FA-1027 developer

bill koechling said:

I generally don't like development times that short for that very reason. There's not much margin for error. I have mostly been using the Arista Premium at 1+19 with a bit longer development times. The Chart suggests a development temperature of 75˚ for 1+19 development. Also, at that dilution it does what D-76 does at 1:1 (compared to straight D-76), it minimizes grain while maintaining acutance.

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I came here to learn more about the somewhat legendary FA developer, but I'm confused by these comparisons divining a likeness with D-76. D-76 undiluted is a soft-grain/solvent developer; FA is a high-acutance non-solvent developer. Generally speaking, you either get softer grain, or you get excellent sharpness, but not both.

And diluting D-76 1:1 pushes is slightly towards the high-acutance category, but not particularly far, producing somewhat more acutance ( "preserving" the acutance of D-76 undiluted isn't the right phrasing; acutance is fairly low at that strength, as would be expected from a solvent developer), and somewhat higher graininess. And no acutance developers can really minimize grain -- that's what solvent developers are for -- with the exception of staining developers, which can mask grain fairly effectively as density increases.