Contrast enhancing developer

Soeren

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One step closer to finishing my 13X18 pinhole I started thinking (what a début )
how to get the high contrast required for alt processes.
1 Longer development times
2 contrast enhancing developers.

Then I wondered. can I use the Orbital processor for this (small amounts) ?

And now the real Q.
Diafine is not a contrast enhancing developer but if Part A is desolved in half the amount of water required then what????????

Kind Regards
Søren
 

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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If you get a standard developer like D-76 or HC-110, you can get higher contrast by exposing a little less and developing more. With HC-110, you can also use a stronger dilution like dil. A. HC-110 is interesting too because you get low fog levels, which are inevitable if you develop for long time.

The next step would be to use a print developer like Dektol, which gives a stronger contrast. Finally, high-contrast developers like D-19 (still available in photo stores) or D-8 & D-11 (formulae available on the web) will bring you closer to pure black/pure white.

The film you choose also has an impact. As a rule of thumb, fast films give less contrast than slow ones. Ortho films (Ilford, Adox), although very slow, and thus requiring you to factor in reciprocity failure, can be developed from normal to very high contrasts.
 

Akki14

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You don't dilute diafine down from stock solution (which you make by mixing the powder with the water). Diafine works by having the first half of the developer soak into the film then the second half is the catalyst so I'm doubtful that altering the ratio would cause that much change in your results. I've gotten decent results (for cyanotype) in diafine if you expose at film box speed and not what the diafine box says - basically ignore the "push" diafine gives. It works for fomapan 400 anyway. I've only done diafine recommended times for tri-x @ 1600 EI and it was mostly contrasty scenes except for a few what i'd consider normal contrast scenes which were a bit flat.

I'll hijack this a bit but has anyone used the ilford print developers with film? I have some (possibly too old now) multigrade developer and ilford cooltone developer (and warmtone too but I've not opened that bottle yet).

edit, nevermind I just checked ilford's site, only mentions using PQ Universal for film developing, stays definately not for film developing for the cooltone and warmtone developers.
 

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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Akki14 said:
edit, nevermind I just checked ilford's site, only mentions using PQ Universal for film developing, stays definately not for film developing for the cooltone and warmtone developers.
Click to expand...

Every developer for paper works for film as well. The only question is: how well. PQ universal was tweaked to give normal contrast on film emulsions with higher dilution, and normal contrast on paper with lower dilutions. Even Dektol used to be some kind of "universal" developer at an early point in Kodak history.

When Ilford says "not suitable for developing film," they mean "results will be crappy enough that we don't want to hear you complain to us about it."

At any rate, almost nobody uses universal developers anymore for both usages. They're really not the best thing for 35mm. Sheet film, it may depend.

So warmtone and cooltone dev will process film, and probably to a higher contrast than film-specific devs.
 
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gainer

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Use Pyrocat. The stained negative has much higher contrast for blue or UV sensitive printing processes than for VC paper. There are several varieties of Pyrocat. HD uses phenidone, PC uses p-aminophenol and ascorbic acid, MC uses metol and ascorbic acid.
 

Vaughn

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Hey, MHV! I guess I'm an "almost nobody"! I've been using Ilford Universal PQ developer for sheet film...mostly FP4+. It seems to be a clean (low base fog) working developer to get extra contrast for alt printing.

As MHV mentioned, HC-110 also is a clean working developer for extended developing to achieve higher contrast. I have used it up to 100% (and more) of "normal" times with good results.

Both are nice to use because one can adjust the dilutions easily for one's needs.

Vaughn
 

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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Vaugh, I hope you're not almost a nobody!
 

Tom Hoskinson

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Diafine Part A contains the developing reagent - - not advisable to dilute it - -unless you feel like experimenting.

Diafine Part B contains the Alkali. In order to manipulate contrast, some folks make their own high contrast Part B solution by mixing a Sodium Carbonate or Sodium Metaborate solution. For lower contrast, try a Borax solution.
 

nworth

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D-19 is often recommended as a contrast enhancing continuous tone developer. It is worth noting that D-19 is approximately Dektol (D-72) diluted 2:3. Other paper developers should work similarly.
 
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Soeren

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Hey Guys, Im not talking a further dilution of part A. Im talking about using half the amount of water in the first place, making the solution double strenght. My thinking was that the amount of A in the emulsion is the limiting factor for development. Increasing the amount of developing agent in the film emulsion can then only be by increasing concentration, right?
BTW thanks for the sugestions on alternatives, they are very interesting.
Kind regards
Søren
 

gainer

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You can use both Diafine and a staining developer, but not together. If you do not get enough contrast with the Diafine, bleach the negative with a mixture of ferricyanide and bromide as you would use if you were to do sulfide sepia toning, then redevelop in PMK or Pyrocat. The redevelopment will go to completion, so no worries about time or temperature.
 
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Soeren

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Gainer
I'm curious. How does that work, well I know the bleach back and redevelop technique but I'd like to know more about it as contrast enhancing technique.
Is it worth the extra steps?
Kind Regards
Søren
 

Ole

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Søren,

The redevelopment builds up all the silver that was there before bleaching, plus the added density from the stain.

A very simple "staining redeveloper" would be something like one teaspoon of pyrocatechol and two teaspoons of sodium carbonate, dissolved in separate half-liters of water. Mix immediately before using, the developer starts decomposing as soon as it's mixed and is single use only. But before it dies it does a great job at enhancing contrast!
 
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