Cachet Panthenic vs. Diafine

[genecrumpler]

A camera store clerk was telling me the other day that Cachet Panthemic developer was finer grained than Diafine. He flashed a couple of SMALL prints to make the point, but they were too small to make any judgements about the grain. Now as many of you know I love Diafine and am currently using it to process 4x5 sheets of Tmax 100 and Delta 100. However, for 6x6 negatives, diafine is just to grainey to produce good 11x14 prints which have extensive uniform areas (read sky). I currently use Ilfosol-s for 6x6 and 6x7 roll film, which gives the results I like.

Can any one (who has used both) give me some idea if Cachet is noticably better in the grain department? Is it worth trying?

Any drawbacks to cachet that would be worth worrying about?

 

[Lachlan Young]

A camera store clerk was telling me the other day that Cachet Panthemic developer was finer grained than Diafine. He flashed a couple of SMALL prints to make the point, but they were too small to make any judgements about the grain. Now as many of you know I love Diafine and am currently using it to process 4x5 sheets of Tmax 100 and Delta 100. However, for 6x6 negatives, diafine is just to grainey to produce good 11x14 prints which have extensive uniform areas (read sky). I currently use Ilfosol-s for 6x6 and 6x7 roll film, which gives the results I like.

Can any one (who has used both) give me some idea if Cachet is noticably better in the grain department? Is it worth trying?

Any drawbacks to cachet that would be worth worrying about?

Cachet developer is divided D-76 while Diafine is a PQ two bath speed increasing developer which will probably give slightly coarser grain.

Hope this helps,

Lachlan

 

[Paul Howell]

Cachet developer is divided D-76

You can also try devided 23 for even finer grain.

 

[CuS]

What ISO and times for Delta 100 in Diafine?

Now as many of you know I love Diafine and am currently using it to process 4x5 sheets of Tmax 100 and Delta 100.

What ISO are you shooting your Delta 100 at and wgta times are you using in diafine? 3+3; 4+3; 3+4 or 4+4?

I just shot a few sheets - overcast sky so I'm looking to punch in a bit more contrast during developing.

Thanks!

 

[P C Headland]

if you want more contrast/punch, you're going to have to use another developer. Whether you try 3+3 or 3+4 or 4+4, the result will be pretty much the same.

As far as I understand, the only way to really alter the contrast with Diafine as your developer, is to alter your exposure (which is too late for you now...)

 

[frotog]

I'd take AB 55 over diafine or the formulary's divided d76 for any roll of b/w. Much better shadow detail, better tones in general plus finer grain. It's also a better deal. Control contrast by varying dilution of solution A. You can also achieve more contrasty results by running the developer at 75+ degrees. This is risky, however, as exchange times between solutions a and b become more critical with warmer developer times.