hc 110 dilution

Forgive me if this is a basic question. I just got a new developing tank and on the bottom it indicates that I should use 650ml of liquid if I am developing two reels of 35mm film. I have reverse engineered the HC 110 data to determine that approximately 6ml of concentrate should do one roll of film.

So am I correct in assuming that the most economical use of the developer would be to use whatever dilution gives me 650cc with at least 12ml of concentrate?

And if I want to use the unofficial dilution H (1:63) I would need to use at least 768ml of liquid in the tank, is that correct?

I don't see how you're arriving at your figures.
If you need 650 ml to fill your developing tank and you're using Dilution B (which is the most common), Dilution B is 1+31, so that's 650/32 = approx. 21 ml of concentrate and 630 ml water.
To use Dilution H, that would be 650/64 = approx. 11 ml of concentrate and 640 ml water.

I use HC 110 diluted 1:100, 20C, 26min total Dev time, 1min constant initial agitation, 10sec every 5 min thereafter, for HP5 and Tri-X exposed at asa400. I usually wait to fill my 5 reel tank, use 15ml of developer and 1500ml water. (Yes its close enough, lets not get anal about dilution ratios.)

Terry Christian said:

I don't see how you're arriving at your figures.
If you need 650 ml to fill your developing tank and you're using Dilution B (which is the most common), Dilution B is 1+31, so that's 650/32 = approx. 21 ml of concentrate and 630 ml water.
To use Dilution H, that would be 650/64 = approx. 11 ml of concentrate and 640 ml water.

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which figures do you see a problem with? Would I not need at least 12ml of concentrate to develop the two films?

6 ml concentrate per roll is what Kodak recommends - once one reverse engineers their capacity recommendations.

This no doubt includes a significant margin for error.

There are many who indicate they have had success with less, but I wonder how many would either notice small amounts of localized exhaustion or report it when they encountered the problem.

The need for developer does vary with the type of photograph - high key photos of polar bears in snow storms developed for extra contrast need more than photographs with lots of moody shadows.

To the OP: Your calculation appears correct. It is probably the case that dilution H would also have enough capacity, as Terry Christian's calculation for dilution H indicates that almost 12 ml of concentrate would be in the tank. Of course, if your rolls have those polar bear shots on them ....

If I may suggest a compromise - Jason Brunner recommends a 1 + 49 dilution on his website. It works really well.

The site appears to be temporarily unavailable, but he added the same info to the APUG articles here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

FWIW, Jason's 1 + 49 dilution is essentially the same as official dilution "E" (1 + 47).

okay that's great, thanks Matt. 1+49 / 1+47 seems like a good compromise between B and H

I recommend the following site for Hc-110 usage. http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/

I use about 50:1 dilution, and have gone down to 5ml per roll with no problems (250ml for one roll).

BetterSense said:

I use about 50:1 dilution, and have gone down to 5ml per roll with no problems (250ml for one roll).

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With my 1:100 dilution, I'm using 3ml per roll.

BetterSense said:

I use about 50:1 dilution, and have gone down to 5ml per roll with no problems (250ml for one roll).

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I do this too. I have never seen any problems.

BetterSense said:

I use about 50:1 dilution, and have gone down to 5ml per roll with no problems (250ml for one roll).

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I three have been happy with that recipe for HC-110.

okay thanks everyone. I am going to try Jbrunner's 1:49 recipe and times. Does anyone happen to have a ballpark figure for Delta 100 dev time at that dilution?

nwilkins said:

okay thanks everyone. I am going to try Jbrunner's 1:49 recipe and times. Does anyone happen to have a ballpark figure for Delta 100 dev time at that dilution?

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I beleive it is on his site. 8 1/2 minutes from memory but better check it out as do not have my notes with me right now

redrockcoulee said:

I beleive it is on his site. 8 1/2 minutes from memory but better check it out as do not have my notes with me right now

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His site is down right now.

Gerald C Koch said:

I recommend the following site for Hc-110 usage. http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/

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+1

Karl-Gustaf

That Covington site is great for hc110. I have used dilution h a few times and it has worked fine. But usually when I reach for hc110 I do so to use it at dilution b for its low base fog properties and fast developing times.

Last night I used dilution b in a 3 reel tank 870ml in total for 3 rolls, then using the same developer for the 3 roll tank to fill a 2 roll tank, and then again once more right after for another 2 roll tank. 7 rolls in total. 3 panatomic x for 5min at 75f, 2 Hie for 4:30, 2 tmax 400 for 6min. Everything came out well with good density except for a few shots on one roll of hie, I guess not enough ir light, and a few frames that were too dense when I shot a shaded scene without the ir filter. So all that with only using 27~30ml of concentrate.