HC-110; love it or hate it?

Phillip P. Dimor

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I have two bottles of HC-110 concentrate and would like to use them but honestly can not get the 'feel for it'.
It's like maple syrup. It's messy, tough to measure, tough to dispense.
Dilution B is usually too short so i'll use dilution H or whatever, twice the dilution and time of Dil. B. Math is hard sometimes.
I always feel like i'm mixing it wrong. I use it one-shot, I mix the concentrate 1:14/1:15.

Should/Can I mix this stuff into one gallon of working solution, like D76?
I like the idea of concentrated solutions. I love rodinal but this stuff sucks to measure, dispense, mix, clean, etc.
 

DBP

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I use the syringe method and pump the syringe a few times to get the syrup out. But frankly I use Rodinal more often because of the short times with HC-110. You may want to look at http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/, if you haven't already. I may have to try dilution H.
 

40oz

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I keep a bottle of HC-110 around for when my D-76 runs out/turns brown.

If you will go through the working solution quickly, mixing the stock solution is probalby easiest. If not, I'd use a baby medicine syringe for measuring out the concentrate syrup. Yes, it's kind of a mess to deal with, but it works, it keeps, and it is very economical. That said, I use D-76 1+1

Dilution B is very short for many films, so what you are doing with dil. H is a logical response. But as I understand it, dil. H is 1+63, with the syrup sold in the US. Dil. B is 1+31.
 

Marco Buonocore

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I quite like it.

You've got to measure it with a syringe, and from concentrate, otherwise it's a mess.

I find the short development times useful when I'm pushing film, or when I need to boost contrast. My Holga negs, for example, need a good 50% more development time compared to a negs from a proper camera, to get a contrast level I like.

I find it gives me slightly more speed than Rodinal, and is better with 400TX when I'm pushing to 800 or 1600.

I've also had lovely results with FP4 in 4x5, at EI 125 for N+1 development. Portraiture in the shade sort of environment. The negs have a wonderful density, and print perfectly on Ilford Galerie.

Like you, I usually use Dilution B, and occaisionally Dil H. Haven't messed about with the others.
 

phritz phantom

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Marco Buonocore said:
I find it gives me slightly more speed than Rodinal, and is better with 400TX when I'm pushing to 800 or 1600.
Click to expand...

hc110 is a great push developer. i once shot two rolls of film at a concert, both films the same lighting; trix 400 exposed at 1600.
the first one i developed with acufine (8:15 min, 21°c), the second one with hc110 (1+63, 35min, 20°c). the one with acufine was horrible, underdeveloped/exposed and barely useable. the other one with hc110 was absolutely fine; not quality like when exposed for 200asa, but good for the circumstances.
i still don't know if there was some kind of mistake involved, since usually acufine is considered one of the best devs for push processing. since i just bought a can of acu-1, i think i should try it again soon.
 

Thomas Bertilsson

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Too busy loving Pyrocat... Never tried HC-110 although I'm confident a photograph is not made / unmade in film developer.
- Thomas
 

MattKing

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You don't have to use the whole bottle when you make the stock solution. You can split the 16 oz. into 4, using a syringe and some 4 oz. containers, and then use the 16 oz. bottle to hold 16 oz. of stock.

Alternately, you can split it 8 ways, again using a syringe and some 2 oz. containers, and then use the 16 oz. bottle to hold 16 oz. of 1/2 strength stock.

I do the latter, then dilute the 1/2 strength stock 1 to 7 to end up with dilution H. It works well for me - I'm in the "love it" camp.

Matt
 

Robert Hall

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Just of note, IIRC, it was the poorest performer of 45 that Phil Davis tested while working with the BTZS.

It doesn't make it bad, there are simply many others that out perform it in sharpness, contrast, and grain.

It is hard to beat the convenience.
 

Roger Hicks

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This is what I found when I tried it. Excellent keeping; no other detectable merit.

Cheers,

roger
 

mmcclellan

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I adore HC-110! But if you follow the instructions Kodak gives you, the results will be crap.

You need to run your own tests for EI and Zone VIII, but once you get your times down, it yields gorgeous results. I use the B dilution with distilled water so I never have to test it again and it's consistently outstanding with Tri-X.

It's my favorite developer for Tri-X, although I don't use it with anything else.
 

eddym

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To each his own, I guess. I use HC110B for HP5, and I think it's great. I don't understand the "messy" complaint; I have a couple of 1.5 cc graduated cylinders, and it's no more difficult to measure out quantities as small as .25 cc's of it than it is to measure ID11 to dilute 1:1.
What's the problem?
 

Kino

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It's a fine developer. If you want constantly exaggerated sharpness to edges (a vastly overrated fetish in my opinion), don't bother. It is a good compromise between sharp and soft.

Get a syringe to measure the dilution and keep in concentrated; its not difficult...
 

Kobin

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I last used HC110 to develop some sfx 200 because I could find times and temps for the film-developer combination, and I have a mostly full bottle. I've used it on other films and found that: (1) the undiluted syrup lasts forever, and (2) it produces golf ball-sized grain. I haven't used it enough to get a feel for tonality. I think it's a good developer if you need a cheap, aggressive developer. Otherwise, I much prefer almost anything else.

Just my opinion.

K.
 

KenM

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I use it all the time for Tri-X in 4x5.

I mix up 1L of stock at a time - 250ml of syrup, and fill the 1L bottle to the top. The stock solutions lasts quite a while, but the syrup lasts a very long time, even in a not-full container, so I've never decanted into multiple smaller bottles. Works for me.
 

pgomena

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I used HC110 almost exclusively for about 15 years, and no longer use it, mostly because as Kobin said above, it's pretty aggressive stuff. I used it with Tri-X and TMax 100, and did so because it gave me better contrast than D-76.

I used dilution B primarily, mostly out of ignorance. It did make developing times really short, but when I was doing newspaper work, that was a blessing. I eventually learned that if you didn't agitate wildly, you could make outstanding negatives on roll film. (Gentle agitation is the key.)
Yes, the grain is kind of mushy, and if you mess up the dilution you're done for. I always prepared the stock solution as directed on the bottle so that I didn't have to measure out the syrup. If it's mixed up with distilled water, it will easily last a year. Don't fret if it starts to turn a bit dark toward the end. It doesn't lose potency. In fact, I used to mix the remaining bit of old developer into a new batch just to "season" the new stuff a bit. Probably superstition, I know, but it didn't hurt anything.

I've since moved on to Pyro developers, primarily PMK.

Peter Gomena
 

gainer

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Did you say 1+14 from the syrup? Dilution B should be 1 + 31. No wonder it's too hot!
 

gainer

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HC110 is one stock you can keep warm..the syrup, that is. I have a brisker oven for bread rising that has been perverted to darkroom use for some of the viscous solutions like HC110 that I concoct with TEA or glycol. The temperature stays at 104 F and the liquids are less viscous.

I used to use HC110 a lot, even for paper development. For paper, I added some washing soda. It's been so long I don't remember the recipe, but you could find out the same way I did, by trial and error.
 

ricksplace

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I use HC110 quite a bit. I use a syringe and mix it for one shot use. I have had excellent results with high dilutions and minimal agitation. With Foma 100 in 120 I use HC110 1:100 from the syrup (5ml of goo and 500ml of water), 20 min. Constant agitation for the first minute, then one inversion every two minutes. Gives surprisingly good acutance at the high dilutions.
 

John Bragg

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It,s my all time favorite developer and as others have stated, it works best with high dilution and gentle agitation. It produces sharp even grained results and is 100% reliable. I use it direct from the syrup and 8ml made up to 500ml with water = dilution H. I also use some of the water to rinse the syringe into the measuring jug to ensure accurate measuring. Works well for me.....
 

nickc

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I use it a lot, one shot and I likke the results. A couple of points though - European HC-110 is more dilute that the US stuff - dilution B is 1 + 9, not 1 +31, but note that the US stuffis also available, eg from Silverprint - Caveat Emptor! - The other poin is that it keeps fog under control better than many other developers, so it is ideal fro old /found films.
 

rusty71

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I never liked the stuff. Too thick. Odd dilutions. Tends to blow out highlights. Why use a liquid if you have to mix it twice? Nope. Rodinal or Ilford DD-X for me.
 
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