HC-110 Dilution H, 1+62 ?

Felinik · Sep 23, 2012

So being pretty new on this (started shooting analog and souping in March this year) I am now on my way to develop using HC-110 for the first time. I have two rolls (35mm) of Rollei Retro 80s, shot @160, following a recipe using HC-110 dilution H.

Reading up on it I find that dilution H (as all of you most probably already know here) is double the water of dilution B. Looking at the HC-110 liter bottle it says dilution B is 1+31, which then means dilution H is 1+62 ..!!

This is just fantastic, using my Paterson tank with 2 reels the total amount of fluid is 580 cc, 580/63 = 9,2 cc, meaning that my liter bottle of HC-110 will last for ages (108x2 rolls!!).

I'm just amazed, is this really correct?

Thanks!

/J.F. Felinik

Gerald C Koch · Sep 23, 2012

Not that it makes much difference but H is 1+63.

Please note that you must always make sure that there is enough concentrate available to develop the rolls. Kodak recommends a minimum of 6 ml of the syrup per roll of 35mm or 120 film. Sometimes this means using more dilute developer than is needed to just cover the film. So using 9.2 ml for two rolls will not work.

Read this www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110 which has lots of information.

masimix · Sep 23, 2012

Yes, I use it 1+60, for the simplicity of it. 10 ml of HC-110 syrup and 600ml of water to develop two 120 films. I use a syringe to extract only 10 ml from the bottle. This way you can develop 200 rolls of 120 on a liter bottle of HC-110!

drpsilver · Sep 23, 2012

23 Sept 2012

J.F.:

You are correct. 9.2 ml of HC110 concentrate and water to make 580 ml. I have used HC110 (my dil. H is 1+60) with good results in 4x5. I am curious to see how this dilute a developer works for 35mm film. Yes HC110 is a very "fast working" developer, but is also exhausts quickly at high dilutions (added development time give very little added negative density). I would make sure you have enough developer in 580 ml (at 1+62) to properly develop two rolls of film.

Best wished in your adventures with HC110.

Regards,
Darwin

Felinik · Sep 23, 2012

Lovely!

And according to the bottle the syrup can be stored for 2 years!!!

Felinik · Sep 23, 2012

Thanks for the heads up guys!!

Regarding "enough developer for two films", anyone who knows if the 9,2cc will be enough then?

EDIT: Ok, I've read people using from 3-6 cc per roll, so I guess if I go with 10 cc for two rolls (simplifies the diluting), then I should probably do ok, right?

Gerald C Koch · Sep 23, 2012

Please read the Covington site mentioned thoroughly your questions will hopefully be answered.

Felinik · Sep 23, 2012

Gerald C Koch said:
Please read the Covington site mentioned thoroughly your questions will hopefully be answered.

Thanks buddy, I've done that now, interesting reading indeed. I've also found a bunch of people using it 5cc per roll, and it seems to work just fine. I'll give it a shot tomorrow and we'll see how that turns out..

Photo-gear · Sep 23, 2012

I did read about the 6cc per roll, recommandation by Kodak, although I feel like Kodak plays it very safe. I am not surprised that 5cc does the work as well.

Gerald C Koch · Sep 23, 2012

Kodak wants people to succeed using their developer and may be a bit conservative. I use HC-110 1+49 with excellent results. That's 5 ml per roll. My only question was dropping down further to 9.2/2 per roll.

Lee L · Sep 23, 2012

The 'oddball' US packaged HC-110 dilutions from syrup.

Dilution A: 1 oz + 15 oz = 16 oz = 1 pint (2 rolls 35mm in stainless steel tank)
Dilution B: 1 oz + 31 oz = 32 oz = 1 quart (4 rolls 35mm in stainless steel tank)
Dilution E: 1 oz + 47 oz = 48 oz = 1.5 quarts
Dilution H: 1 oz + 63 oz = 64 oz = 2 quarts = 1/2 gallon

Convenient for using older common measuring cups in the US.

Other US stock dilutions yield totals of 20, 40, 80, and 120 parts.

Lee

newtorf · Sep 24, 2012

I started with 12.5 ml for 2 rolls 35mm 36 exp, then down to 10 ml for 2 rolls, and recently 7.5 ml for 2 rolls. No problem so far.

georg16nik · Sep 24, 2012

Back when I used HC-110 there were 2 versions in Europe. The version for EU was less concentrated. The other one was full strength and most dilutions written all over the books were useful.

MattKing · Sep 24, 2012

newtorf said:
I started with 12.5 ml for 2 rolls 35mm 36 exp, then down to 10 ml for 2 rolls, and recently 7.5 ml for 2 rolls. No problem so far.

Don't forget that the capacity of a developer is at least partially determined by the exposures on the negatives themselves - high key subjects with lots of light and whites will exhaust a developer more quickly than low key subjects with lots of shadows.

For that reason, it may be best to be as conservative as Kodak suggests.

Felinik · Sep 24, 2012

georg16nik said:
Back when I used HC-110 there were 2 versions in Europe. The version for EU was less concentrated. The other one was full strength and most dilutions written all over the books were useful.

The one I got is the 1 liter bottle with "full" concentrate (from macodirect).

John Bragg · Sep 24, 2012

Delta 400 @Ei 200 in HC-110 H 12 mins @20c minimal agitation. . I really like the results.

Felinik · Sep 24, 2012

Looks nice John!

I'm gonna go with

5cc + ~300cc/Roll (Adapted "H")
@24° C
11 minutes
30 secs inital agitation
5 sec. / 30 sec.

For my two rolls of Rollei Retro 80s (@ EI160), and we'll see how that turns out.

John Bragg · Sep 24, 2012

Felinik said:
Looks nice John!

I'm gonna go with

5cc + ~300cc/Roll (Adapted "H")
@24° C
11 minutes
30 secs inital agitation
5 sec. / 30 sec.

For my two rolls of Rollei Retro 80s (@ EI160), and we'll see how that turns out.

This is a handy link too. It taught me a lot. http://www.mironchuk.com/hc-110.html

scheimfluger_77 · Sep 24, 2012

John that is indeed a nice looking result.

Does anyone know what kind of results happen when using a Jobo processor?

Steve

Felinik · Sep 24, 2012

John Bragg said:
This is a handy link too. It taught me a lot. http://www.mironchuk.com/hc-110.html

Thanks! Per coincidence I actually did find and read that page the other day here during my googling..

Development was just done here (ended up with 1+59, 600cc in total) and I'm waiting for the negs to dry, looks pretty darn nice, will be interesting to take a closer look at these! (I think it's the first film I've seen with a completely transparent/clear base...).

John Bragg · Sep 24, 2012

scheimfluger_77 said:
John that is indeed a nice looking result.

Does anyone know what kind of results happen when using a Jobo processor?

Steve

I use a Jobo tank by hand. HC-110 can be very firey if over shaken. I do 5 initial inversions and then only 2 inversions at 4 minutes and 2 at 8 minutes and pour out at 12 minutes. Continuous agitation would loose some of the advantages of the minimal agitation approach. ie regular grain, boosted shadows and tamed highlights.

ColColt · Aug 12, 2015

Where did the Dilution H come from, Kodak only shows up to Dilution F?

DWThomas · Aug 12, 2015

ColColt said:
Where did the Dilution H come from, Kodak only shows up to Dilution F?

It is "unofficial," that is, not from Kodak -- I think an outgrowth of the information at the Covington website. I use it all the time as a one-shot process.

nwilkins · Aug 12, 2015

ColColt if you're interested in HC-110 dilutions I have been using this method from JBrunner and love it:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

ColColt · Aug 12, 2015

I've never tried it as a concentrate"straight from the bottle". I've always went by mixing a stock solution 1:3 and drawing my working solution from there, in most cases that's been Dilution B. Developing times are short-about 5 1/2 minutes. Much more and they come out too contrasty or at least they use to. Using a scanner instead of the sane way to make prints is a little different I've discovered. For one thing the quality just doesn't look the same as when I made prints from Tri-X.

After looking at my best attempt to get these negatives flat and try another scan they still don't look as good and sharp as my old 20-30 year old Trix-X negatives.

HC-110 Dilution H, 1+62 ?

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