D76 print dev

I have a gallon of d76 that i never use(1 month old) and am going to switch to tmax or hc110. anyways how long should i dev for a print in dilition stock? and what "Look?" Vs an ilford dev? eg multigrade.

D76, or indeed any film developer will often react badly when used as a print developer. High solvent action is bad for the chlorobromide emulsions used in papers causing undesirable effects.

PE

Use it up. It's no worse than T-Max developer, really, especially if you dilute it 1:1. I thought you couldn't afford to pay $11 for slide film - you shouldn't waste your developer.

Photo Engineer said:

D76, or indeed any film developer will often react badly when used as a print developer. High solvent action is bad for the chlorobromide emulsions used in papers causing undesirable effects.

PE

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This couldn't be the furthest from the truth if you tried. D-76, or any film developer for that matter, will work rather nicely on paper. Yes it will give you a different scale/range (flatter) but you can still get maximum black, and true whites. The dev. time will be different, and I can't remember what dilution I used...either straight or 1:1, but you can do 1 of 2 things...expose for longer, or develop longer. It will take some trials, and paying attention while you do them, to learn the dev. but once you do, you will find it can offer quite a lot.

The fact that the poster above discounted it proves he hasn't used it to print with. I have and even some of the prints I've done with it have ended up in museums like SFMOMA and the Corcoran.

So there

PS: just FYI, PE, I like a lot of your other posts an am not being mean or discounting your experience. But in this field, my experience is more than yours.

WillyWizard said:

This couldn't be the furthest from the truth if you tried. D-76, or any film developer for that matter, will work rather nicely on paper. Yes it will give you a different scale/range (flatter) but you can still get maximum black, and true whites. The dev. time will be different, and I can't remember what dilution I used...either straight or 1:1, but you can do 1 of 2 things...expose for longer, or develop longer. It will take some trials, and paying attention while you do them, to learn the dev. but once you do, you will find it can offer quite a lot.

The fact that the poster above discounted it proves he hasn't used it to print with. I have and even some of the prints I've done with it have ended up in museums like SFMOMA and the Corcoran.

So there

PS: just FYI, PE, I like a lot of your other posts an am not being mean or discounting your experience. But in this field, my experience is more than yours.

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Perhaps, but it still will not produce the same clean look of a properly formulated print developer. As you said, the scale will be flatter and not the same as with a print developer.

Why not use it on film? It's good stuff.

Indeed, why not use it on film? I never really understood the reason for all of the cross-processing. Except for the fact that weird prints help you get a MFA.

WillyWizard said:

This couldn't be the furthest from the truth if you tried. D-76, or any film developer for that matter, will work rather nicely on paper. Yes it will give you a different scale/range (flatter) but you can still get maximum black, and true whites. The dev. time will be different, and I can't remember what dilution I used...either straight or 1:1, but you can do 1 of 2 things...expose for longer, or develop longer. It will take some trials, and paying attention while you do them, to learn the dev. but once you do, you will find it can offer quite a lot.

The fact that the poster above discounted it proves he hasn't used it to print with. I have and even some of the prints I've done with it have ended up in museums like SFMOMA and the Corcoran.

So there

PS: just FYI, PE, I like a lot of your other posts an am not being mean or discounting your experience. But in this field, my experience is more than yours.

Click to expand...

Fine with me, but personally, I have seen what you see and worse. Lower contrast and dmax and sometimes up to 1 stop in speed loss. But it does not always happen.

The reason is that the high solvent level of sulfite in D76 and some other film developers is more active on Chloride and Chloro/Bromide emulsions than it is on film Bromo/Iodide emulsions. This lowers apparent speed, and can also lower contrast and dmax by removing silver halide from the paper faster than the development rate. It really depends on the paper and the coated weight of silver halide. It also depends on the ratio of Cl/Br in the paper. High chloride emulsions are affected more than low chloride emulsions.

In fact, for some papers D76 can act as a monobath. For others, it will work just fine. The problem is that you cannot predict in advance what you will get.

So, my experience is similar but somewhat different than yours. And, I know the reason why. So, I felt it best to point out this potential for problems.

Similarly, print developers can be used as film developers, but often with worse grain or sharpness. For example, Dektol 1:3 for 3 minutes gives quite good results with most LF films at low magnification. So, the warnings about cross use of developers works both ways.

In fact, you might call this a form of cross processing.

PE

Photo Engineer said:

D76, or indeed any film developer will often
react badly when used as a print developer.
High solvent action is ... PE

Click to expand...

I think that is overstating and by some. Willy's use
of D76 at 1:1 for prints does make for much sulfite
as I've mentioned. A FEW popular film developers
are very high in sulfite. I like a leaner mix myself.
But, he has been pleased by the results he has
gotten using the papers he has used.

My point in being positive on the subject of using
a film or paper developer for either material is that
with some little discretion in choice, and experience
in use, one may use up the whole of that bottle of
what ever. While doing so fine negatives and
prints from the same developer can result.

Those interested should give Mr. Gainer's suggestion
a go. Buy a bottle of HC-110 and some washing soda;
A&H is OK. Or one might do as I and others; compound
at home one's own concentrate. Dan

Dan;

I cannot disagree. I can only point out some potential problem areas.

PE

I have not tried film developers other than HC110 (unless you count dektol types) for both film and print. I didn't think to try D-76, and if I had I would probbly have upped the pH with some carbonate. I don't think HC110 has a high sulfite content, or the organic equivalent, at about 15 ml per liter if the criterion is moles / liter of sulfite ion, so I don't think it disproves PE's statement about sulfite content or proves anyones statement to the contrary. Any other film developer with a highly concentrated stock such as Rodinal would probably also not fall into the category of high sulfite. I do think that the pH, or at least the buffer capacity, of the developer should be looked at if you want results similar to those of a specially designed paper developer.