Film Developer Dilution Effects

[Hal]

Hello all,

Just some questions about the effects of developer dilution to make sure I have my facts straight. Am I correct in thinking that the results of moving from developing in stock solution to developing one-shot in dilute solution is decreased grain size with thus slightly lower acutance and the potential loss of some speed? I ask because I'm finding the 20 minute dev-time for HP5 in ID-11 at 1:3 a bit of a drag, so I'm considering switching to 7:30 in straight stock. Since I like my prints small and easy to handle (mostly 4x6 or 5x7 from 35mm) I don't think the increase in grain is likely to be an issue, and stock development also means I'll be able to try my hand at push-processing in the same solution. Are there any serious drawbacks that I've overlooked?

Thanks in advance.
Hal

 

[Ian Grant]

Other way around, dilution increases the acutance but at the expense of a slight increase in grain, there's also a slight increase in film speed. A downside of the 1+3 dilution is compression of the high-lights as the developer exhausts

You might try using 1+2 instead, the dev time will be slightly shorter but the tonal range will be slightly better. Times are approx midway between the listed 1+1 and 1+3 figures.

Ian

 

[Martin Aislabie]

Or just try using 1+1

The development times are already there for you

If you are pushing film - you may want to use neat developer - just to keep the development times sensible

Martin

 

[Vincent Brady]

If you switched to using Ilford Delta 400, the best developer as recommended by Ilford is ID11 stock solution for 9.5 minutes. It is my standard B&W film and I love the results.

 

[Relayer]

instead D76 1+1 try to use lazy-split D76. for HP5+ develop film in D76 stock 5min and after this put film into 5g/l Sodium Carbonate for 3min and very slow agitation 2-3 rotation/min. no wash between D76 and carbonate batch. after this stop and fix as usually. as result small grain and very good sharpness
you can vary 2nd batch from Borax -> Kodalk -> Sodium Carbonate -> Trisodium phosphate for fine grain (Borax) or sharpness (Trisodium phosphate)
some samples (see tags for dev details)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30949461@N06/5673564692/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30949461@N06/5624904180/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30949461@N06/5587795499/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30949461@N06/5567922473/

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

Hello all,
I ask because I'm finding the 20 minute dev-time for HP5 in ID-11 at 1:3 a bit of a drag, so I'm considering switching to 7:30 in straight stock. Since I like my prints small and easy to handle (mostly 4x6 or 5x7 from 35mm)

Thanks in advance.
Hal

Stock solution is claimed by Kodak and Ilford to give the finest grain.
I have found D-76 or ID-11 diluted 1+1 with water to be very satisfactory with most films.

 

[tkamiya]

Since you print small, I doubt you'd see any difference in prints. I've tried XTOL 1:1 and full strength. Even at 8x10, I didn't see any obvious difference.