ID-11 vs Ilfosol 3

[Grim Tuesday]

With the recent meddling to Kodak formulas I feel like I have permission to start playing around with other developers. Does anyone have experience with Ilfosol 3? I've heard both great and terrible things about it.

 

[StepheKoontz]

I had terrible luck with it. All I ever got was very thin, hard to print negs from it. I threw away about half a bottle of it. Possible was a bad bottle, I saw no reason to ever try it again.

 

[foc]

I have used Ilfosol 3 (at 1+14) for about the last 4 years and find it a good allround developer. I know some people say is gives horrible grain in 400 speed films but I think it's ok.

Before that I used ID11/D76 at 1+1 and again found it great. My reason for switching was, the liquid Ilfosol was easier to handle and decant into smaller glass bottles. ID11 in 1Lt lot was too small and the 5Lt is a lot of liquid to store.

Have a look here for a few examples of Ilfosol 3 https://filmdev.org/recipe/show/11966

 

[NB23]

I am an advocate and a Lover of Ilfosol-3.

Brings out the grit and sharpness like no other developer out there. Sure, this means that it gives the much needed oomph out of tmax100 and it enhances grain of Iso 400 film, but that’s why the images are very sharp.
Highly potent developer.

I use up the bottle within a week once I open it, therefore I don’t worry for it to go bad.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

ID11 and D76 are both fantastic all-around developers and a great compromise in tonality,grain and speed;can't go wrong with them.

 

[tezzasmall]

I used Ilfosol 3 as my only film developer for quite a number of years, but I don't know if they 'tweaked' the formula sometime, for I eventually found that it was going off too quickly on me. I'm not a big film user, but even the smallest bottle of it went off before I could finish it. BUT, that was before I discovered the tins of gas designed to put into bottle of developer etc.

As for the results, I always got good punchy negs, with no over intrusive grain and of course it was easy to mix up to use, with no dissolving this or that.

Having gone off Rodinal at the moment, after a bottle just died on me, I am using up a dry 1 litre packet of ID11, but I may order another bottle of Ilfosol with my next photo stuff order and get reacquainted with it.

Terry S

 

[markbau]

ID11 and D76 are both fantastic all-around developers and a great compromise in tonality,grain and speed;can't go wrong with them.

+1. There is a reason D76 is the most popular developer in the world. It is utterly reliable and as Ralph says, has the best combination of attributes of any developer. The only developer I miss is FG7, I seemed to get some amazing results with it but its quality control in later years was not good, some batches were fine, others bad.

 

[Oren Grad]

Ilfosol 3 has a bit of a reputation for going bad prematurely and unpredictably. If you consistently do enough processing that you finish each bottle soon after you open it, you may never see that.

I tried one bottle several years ago, found the results somewhat grittier than with my standard D-76 1+1, decided I wasn't interested enough to pursue it further.

 

[NB23]

Ilfosol 3 has a bit of a reputation for going bad prematurely and unpredictably. If you consistently do enough processing that you finish each bottle soon after you open it, you may never see that.

I tried one bottle several years ago, found the results somewhat grittier than with my standard D-76 1+1, decided I wasn't interested enough to pursue it further.

This is the thing: ilfosol-3 is all what Rodinal is, and even sharper. Basically, if you’re into Rodinal you’ll be amazed by ilfosol.

And usually, who is into Rodinal is not into D76.

 

[Oren Grad]

This is the thing: ilfosol-3 is all what Rodinal is...

Ilfosol 3 is a phenidone/hydroquinone formula. So I'll assume you didn't mean that literally.

...and even sharper. Basically, if you’re into Rodinal you’ll be amazed by ilfosol.

And usually, who is into Rodinal is not into D76.

So in fairness, I'll provide context for my comment by adding that I don't like Rodinal at all.

 

[NB23]

Ilfosol 3 is a phenidone/hydroquinone formula. So I'll assume you didn't mean that literally.



So in fairness, I'll provide context for my comment by adding that I don't like Rodinal at all.

Of course not, chemically. But the results are similar: very high acutance.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

Of course not, chemically. But the results are similar: very high acutance.

What dilution do you use Ilfosol 3 at and which films do you particularly like in it?

 

[awty]

I like ilfosal 3 @ 1+9 with fp4@80 iso. I don't like how it dies quickly after a few months once opened.

https://flic.kr/p/WqQhda

 

[cowanw]

I use Ilfosol 3 at 1:14 as well. It seems to work well for me. On 4x5 and 8x10 HP5 I have a very hard time focussing on grain while enlarging. The bottle of Ilfosol must be put into aliquotes. I use Nalgene lab bottles of 60 and 125 ml's and the Ilfosol lasts a very very long time.

 

[NB23]

What dilution do you use Ilfosol 3 at and which films do you particularly like in it?

1:9 for TMAX 100, TRI-X and HP5
1:14 for PAN-F only because it’s brings the development times to an acceptable level.