Ilford ID 11 developer.

Mike Kennedy · Jul 11, 2005

Has anyone had experience using this type of developer for Tri-X and FP4?
My usual brand is T-Max or Rodinal.
Thanks

jim appleyard · Jul 11, 2005

This dev is the same as Kodak's D-76. ID-11/D-76 are generally considered to be the standards by which all other dev are judged. They will develop nearly all films to a low-mid contrast range, give good tonality, grain and sharpness.

IMO, this dev is not great at anything, but good at everything. Rodinal will give you a sharper image, but at the expense of grain. Microdol-X or a PPD dev will give you finer grain, but at the expense of sharpness.

Max Power · Jul 11, 2005

Before trying Rodinal and having access to DD-X I used ID-11 exclusively for D-400, D-100 and FP4+. It gave really fine grain and seemed particularly nice with the Deltas.

Kent

richard littlewood · Jul 11, 2005

Personally I reckon ID-11 is a really good developer that if you want to experiment with it a bit will do incredible things. Beyond a 1+2 dilution it starts to drop it's fine grain qualities and turns out a sharper image. I know someone at the moment trying a semi-stand technique, and he reckons the results are brilliant. Dont be put off by those folks going on about the sulphite effect, at a 1+3 dilution it means very little. It suits TRI-X and FP-4 to a T.

mvjim · Jul 11, 2005

The running rumour that ID-11 is the same formula as D-76 is actually not true. Not that it makes a difference in this case. ID-11 is an excellent developer. Try testing at 1:3 @ 75 degrees at 14 - 16 mins. Great results with FP and HP 4

jim appleyard · Jul 11, 2005

mvjim said:
The running rumour that ID-11 is the same formula as D-76 is actually not true. Not that it makes a difference in this case.

True. Apparently, Kodak has added a few things to make it easier to mix in all/most kinds of water (it's a worldwide product) and to use a single packet. ID-11 is supposed to be the true formula and it has two packets of chemicals. I'm told the metol and the sulfite will react and must be kept separately unless you add something which Kodak has done to make a one-packet powder.

Either one you use will work well with just about any film out there.

srs5694 · Jul 11, 2005

mvjim said:
The running rumour that ID-11 is the same formula as D-76 is actually not true.

There's the same and then there's the same. I don't believe many people claim that the current commercial Ilford ID-11 and Kodak D-76 products are absolutely 100% identical, but by all accounts they're both derived from the original 1926 Kodak D-76. The common (but unsubstantiated) claim I've seen is that Kodak has added things to and otherwise tweaked the formula of its commercial D-76 compared to the original version, whereas Ilford has made few or no changes to its version. In practice, they're supposed to work almost identically once mixed, although I can't say I've done any tests.

Keith Tapscott. · Jul 11, 2005

Mike Kennedy said:
Has anyone had experience using this type of developer for Tri-X and FP4?
My usual brand is T-Max or Rodinal.
Thanks

Ilford ID11 and the similar Kodak D-76 will work fine with either film, the Ilford developer is buffered with Borax only and is supplied as a two part powder and D-76 is buffered with Borax and Boric anhydride and is supplied as a one-part powder compound. Both developers provide a good allround yield.
The grain will be a little bit finer than your regular developers while maintaining good sharpness, you may however prefer the convenience of a ready prepared liquid concentrate rather than having to disolve powder(s) to make a stock solution.

fschifano · Jul 11, 2005

As far as I can tell, ID-11 and D-76 are functionally equivalent. If there are differences in the contents of the two packaged developers, they have little or no discernable effect on the finished product.

Ilford ID 11 developer.

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