Ilford chemicals: choosing developer for Delta 400

Steven Lee said:

I used to have a love affair with Delta 400. Had been bulk loading and shooting it non-stop for 3 years.
My favorite general purpose developers for Delta 400, sorted by awesomeness:

• Xtol
• ID-11

And the following two will give you a crisp & sharp image with well-defined but also tightly packed grain. Again: the grain is actually fine, but it's well-defined and therefore more visible. Sometimes I crave this look vs Xtol smoothness, it's a personal preference thing

• Ilfosol 3
• Rodinal

Developers to avoid:

• Ilfotec HC
• DD-X

Delta 400's grain loses its charm with both. It starts to look rough and irregular. The weirdest thing about Delta 400 is how its grain looks completely different in different developers. In fact, the grain character changes quickly with exposure too. But if you don't scan at high resolution or don't wet print large this shouldn't be a concern.

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Andrew O'Neill said:

XTol is excellent with D400. 1+1 or replenished. My new favourite now is PC-512 1+50.

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redbandit said:

How do you select the right developer for Delta 400 when just about everything you find online using search engines for "Delta 400 developed in" are all leading to the same heavily photo shopped and edited images?

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