• Welcome to Photrio!
    Registration is fast and free. Join today to unlock search, see fewer ads, and access all forum features.
    Click here to sign up

DDX or Ilfosol 3 for SFX?

winger

Subscriber
Allowing Ads
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
3,979
Location
southwest PA
Format
Multi Format
I currently don't have any developer, but have 2 rolls of SFX. I also have some HP5, though the SFX is what I need to do first. I know there's a price difference and I'm not really concerned with that. Can anyone give me some idea of the differences in look between the 2 as SFX is concerned?
 
In my opinion SFX is grainier than HP5+ despite being an ISO200 film when shot without a red(some IR effect) or SFX filter to give the full IR effect.

I have used Ilfosol S( similar to 3, I believe) and DDX for SFX and in terms of avoiding grain I'd go with DDX. This was 35mm. If it is 120 then grain will be less of a problem and in smaller prints such as 5x7 or even 8x10 there might be very little difference between the two devs.

Hope this helps

pentaxuser
 
The print I entered into the Ilford APUG competition was shot on 120 SFX (without filter) and developed in HC110.

It is a bit grainy, but has an interesting tonal response, especially if shot under tungsten light, as this shot was:
 

Attachments

  • Dead_tulips-01b.jpg
    312.2 KB · Views: 134
Some of the prettiest negs I've ever made have been with SFX and XTOL.
 
SFX is just a black and white film, and develops just like any other. The only difference is its spectral sensitivity. The same differences that different developers exhibit on other b/w films will also be exhibited with SFX.

If you have definitely narrowed it down to the two you mentioned would suggest the Ilfosol simply because it is a liquid concentrate, which I prefer.
 
Thanks! I'd been leaning towards DDX for the grain (which may matter more if I use it for other films), but I'm not that familiar with it. I narrowed it down to those 2 because they're both liquids, btw.

I do have an ancient bottle of HC110, but I really don't know if I want to use it. It's been opened and I don't know how old it is (I'm not the original owner).
 
Michael R 1974 said:
DDX is also a liquid concentrate.

I suggest DDX for somewhat finer grain than Ilfosol.
Click to expand...

You are correct! My mistake. For some reason I had a picture of a red and white Ilford box in my head when I posted, instead of a bottle.
 
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register