HC-110 more grain with age?

[Jessestr]

Because of a recent thread about my negative density I did a test with my 5 y/o bottle of HC-110 and fresh HC-110. Density is almost exactly the same in both cases.

I developed both for 5 minutes, dilution B. 30 seconds initial agitation and 5 seconds every 30 seconds. I did it as consistent as I could. Even the shots are from the exact same roll as I cut off 4 shots, developed them individually and then took 4 new shots. (Same settings and light as well). Shot on 35mm HP5+

However the old HC-110 negative shows a lot more grain. Could this be because of the age of the developer or won't it affect grain in any way? It's quite a lot and I'm surprised why it happened.

 

[E76]

Are these enlargements from a scan? The left image looks a little sharper to my eye. Is it possible the film on the right wasn't quite at the best focus in the scanner? That would hide some of the grain.

 

[Bormental]

Agreed, the difference is almost 'digital', as if the image on the left had "clarity" slider on +15 and lost a lot of midtones, look at the jar reflections, they look like a painting.

 

[koraks]

The left scan seems to have boosted contrast in comparison to the right scan. Boosting contrast will emphasize grain.

Please post a photograph of both negatives side by side on a light table or something like that. I'd like to see the difference in contrast, which I suspect is there. This will impact the rendering of the grain after adjusting the image for the desired output contrast (whether digital or in the darkroom).

 

[Jessestr]

Yes these are scans, all extra sharpening is turned off. But even with the frsh bottle of HC-110 there is so much grain compared to my Tri-X 400 shots from a few years ago.
Is HP5+ that more grainy than Tri-X 400? Can't remember.

For a test I scanned my old Tri-X scans with my new scanner to rule out that the scanner might be the issue ... and the results are exactly the same. Tri-X 400 looks the same as my 3 year old scans and prints with my new scanner.
So it's HP5+... not sure what would cause this increase in grain.

 

[John Bragg]

I have not found older HC-110 to suffer bad grain at all. Also I am not keen on HP5+ at box speed in dilution B. Didn't work for me, but rating at ei200 and developing in dilution H made it look a lot smoother.

Sculptured tree stump, Charlestown, Cornwall. by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr