Developer with highest contrast

reellis67 said:

...selenium will give, at most, 1/2 step boost in
contrast. Sepia seems to give a bit more than
that, perhaps a full step,... Randy

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Sulfide, sepia, will up the contrast more so than
selenium. I've read that to be the case. Are you
treating negatives in a sulfide solution much the
same as one would in a selenium solution? Or
are you bleaching then redevelop? Dan

This might be the wrong thread for these questions, but since it is the spur for asking them, I'll try:

I want to try to mix up some ID-14. Where's the best place to get the necessary chemicals? And what equipment do you recommend for measuring them out in grams? And how sensitive is the process to errors in measurement?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Sanders

artcraft chemicals is a good company to deal with as well as photographers formulary.

You can futz around with scales but it will make your life a whole lot easier if you just get a half decent one. I got an ohaus digital scale for about 50$ new on ebay.

I would say for most developer formulas that you wont have any problems with being off by 10% in the measurements.

It may just be me, but I find that my old stash of Gallerie is already contrastier (per paper grade) than many other graded papers I have. Maybe it is an age thing.

Tetenal Documol is a higher contrast off the shelf brew.

Gallerie responds very well to developer controls in my (short) experience. Unfortunately it responds most notably to shorter development times to reduce contrast rather than longer ones to increase contrast.

Dektol and Selektol Soft have done the job for me so far but I have never needed more contrast than Grade 3 in Dektol 1:2 for 3 min.

Ansco 130 could be a good one to try if it works well, please let us know what happens Sanders.

It seems that Gallerie does have a very long scale for its grade. While calibrating my analyser pro recently I obtained an ISO R value of 130 for Grade 2 in Dektol 1:3 for 2 1/2 minutes. It's not a measurement that could be used for comparison but it did surprise me.

P.S. Why do you need higher contrast Sanders? Is it something to do with the skin tones in your portraits or is it development or light source related?

avandesande said:

artcraft chemicals is a good company to deal with as well as photographers formulary.

You can futz around with scales but it will make your life a whole lot easier if you just get a half decent one. I got an ohaus digital scale for about 50$ new on ebay.

I would say for most developer formulas that you wont have any problems with being off by 10% in the measurements.

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I agree with Aaron. Decent digital scales are available at reasonable cost. The digital display goes a long ways towards eliminating the old "10 gram mistake" that some of us were prone to with the traditional balance beam scale. Its pretty easy to get the measurements down to the "fine hairs".

Sanders McNew said:

I need another half-grade to grade of contrast. Suggestions?

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Perhaps Edwal 120 will do it. Steve Anchell gives the following formula.

A solution; Pyrocatchol 20 grams, sodium sulfite anhydrous 40 grams.
B solution; sodium carbonate 134 grams.
Each to make 1 liter. Bromide is optional although 1 to 3 grams are
mentioned. More makes for Colder tones.

Edwal 120 High Contrast Developer. So simple. I'm tempted. Dan