_d72.html ) which used 12 g of Hydroquinone and 3 g of Metol for 500 ml and doubled those values since I was making up a liter. Not all of the HQ and Metol went into solution. Based on the weight of the filter paper that I used, I estimate the undissolved solids amounted to about one gram.

Here is a link to the results that I got:

First version of Diafine A: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/307687/album/1314726

Second version of Diafine A with increased Metol and HQ: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/307687/album/1314830

 

[Dali]

D72 is for paper, not film, so the requirements might not be the same.

 

[ruilourosa]

For reference, I have been using Double-X with Diafine, rated at 650, as my primary film for about ten years. When I realized from the responses to my original post that I might be losing my favorite film/developer combination, I decide to try to learn a bit about photochemistry and do some experimentation.

I showed @doctorpepe's Bisulfite formula to a friend who knows a bit more about photochemistry than I do and he suggested the following:
Sodium Hexametaphosphate (g) 2
Sodium Metabisulfite (g) 6
Sodium Sulfite (g) 35
Hydroquinone (g) 6
Metol g 2 (substitute for Phenodone)
Benzotriazole (g) 0.05

Results were VERY thin negatives with very poor shadow detail. I found formula for D-72 ( http://www.afterness.com/kod_d72.html ) which used 12 g of Hydroquinone and 3 g of Metol for 500 ml and doubled those values since I was making up a liter. Not all of the HQ and Metol went into solution. Based on the weight of the filter paper that I used, I estimate the undissolved solids amounted to about one gram.

Here is a link to the results that I got:

First version of Diafine A: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/307687/album/1314726

Second version of Diafine A with increased Metol and HQ: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/307687/album/1314830

What was the second Bath?

 

[Donald Qualls]

Could it be that this film, Double X, renders itself nicely for push processing with just any reasonable developer

I'd say this is the case, regardless of the merits or demerits of any changes made to the Diafine work-alike formula. I've process Double-X in Df96 monobath (monobaths usually lose a little real speed, anywhere from 1/3 to a full 1 stop) at EI 400 and had good shadow detail and very little grain. IMO, any film that will give excellent results in 2/3 stop push in a monobath is well suited to an increase EI in almost any developer.

 

[Lachlan Young]

In a two-solution/two-bath process you are likely to find the same emulsion speed whether you use metol or a Phenidone. In fact I found even plain metol-sulfite first baths (there are many variants of these) with mild alkalinity in the second bath gave maximum emulsion speed.

And there's the further issue that not all all P:Q ratios will result in maximal speed boost anyway - and it's highly unlikely Diafine contains anything to maximise emulsion swell in the first bath (which would potentially be an improvement of worth in a 2-bath). As ever, the effort that would go into designing a really good two-bath developer is likely equal or greater to that of designing a really good (and much more flexible) single bath for one-shot use...

 

[pschauss]

My second bath was Original Diafine B. I happened to have a packet of B left over from a time when I contaminated my solution A. This way I am only changing one variable at a time.