Developers for school lab

Valerie · May 21, 2012

Looking for some ideas here.....I'd like my Photo II students to experiment with using film developers other than our standard D76. I want them see that different developers can effect their film in different ways (grain, tonality, etc). So, if I were to provide 2 additional film developers, what would you suggest?

BTW, most use Arista EDU ultra or Ilford films.

Vaughn · May 21, 2012

If the toxicity is not an issue, I would suggest one of the pyro developers to have them experience a very different developer. Then perhaps X-tol as another different one.

I would think that hc-110 may not be different enough to be worthwhile.

Vaughn

MattKing · May 21, 2012

Rodinal - so they can see what it is like.

Perceptol, so they can see what a "fine grain" developer does.

removed account4 · May 21, 2012

hi valerie

you could have them experiment with dektol, which is often used as a film developer.
it gives a different look than d76 .. they say 1:7 7mins as a starting point.
mad scientist thing with coffee ( caffenol C ) might be fun too easy to mix with teaspoons and no scales ( or exact measures! ) needed
it can give a look anywhere from just like d76 to grainy and foggy any pyroesque without the worry of chemistry used.
you can also add 1oz/32 of print developer into the caffenol .. it takes the edge off. i use ansco130 ...

good luck !
john

AgCl4ever · May 21, 2012

Rodinal for sure.... and then maybe go the other way with a fine grain low acutance developer like Microdol-X.

markbarendt · May 21, 2012

A staining developer, WD2D+, PMK, whatever...

Then maybe Rodinal or HC-110

zsas · May 21, 2012

Caffenol-C might be a great one to add to the mix?

MattKing · May 21, 2012

AgCl4ever said:
Rodinal for sure.... and then maybe go the other way with a fine grain low acutance developer like Microdol-X.

I don't know whether an experiment with a discontinued developer (Microdol-X) is the best learning experiment for students - thus the recommendation for Perceptol from this long time Kodak user.

brofkand · May 21, 2012

Microdol-X is available from Freestyle as a LegacyPro branded product.

I think Caffenol-C is a good choice. It's easy to make and can produce some pretty interesting results, and it's cheap. I'd also vote for Rodinal, also cheap.

vfalendysh · May 21, 2012

+1 for Rodinal and similar ones (like R09 or Adolux, etc).. Really classic developer. Very flexible. Easy to work with. Long storage times.
+0.5 for Caffenol-C - interesting process

cjbecker · May 21, 2012

Rodinal for sure

hc-110 for the higher contrast ----- caffenol-c for the interesting factor.

Newt_on_Swings · May 21, 2012

I have d76, xtol, and rodinal(adonal) stocked for development with arista films where I teach.

tkamiya · May 21, 2012

When I was taking photography at a local college, it offered Sprint as a basic developer, then had students experimenting with D76, XTOL, and Diafine.

The latter two was introduced when push processing was the subject of discussion.

Valerie · May 21, 2012

Thanks for all the ideas.... I had been thinking Rodinal and caffenol. Perceptol will likely be added too.

Bill Burk · May 21, 2012

jnanian said:
hi valerie

you could have them experiment with dektol, which is often used as a film developer.
it gives a different look than d76 .. they say 1:7 7mins as a starting point.
mad scientist thing with coffee ( caffenol C ) might be fun too easy to mix with teaspoons and no scales ( or exact measures! ) needed
it can give a look anywhere from just like d76 to grainy and foggy any pyroesque without the worry of chemistry used.
you can also add 1oz/32 of print developer into the caffenol .. it takes the edge off. i use ansco130 ...

good luck !
john

I haven't used anything but D-76... But john, you should make a stronger statement for caffenol. Especially since you have the examples to show what it can do.

This would be valuable as an eye-opener. See how little it takes to make a developer, this will open the student's minds.

EASmithV · May 21, 2012

I went through two different high school photo programs. One used D-76 1:1, and re-used the developer. The other used HC-110 dilution H one shot. Both worked great, and I still use and love those developers to this day.

cmacd123 · May 22, 2012

MattKing said:
I don't know whether an experiment with a discontinued developer (Microdol-X) is the best learning experiment

The Legacy Pro version has been mentioned. A related soloution would be the atomal A.K.A. A49 family, which is off the other way from Rodinal.

Terry Christian · May 22, 2012

Rodinal would indeed be great. It would prove especially useful to show them regular (1:25 or 1:50) development, and then stand development; they'd surely see the difference one can make with only changes in dilution and agitation.

removed account4 · May 22, 2012

Bill Burk said:
I haven't used anything but D-76... But john, you should make a stronger statement for caffenol. Especially since you have the examples to show what it can do.

This would be valuable as an eye-opener. See how little it takes to make a developer, this will open the student's minds.

thanks bill !

valerie,
caffenol c is, as long as you have the right ingredients, a simple, useful developer that compared to a lot of
developers is made of benign ingredients. its a lot of fun to use, can be made without a lot of scaling / measuring out
of the ingredients ( i don't measure anything for the most part i just free-pour the ingredients ). it yields negatives
that look grainy and stainy sometimes, and other times like they were souped in d76... not much of a downside
(other than what some refer to as an evil stench ). i haven't done it in a while, but you can just soak the film in the coffee
without any of the other ingredients, it takes a while and it works !

eddie · May 22, 2012

My first thought was the same as Bill and John. Having them mix caffenol would make a stronger connection to the chemistry of photography, than opening a bag, or a jug. It could lead to a lot of experimentation, and learning, which is (after all) why teaching can be so rewarding.
I say this as an ex- high school photo teacher...
Eddie

Valerie · May 22, 2012

Ok...getting very excited about the caffenol! I think they will love doing this.

eddie · May 22, 2012

Valerie- Don't get too excited, or we'll have to suggest de-caffenol for you...

zsas · May 22, 2012

Ha!! That's right! It has to be caffeinated instant coffee for Caffenol-C to work. Don't be tasting the chems!

Valerie, Digital Truth has an easy version of Caffenol-C (ie US version in teaspoons and oz) below, I think your students will have a ball learning about such an organic developer, that is green no less, which students are pretty attuned with, then when I was in school...

http://www.digitaltruth.com/data/caffenol.php

BrendanCarlson · May 23, 2012

Caffenol sounds really cool (I haven't mixed my own yet), but if I were in a photo class I think it would be really cool to see the image come out in a developer that I made from a few items.

By the way, if you want to show the differences in developers I would try a paper developer (ex. Dektol), much larger grain as compared to a lot of traditional film developers. Have fun!

MartinP · May 25, 2012

I'd suggest Rodinal for the careful students, as they would see the different results from agitation and dilution quite clearly.

Alternatively, diluted print-developer (whatever you use in the lab) would certainly give a different 'look'.

Diafine might surprise them, and you can perhaps use a step-wedge or densitometer to demonstrate the actual difference in the scene-to-film tones.

And Caffenol, simply because it is so unusual for students who have possibly always thought film-photography requires a PhD in chemistry!

Which couple to choose might depend on the individual student, and on covering all the options between the group for discussion later. It might also be an idea to get the group to mix their own fixer from 'ordinary stuff' they (or you) have bought from the swimming-pool supplies shop, as sodium thiosulphate (old traditional fixer) is used for some sort of chlorine reducing purpose apparently. Have fun!

Developers for school lab

Valerie

Vaughn

MattKing

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removed account4

AgCl4ever

markbarendt

zsas

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brofkand

vfalendysh

cjbecker

Newt_on_Swings

tkamiya

Valerie

Bill Burk

EASmithV

cmacd123

Terry Christian

removed account4

eddie

Valerie

eddie

zsas

BrendanCarlson

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Developers for school lab

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