D76, Xtol, or Illford Developer?

wogster · Jan 3, 2010

moouers said:
The only problem with D-76 is that it's a PITA to mix. The mixing temperature is pretty high (120+ F IIRC), so waiting for it to cool means you must possess some form of patience. If you can wait a day after mixing (or hours if changing cooling baths), by all means go for the D-76. You can buy it locally (wish I could), so it's convenient. And you'll probably be perfectly happy with the results for many years to come. Also, both Ilford and Kodak have development times for their films using many developers on their websites.

Most people know when they are going to develop film, so mixing a day before shouldn't be an issue. It also lets anything that doesn't quite dissolve, some extra time to go into solution. If you need to get your developer shipped to you, powders are much lighter, easier and cheaper to ship, then liquids. Powders also last longer on the shelf, you can order several packets and keep them on the shelf, some people keep them for years, where as this is more difficult with liquids.

jp498 · Jan 5, 2010

I haven't tried the Ilford developer. I have used D76, Tmax, and Xtol developers. You really can't go wrong with D76 or Xtol, though each has some practical pluses and minuses.

D76, widely available, mixes with hot tap water. Easy 1 gallon mix.

Xtol, mixes at room temp, but recommends distilled water. Lasts for a long time in a container without air (some people have said 6-9 months). Odd 5L mix size. I did some up and put some in a 3L jug and some in a 2L jug. (I use juice jugs for chemicals).

For the quantity of film you are getting, buy some of each, and you'll gain experience with both and know them both.

fschifano · Jan 6, 2010

jp498 said:
I Xtol, mixes at room temp, but recommends distilled water.

Not necessarily. The following is the only recommendation from Kodak about water quality. From the tech pub J109:

Note: If your water supply is exceptionally hard (above
200 ppm of CaCO3), you may need to use conditioned
water to avoid cloudiness when you mix higher dilutions.
Contact your water authority for information on the water
in your area.

BetterSense · Jan 6, 2010

For HP5, I use the times listed on the box for D76, but I actually use D23. This is very ballpark, but I have not had time to do rigorous testing, and this has been working very well. I suggest you follow the film manufacturer's directions at least at the beginning. It's almost guaranteed to work, at least for certain values of "work".

calceman · Jan 6, 2010

I started with D76, then went onto Xtol, then got stuck with rodinal. Rodinal because it is always there, ready, waiting for you on the shelf. It is as easy as pouring water into pernod (yes US friends, you are supposed to dillute with cold water), or milk into coffee. The bottle is small (not like storing a gallon) and lasts forever.
I still have powder D76 and Xtol, and will probably not use them. No big planing with rodinal (mix the day before, develop a day or days later). When I have time, I run 200ml tap water to 20C, mix my 4ml rodinal (1:50), and dunk my film.

Sirius Glass · Jan 6, 2010

jp498 said:
Xtol, mixes at room temp, but recommends distilled water. Lasts for a long time in a container without air (some people have said 6-9 months). Odd 5L mix size. I did some up and put some in a 3L jug and some in a 2L jug. (I use juice jugs for chemicals).

I use tap water in Los Angeles where the water is hard and the women are good looking. I pour one quart from the mixing bucket for my developer and the rest goes into a collapsible one gallon bottle that I use for replenisher.

Steve

tkamiya · Jan 6, 2010

I wounder if the original poster is still following this thread....

removed-user-1 · Jan 6, 2010

tkamiya said:
I've been struggling with my process for a while now and this isn't even my first time. I am now questioning "what is RIGHT?"

It's been 18 years since I first processed my own film and I am still not sure what developer to use next (I've tried quite a few but I tend to come back to Kodak D-76; the wide range of suggested ISOs for Xtol has recently gotten my attention and now I want to try it instead!

D-76, or the Ilford equivalent ID-11, are good starting points.

Janos · Jan 6, 2010

Since you've never done it before, it doesn't really matter- you'll get fabulous results from all of these developers- maybe, since you're scanning, you should look to keeping the grain fine, as grain can be problematic with some scanners.
Once again, the "right" developing time for these films can never be "right" first time without some understanding of what's going on with the exposure and development, in relation to the conditions under which you took the photograph, i.e., scenes with high, normal or low brightness ranges- exposure and development needs to vary according to these broad conditions.
Read a bit about the zone system before shooting and developing the firat roll. Play around with it a bit and don't just change developers and films because you didn't like the first results, because if you do that, good results will always elude you.

haziz · Oct 19, 2015

D76 is a great place to start. Use it either straight or diluted 1:1 (one shot). BTW D76 is also marketed by Ilford under the brand name ID11.

Kyle M. · Oct 19, 2015

I have personally used D76, XTOL, HC-110, and Rodinal. The only problem I ever had with D-76 and XTOL was shelf life, I don't shoot enough to get through a gallon of D-76 or 5 liters of XTOL in the time Kodak gives as a shelf life. HC-110 and Rodinal on the other hand with last nearly forever, and the dilutions are much higher. I personally haven't tried Rodinal with HP5+ or Delta 3200 but I think the grain would be excessive. I do use HC-110 Dilution H (1+63) for HP5+ though. My recipe considering you are using a Paterson two reel tank with two rolls in it is. 8ml HC-110 syrup plus water to make 500ml, 11 minutes at 68*, 10 initial inversions followed by 5 inversions every 30 seconds. I use a water stop bath and fix with Ilford Rapid Fixer. If you use this recipe you will get 125 rolls of film out of that 1 liter bottle of HC-110. I know Kodak says to use at least 6ml of syrup per roll and this would only be using 4ml, but I've been using this recipe for a little over 2 years with no problems.

MattKing · Oct 19, 2015

Folks, this is a five year old thread that someone just re-opened.

Athiril · Oct 19, 2015

Xtol is like D-76 except better.

Kyle M. · Oct 19, 2015

MattKing said:
Folks, this is a five year old thread that someone just re-opened.

Yeah I noticed that about 10 minutes after I posted, always wondered how this stuff comes up years later.

Sirius Glass · Oct 19, 2015

Athiril said:
Xtol is like D-76 except better.

Much better. Even more improved is replenished XTOL.

Athiril · Oct 19, 2015

Adding 10mg/L to working solution/seasoned and also replenisher of potassium iodide makes it higher resolving on many films.

RalphLambrecht · Oct 20, 2015

Hi,You will find that developers aren't all that different from each other.D76 is referred to as a'standard developer and a good compromise between speed,tonality and grain;start with that and depending on what you prefer,try something else next time. but chances are,You may not see much of a difference;good luck in unlocking the magic of photography and remember: nobody can develop your film any better than you

RalphLambrecht · Oct 20, 2015

tkamiya said:
I think your expectation is unreasonable to "get it right" the first time. A bag of developer will cost you anywhere from 3 to 10 dollars. With amount of money you've spent on everything else, this is nothing. Also, your taste will change over time. I am actually not sure, if this is your first time, you can actually tell the difference between developers.

I've been struggling with my process for a while now and this isn't even my first time. I am now questioning "what is RIGHT?"

With that said, if you follow the instructions exactly, you can get a reasonably usable image that will print OK with every developer. No, there isn't a HUGE difference, but there is a difference. If you don't want to do a lot of experiment, my recommendation will be D-76. Every manufacturer has something that is basically a copy of D-76. It's been around forever and it is arguably the most popular one all over the world. It will develop just about everything. It's cheap. It's available in 1 liter bag.

Good luck, and remember, this is a hobby. Enjoy the process as well as the finished product.

exactly;it's the journey not the destination that is important.I don't do photography to make pictures. I do it to have an excuse to go into the darkroom.

K-G · Oct 21, 2015

RalphLambrecht said:
exactly;it's the journey not the destination that is important.I don't do photography to make pictures. I do it to have an excuse to go into the darkroom.

Right !!!

Karl-Gustaf

D76, Xtol, or Illford Developer?

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