Help: Kodak Ultra-Fine Grain Developer

[Ian Grant]

I've come a cross a couple of references to Kodak Ultra-Fine Grain Developer, one in a 1940's Photography book, does anyone know what it was ?

It wasn't DK-20 (that's mentioned separately) and it's pre Microdol. It may have been a European only product like Kodak HDD, and possibly a PPD (or derivative) formula as the author lists it alongside Edwal 20, Defender (Harvey's) Panthermic, Atomal etc.

It dates from 1938 or slightly earlier as it's mentioned in a 1938 edition of The Leica Manual.

Ian

 

[Alan Johnson]

A 1937 view from "Photography" LP Clerc, GE Brown:
"Paraphenylene diamine or orthophenylene diamine developers constitute a very special case.These developers,which have very little energy,are very active solvents of silver halide.In the absence of other developer,and being rendered only weakly alkaline,they require considerable over-exposure, and do not permit of sufficient gamma being obtained,but they can be accelerated by adding other developers,and then form the most efficient of the fine grain developers"
Do you think the Kodak developer would be of this type?

 

[Ian Grant]

It appears so Alan, the sources class it alongside other PPD developers and there's a Kodak Patent filed in 1939 covering PPD devs.

Both sources seem to indicate it was Commercially available, the Leica book suggests reders process similar negatives in D76 and Kodak Ultra-Fine Grain developer and observing the difference in grain size.

Thanks for the Clerc quote, my copy's in the UK

Ian