Ilford Cooltone/ Dektol developer

Gary Holliday

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I'm trying Ilford/ Harman Cooltone out for the first time at a dilution of 1+9. Not having great results so far compared to Dektol 1+9.

Paper: Foma Chamois Nature VC FB.

Has anyone had any results using a stronger dilution of Cooltone?

I also read that folk are using Dektol at 1+3 to increase contrast. Is this from powder stock or the 1+9 pre-mixed bottles?

Thanks
 
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Gary Holliday

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Both developers were given 4 mins, with the dektol considerably more stronger in tone, it made the cooltone very weak looking. I've managed to get a very nice image from the Ilford dev after half a dozen or so test strips!
 

Neal

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Dear Gary,

FWIW, Dektol packaged for the U.S.A. specifies a dilution of 1 part stock solution to 2 parts water.

Neal Wydra
 

Neal

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Dear Gary,

I have no reason to believe that Dektol can't be used 1:9, I only posted the information to support your thoughts of using it 1:3. Try it, you may like it. ;>)

BTW, Kodak advises a dilution of 1:9 for Polymax-T (liquid) and Ilford advises the same for Multigrade. Maybe that is the source of the original dilution. Or maybe your tech just likes the look!

I remember seeing an article not that long ago (I think that means within the last 2-3 years) about how developer dilution affects paper performance. I think it was in either View Camera or Photo Tecnhiques. Much more fun to try it yourself though.

Neal Wydra
 

dancqu

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Neal said:
I have no reason to believe that Dektol can't be used 1:9, ...
Click to expand...

By mistake I've used it a 1:11; time? It was a few days later
that I noticed the blacks were weak. A rotary processor this
group uses it at 1:9.

Of course at high dilution there is not much chemistry per
unit volume of working strength. I've adopted the single tray
one-shot processing method so use print developer very
dilute; around 1:8. Solution volumes are minimal. All in
all similar to rotary one-shot use. Dan
 

dancqu

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Neal said:
Dear Dan, How long do you develop the
print in at 1:8? Neal Wydra
Click to expand...

That should have been 1:7. For something which works
like formula Dektol, D-72, I'd go 5 minutes. As little as 3
will do but the blacks may be a very little weak.

The eight liters of working strength will do 24 8x10s using
1/3 liter per print; one-shot. I'm quite sure that could be
stretched to 32 8x10s although tray solution volume is
then 1/4 liter and ease of handling is lessened.

Agitation is easy with so little solution in the tray.
Pulling the print over itself from back to front helps
stir the very dilute developer. Tilting, swirling and
shacking are also employed as development
progresses. The developer is very dilute
but fresh each print. Dan
 

TheFlyingCamera

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I've had excellent results with the Ilford Cooltone 1:9 dilution. I would think you'd get not much but glop from the Dektol at 1:9 - I usually run it 1:3 when I use it. If you want to see some good prints from the Ilford Cooltone, check these example prints I did -

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
 
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Gary Holliday

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Looking back at the test strips, the Ilford Cooltone has a beautiful soft look, works well at 1+4 for my particular papers.

I've switched to Kentmere Art Document Grade 2, but I'm struggling to get max contrast from this paper with Dektol Polymax 1+3 and the Cooltone at 1+3. My negs have normal to hard contrast.

Can I add anything to the dev to get more contrast, is it advisable to use these developers at even stonger dilutions?
 
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TheFlyingCamera

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You could always use them straight, undiluted, with vigorous agitation, and increased temperature if you want to boost contrast that badly. If your negs are already contrasty, why do you need to boost contrast that much? Can you post some examples of what you consider to be good contrast, and some examples of what you're getting from the Kentmere that you find is too flat?
 
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Gary Holliday

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I've no scanner unfortunately as it would make things a lot easier.

The extreme contrast is due to wanting very pale skin tones and black pupils. The textured paper breaks up the blacks so that is part of the problem.

I hadn't considered temperature of the print dev and maybe keep the agitation up....I suppose I'll do some tests will almost neat dev...expensive!
 

TheFlyingCamera

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It may also be a case of the paper being a matte or semi-matte finish will just not deliver the depth of black you want. Another thing you can do is extend your development time - try three or four minutes. If the Ilford Cooltone still won't do it for you, and you want to try and save some money, you can try Ansco 130 - it's a mix-it-yourself kit, available through Photographers Formulary, and perhaps other places too. The big advantage of Ansco 130 is that it lasts forever, even in an open tray, and it will process more prints than most developers I've worked with. If you want to keep it CHEAP, just use Dektol full-strength.
 
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Gary Holliday

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Yes the paper is matt, so not the most suitable paper! Now if Foma made their new variable contrast Nature 532 paper with a white base it would help lots!

Extending dev time gave me blacks, but the skin tones became too dark.

I'll try neat dev now...
 

Dave Krueger

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I've tried cooltone in Dektol 1:2 and straight (undiluted) and did not see a very cool tone in either case even with long developing times. Very disappointing. My understanding is that the weaker the dilution, the less cool the tones will be.
 
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