fotospeed FD10 film developer

[R gould]

I recently decided to give Fotospeed fd10 developer a try, with Hp5+. The pubilished data is 7 minutes for normal contrast and 10 minutes for high contrast,I tried 7 minutes in freshly opened developer and got a grossly underdeveloped film.very pale grey edge marking and thin negative so next tried 10 minutes, slightly better but not a lot. Tried i minute at a time to 16 minutes, got a bit better, so decided to try a controlled test, three films of same subject, same exposure, I developed in Promicrol box speed and suggested time, perfect, 1 in another newly opened bottle of FD10 in case the first was off, shoulnt be as it was only a month old, and third in original, both at 17 minutes 1/9 at 20 degrees, and at 17 minutes it worked, good negative, would print on grade 2/3.Anyone else had experiance with this developer/film combination, and help or advice gratefully recieved,Richard

 

[Steve Roberts]

Richard,
I use FD10 as my standard developer. usually shooting FP4, HP5, sometimes T-Max 100. As you say, the suggested developing times for what is considered "normal" contrast gives very thin negatives which don't suit me. I use a pre-soak at 20 degs for a few minutes, then ten minutes for all three film types at 20 degs, with the tank sat in a water bath from about this time of year onwards. The results are then just as I like them. As for shelf-life which you mention, FD10's storage characteristics are excellent, especially if you top up the air space in the bottle with plastic balls. My main criticism of FD10 is the print size on the developing times label - first time users need to be equipped with a decent microscope to read the text!
Steve

 

[R gould]

Steve, thanks for the reply, I tried 10 minutes and got negatives that were thin,tried longer untill 17 minutes gave a nice negative, what I call a grade 2/3 negative, ten minutes gave a printable negative but at grade 4/5, plenty of detail there, same film same exposure in other developer at suggested time gave perfect negative, I agree about the developing time label,, downloaded a better better version, Richard