Has someone calibrated HP5+ for direct sunlight, using DD-X?

I have calibrated (wet printing) HP5+ for direct sunlight control with D-76, HC-110 and Perceptol. In all three cases I use a bit less developer than what I use for expansion (overcast), obviously with a higher dilution and reduced agitation too.

In the past I tried to do the same with Microphen, but I didn’t find it possible. Not only diluted Microphen produced unnecessary grain and resolution loss, but there was also a bigger problem: Microphen’s tonality, often described as starchy, isn’t the best option for open shadows on wild sun scenes, no matter what we do.

My thinking before trying Microphen for sun was: maybe, as there’s a real half-stop speed increase, I could make good use of that for gaining half a stop depth of field doing street with yellow filter.

This week I received a new (unopened) litre of DD-X, and I want to know if someone has used DD-X for sun: I have other developers mixed for expansion and pushing, so I’d open the DD-X just for sun tests. If someone knows it can’t be well done, I won’t open the bottle.

Today I read some comments stating not only grain is smaller with DD-X than with Microphen, but also DD-X doesn’t produce Microphen’s peculiar and contrasty tone.

That made me think again, could I gain with DD-X half a stop real density in the shadows, then being allowed to close my lens half a stop more, compared with my other sun times for HP5+?

Thanks everyone.

I hope not to derail your question as I don’t know the answer. Concerning Microphen and HP5, I kinda get what you’re saying about the daylight tonality, though in some cases it worked out well enough. Definitely a more subdued sense of brightness. My experiment was with a single liter being reused for 12 rolls with additional time per roll. No doubt about it, the first rolls were a bit disappointing and not as detailed compared to the last 6 or so, which actually looked pretty good with better sharpness. I’ve been experimenting with different dilutions of Ethol LPD (yes, the paper developer) to see if I can replicate the semi-used Microphen. Sharpness is immediately better, but I’m still dialing in the dilution and tonality. To be continued…

Of the other developers you’ve tested with HP5, which did you find to give the best sense of what you’re looking for in tonality?

I’m also interested in the DD-X answer if it’s out there.

Has someone used DD-X dilutions higher than 1+9 ?
I'm exposing with three cameras for my first tests: I'll see if my plans can be well used, or if materials ask for any change...
I'll try to make things work like this for my condenser enlarger:
40 ml (1+14) for direct sunlight control.
50 ml (1+9) for overcast expansion (most common case).
60 ml (1+5) for pushing above EI800.

AZD said:

I hope not to derail your question as I don’t know the answer. Concerning Microphen and HP5, I kinda get what you’re saying about the daylight tonality, though in some cases it worked out well enough. Definitely a more subdued sense of brightness. My experiment was with a single liter being reused for 12 rolls with additional time per roll. No doubt about it, the first rolls were a bit disappointing and not as detailed compared to the last 6 or so, which actually looked pretty good with better sharpness. I’ve been experimenting with different dilutions of Ethol LPD (yes, the paper developer) to see if I can replicate the semi-used Microphen. Sharpness is immediately better, but I’m still dialing in the dilution and tonality. To be continued…

Of the other developers you’ve tested with HP5, which did you find to give the best sense of what you’re looking for in tonality?

I’m also interested in the DD-X answer if it’s out there.

Click to expand...

Hi AZD,
If I had to pick a single developer for HP5+, it would be HC-110.

Done.
Medium format Kaiser condenser enlarger.
MG Classic / Dektol.
HP5+ 35mm / EI500.
Direct sunlight exposure: 1/125 f/8 without filter.
Ilfotec DD-X 1+14 (40ml + 560ml distilled water).
22 Celsius / 15 min.
2 inv. in the beginning, 2 inv. every third minute.
For mixed scenes in the same roll.
Contrast is good for overcast / shades too.
Filters 1 / 1.5 for sunny scenes.
Filters 2.5 / 3 for soft scenes.
For softer contrast enlargers:
Start testing 16 min. with 3 inversions every second minute.
Good night.

Why not just do what's printed on HP5+ box? Can you show the scans of the prints, i.e. the "calibrated" image vs the normal one? Or is this DD-X specific? IIRC that developer is just awful and you found a way to make it suck less?

I forgot to add:
DD-X at 1+4 is very strong, just like Microphen stock.
I'd say less than 40ml. can be used too, with a bit longer development times / a bit higher temperature, without any image quality loss.
My first tests for overcast expansion, and for pushing, used 50ml. and 60ml. per roll, but that was a little too much developer.
My other two uses of DD-X for HP5+, for wet printing:
Overcast @1000: 40ml. 1+8 (360ml.), 22C 10 minutes, 2 inversions in the beginning, 2 every second minute.
Low light push @1600: 40ml. 1+8 (360ml.), 22C 12 minutes, 2 inversions in the beginning, 2 every second minute. This is not for normal outdoors light, but for much lower light: I exposed in this case at 1/125 f/2.8 - f/2 - f/1.4 @1600. That's several stops below common outdoors light.
DD-X is a wonderful developer: one of the best I've tried, and for HP5+, just as good as HC-110.
Happy shooting!