E-76, as good as D-76?

Mani_Reshad · Apr 28, 2024

I‘m considering mixing up some E-76 since it costs a lot less than D-76(somewhat a bit more than half of it) and is environmentally friendly but I was wondering how it would do compared to d-76. I guess the grain, sharpness and contrast are identical and my main concern is the stability of it. And FYI I‘m using Anchell-Patton‘s formula in the 4th edition of the darkroom cookbook:

Water at 52C, 750ml
Phenidone, 0.2g
Sodium Sulfite, 100g
Ascorbic Acid, 8g
Borax, 10g
Cold water to make a litre.

Loose Gravel · Apr 28, 2024

No carcinogens. That's nice. Probably much like XTOL or Eco Pro Ascorbic developers. Grain could be slightly better and highlights won't be automatically bulletproof since there is no HQ. I'm biased because I hate HQ developers. YMMV

albada · Apr 28, 2024

As @Loose Gravel said, image quality will probably be slightly better than D-76. However, the Fenton reaction might destroy the ascorbic acid in a few weeks or months, depending on the iron- and copper-content of your water and chemicals. Adding DTPA will prevent that problem, but DTPA is usually difficult to obtain. I recommend (1) mix the developer without the ascorbic acid in it, (2) add the ascorbic acid soon before developing film, and (3) use the developer one-shot, discarding it after one use.

Mark

titrisol · Apr 30, 2024

albada said:
As @Loose Gravel said, image quality will probably be slightly better than D-76. However, the Fenton reaction might destroy the ascorbic acid in a few weeks or months, depending on the iron- and copper-content of your water and chemicals. Adding DTPA will prevent that problem, but DTPA is usually difficult to obtain. I recommend (1) mix the developer without the ascorbic acid in it, (2) add the ascorbic acid soon before developing film, and (3) use the developer one-shot, discarding it after one use.

Mark

Or mix the concentrate with distilled or deionized (DI) water and then use as 1 shot

koraks · May 1, 2024

titrisol said:
Or mix the concentrate with distilled or deionized (DI) water and then use as 1 shot

No need for the distilled/deionized/demineralized water if the developer is used shortly after mixing.
Conversely, distilled/etc water won't protect against iron impurities that hitch a ride into the developer by other means - i.e. as trace contaminants in other ingredients, or on utensils used.

Lachlan Young · May 1, 2024

"Environmentally friendly" is an extremely big stretch, considering it contains Borax.

titrisol · May 1, 2024

Lachlan Young said:
"Environmentally friendly" is an extremely big stretch, considering it contains Borax.

could you elaborate on this?

RalphLambrecht · May 1, 2024

titrisol said:
Or mix the concentrate with distilled or deionized (DI) water and then use as 1 shot

i agree but was unaware that DTPA was hard to obtain. I can share a source in Hamburg, Germany who will ship, if required

Keith Tapscott. · May 1, 2024

titrisol said:
could you elaborate on this?

The E.U. have restrictions on the use of borates. They're not banned but the quantities that can be used in products are limited.
Adox D76 is borate-free unlike Kodak D76 and Ilford ID11.

mrosenlof · May 1, 2024

I mix E-76 one-shot right before use. Phenidone is in a solution 1g in 100ml of denatured alcohol, and I keep the Sulfite and Borax as a pre-mixed solution. I tend to add about 1ml of a 1g in 100ml alcohol benzotriazole per roll also.

I don't own a densitometer, so can't give a good measurement if it's as good as D-76, but I think "It's Fine". I use the film data sheet recommendations for D-76.

I guess I haven't answered the OP's question about stability because I don't mix and then store a stock solution.

halfaman · May 1, 2024

Keith Tapscott. said:
The E.U. have restrictions on the use of borates. They're not banned but the quantities that can be used in products are limited.
Adox D76 is borate-free unlike Kodak D76 and Ilford ID11.

The actual EU legislation considers some boron compounds like boric acid and borax toxic for reproduction. Any product marketed with 0.3% or more of these boron compounds is labelled as toxic which triggers automatically transport restrictions.

Hydroquinone stays in the Adox D76 formulation which is also a toxic substance and more serious than borates.

Philippe-Georges · May 1, 2024

I used E-76 (1+1) a lot in the past, liked it a lot, but all the sudden it would not work anymore, although I always mixed it fresh in demineralised water just before use.
Fenton effect, perhaps, if so why all the sudden after years of trouble free use?

I still use E-72, which is a home brewed Phenidone — Vit-C developer for FB paper, trouble free for about the same span of years (since 2006).

ADOX XT-3 (1+1) is now in what I develop film ...

Marcelo Paniagua · May 13, 2024

Since I saw this post, and since I had the required ingredients for E-76 (used on other developers I mix) I tried this last week.

I was really pleased with the results I tested with Aviphot 200 at @200 and really liked the results. Others developers I've mixed didnt get me to 200 without showing fog, but with E-76 fog was minimal. Looking for trying it with some aviphot 200 4x5 and see results.

Tomorrow I will test with some Delta 400 and HP5+ that I have pending to process (not critical stuff) to see what happen.

E-76, as good as D-76?

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