Ilford developer

barbara ann · Sep 13, 2006

If Ilford Multigrade developer concentrate turns a deep yellow color, is it unusable? I had been away from my darkroom for a few weeks and when I went to make up the developer solution I noticed the concentrate was quite yellow. Altho it did develop my pictures, I am concerned that they will deteriorate rapidly. Should I continue using the product ot toss it?

clogz · Sep 13, 2006

If the developer did what it was supposed to do then it is still ok. If you have fixed your pictures properly they should be fine.

Hans

Roger Hicks · Sep 13, 2006

barbara ann said:
If Ilford Multigrade developer concentrate turns a deep yellow color, is it unusable? I had been away from my darkroom for a few weeks and when I went to make up the developer solution I noticed the concentrate was quite yellow. Altho it did develop my pictures, I am concerned that they will deteriorate rapidly. Should I continue using the product ot toss it?

As Hans said, as long as you got an image, the developer has worked fine and will have no effect on print life (all right, you could argue that some of the oxidation products are a problem, but I don't think anyone knows or could make a convincing case).

Capacity will however be reduced and the developer is on its last legs. You may also find that fresh dev gives you better contrast and deeper blacks.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

reellis67 · Sep 13, 2006

I've used it when it was *turning* yellow, but not when it was fully discolored and dark. I think that as the others have said, if you are OK with the results then you are fine using it, but if you see something lacking it might be a good idea to get a fresh bottle.

- Randy

Philippe-Georges · Sep 13, 2006

Before you clouse the bottle of the developer, blouw in some air out of the dust-off can. It is a litle heavyer than oxigen and takes its place, so less oxidation.

Good luck,
Philippe

barbara ann · Sep 13, 2006

clogz said:
If the developer did what it was supposed to do then it is still ok. If you have fixed your pictures properly they should be fine.

Hans

Hans! Thanks so much for the advice. I've only had the darkroom for a year or so and I keep running into situations I haven't encountered before. APUG is wonderful for amatuers like myself! Keeps me up and running. Thanks again.

barbara ann · Sep 13, 2006

Roger Hicks said:
As Hans said, as long as you got an image, the developer has worked fine and will have no effect on print life (all right, you could argue that some of the oxidation products are a problem, but I don't think anyone knows or could make a convincing case).

Capacity will however be reduced and the developer is on its last legs. You may also find that fresh dev gives you better contrast and deeper blacks.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

Roger! Thanks so much for the advice. I've had the darkroom for about a year and every once in a while I run into something that I hadn't encountered before. APUG is wonderful for amatuers like myself. I truly appreciate it. Thanks again.

barbara ann · Sep 13, 2006

reellis67 said:
I've used it when it was *turning* yellow, but not when it was fully discolored and dark. I think that as the others have said, if you are OK with the results then you are fine using it, but if you see something lacking it might be a good idea to get a fresh bottle.

- Randy

Hi Randy - Thanks for your response to my developer dilemma! I've had the darkroom for a year or so, but still run into things that I don't know how to handle. APUG is absolutely wonderful for amatuers like myself. Many thanks...

barbara ann · Sep 13, 2006

leicam5 said:
Before you clouse the bottle of the developer, blouw in some air out of the dust-off can. It is a litle heavyer than oxigen and takes its place, so less oxidation.

Good luck,
Philippe

Philippe - What a good idea! Thanks so much for your response. It is greatly appreciated...

Ilford developer

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency