Clayton F76 (Delta 100, Acros, FP4+)?

Just got a new bottle of this to try out. I'm happy with my mainstay HC-110 (H) for HP5+, but I'm doing some experimenting with slower films.

In particular, I'm testing out Delta 100, Acros and also looking at alternatives to Rodinal 1:50 for FP4+ (I'm about to test FP4 in Acutol as well). FWIW, I scan my films and carbon print.

Any general opinions on F76? I can't seem to find times for Delta 100 or Acros, so any guidance would be helpful.

BTW - I'm just not a D76 or XTOL man. Discovered the convenience of liquid devs with HC-100 and Rodinal and I'm not looking back (for now).

Thanks!

Scott

F76 Times

Try Lowell Huff-he hangs out at Photo.net

Peter

Lowell Huff at Clayton can be reached at:

askus@claytonchem.com

re development times for their chemicals.

high sulfite concentration and T-max/Delta films

I would assume from the name that f76 is Clayton's version of D-76. An article in the British Journal of Photography states that T-max/Delta films do not respond well to developers with a high sulfite content (D-76 contains 100 grams per liter). I would suggest that you use F76 1+1 or preferably at an even higher dilution. Remember Kodak's T-max developer is diluted 1+4 to 1+9 and therefore contains a small amount of sulfite in the working solution.

scottmcl said:

<snip>...I'm just not a D76 or XTOL man. Discovered the convenience of liquid devs with HC-100 and Rodinal and I'm not looking back (for now).

Thanks!

Scott

Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree with you about not wanting to deal with the powdered stuff anymore. I made the same switch (from D-76 to HC-110) based upon the convenience factor alone but, have also realized how wonderfully economical HC-110 is.

Anyway, I'd be interested to hear how F-76 works out for you. Please keep us posted.

F76+ is a really excellent developer. I got a sample from Lwell and tested it on Acros, Delta 3200, EFKE 100 and JCPro100.
His development times are very good I had to guesstimate the one for JCpro100 though, you can find them in digitaltruth as well.

GaussianNoise said:

Yeah, I agree with you about not wanting to deal with the powdered stuff anymore. I made the same switch (from D-76 to HC-110) based upon the convenience factor alone but, have also realized how wonderfully economical HC-110 is.

Anyway, I'd be interested to hear how F-76 works out for you. Please keep us posted.

Click to expand...

I really like HC-110. I originally got it to tame TMAX-100 highlights, and that worked out really well. Haven't shot much TMX since, though. But HC-110 really works great on 400 speed films - TX, Fuji Neo 400 and now my mainstay, HP5+. HC-110 and HP5+ go together like rum and coke. I've recently switched to dilution H (1:63) and get great results with HP5+ at both 320 and 800. Good enough results that I'm shooting more and more at E.I. 800, either to get low light shots with faster lenses, or to get a nice small aperture and high DOF shooting wide lenses (21/24/28mm FLs).

HC-110 is so flexible, it's amazing. It only "fell down" recently trying to get good results with FP4+ at dilution (H). Couldn't get the highlights under conrol, oddly enough. (B) does ok, but the development time I find works for me is kind of short (5m). Rodinal 1:50 and FP4+ looks great with consistent results and good highlight control, but I'm looking for somewhat finer grain for some larger prints (scanned and digitally printed). Hence my straying from my old faithful HC-110. F76 and Acutol are the current candidates.

Delta 100 is brand new to me. Regarding its competitors, TMX and Acros, I read that it's more forgiving and has a more traditional look tonally. So I have high hopes. Now to find a convenient developer that will do it justice. I don't mind a little grain, so I'm going to try Rodinal as well as HC-110. But I'd also like to give F76 a try. It doesn't get much coverage on the Web forums, but folks who use it seem to really love it.

We'll see.

Scott