Ilford Ilfosol devdeveoper

[lightwisps]

This is the only film developer I could get in the middle for nowhere.
any suggestions?

Thanks

Don

 

[mcgrattan]

I've only used one bottle of it, just following Ilford's times (and the Massive Dev Chart where the film wasn't in the Ilford documents) and had excellent results. Not particularly outstanding in terms of fine-grainedness, but I like the tonality and had reliable results with it.

 

[lightwisps]

Thanks, I am more interested in the tonality than fine grain.

Don

 

[jayvo86]

Ilfosol? You would think they would have D-76 or ID-11 if anything.

 

[mcgrattan]

Well, for what it's worth, here's a link to my Flickr shots with Ilfosol:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?ss=2&w=85361107@N00&q=ilfosol&m=text

 

[waynecrider]

I think it depends on what film your using it with. I tried 35mm Acros and didn't find it a particularly good fit; I also don't wet print it.

 

[lightwisps]

Hey Josh, where the hell have you been

Yeah I can get powdered chems, but prefer liquid as i can mix it as needed

Don

 

[jayvo86]

Hey Josh, where the hell have you been

Yeah I can get powdered chems, but prefer liquid as i can mix it as needed

Don

Besides busy....the chatroom isn't working for me anymore. (I think I might need to update something.)

Anyway, I'll catch you soon! Keep printing!

 

[spijker]

Pakenham is not too far from Ottawa where I live. If you're looking for alternatives, I just picked up a bottle of Ilford DD-X from Henry's in Kanata. They had to order it in from their warehouse but it got here in a few days. Check their website, if it says "Ships next business day" it means they can get it to a store without additional cost.

 

[PhotoJim]

Powdered chemicals last for years in storage - a big advantage. Ilfosol seems prone to sudden death in the bottle after a time.

1-litre packages of D-76/ID-11 will do you about 6 rolls of 135-36 or 4 rolls of 120 assuming you dilute 1:1, so it isn't hard to get through it fast.

Alternatively you can get XTOL, which although powdered, can be mixed at 20 C and used immediately. However, the smallest package is 5 litres.

I find mixing D-76 a couple of hours or so before you need to actually develop is good enough.

 

[Leigh B]

...6 rolls of 135-36 or 4 rolls of 120...

???

The numbers should be the same. The surface areas of 135-36 and 120 are the same.

- Leigh

 

[Brian C. Miller]

Powdered chemicals last for years in storage - a big advantage. Ilfosol seems prone to sudden death in the bottle after a time.

Yes, it dies some time after the bottle has been opened. The results are very good while it is active, though. I have run a lot of film through it, and I like the results.

 

[pbromaghin]

???

The numbers should be the same. The surface areas of 135-36 and 120 are the same.

- Leigh

It has to do with how much you have to pour in to cover a whole roll in the cylinder. 4 120 reels will be about as high as 5-1/2 35mm. For instance, a Patterson System 4 Multi-Unit 2 Tank will hold 5 35mm reels, but only 3 of 120. It makes a big difference if you use once-and-dump developers. You are correct if you are talking about replenishing or when using something like regular t-max developer that is made to be re-used, where all that matters is surface area.

 

[Leigh B]

It has to do with how much you have to pour in to cover a whole roll in the cylinder.

OK. I wasn't thinking in those terms.

Sorry.

I've done 35mm in plastic tanks for decades, and 120 in SS tanks similarly, but never thought to compare capacities.

- Leigh

 

[pbromaghin]

That's all right, Leigh. This was driven into my head last week when I measured chemicals for 2 35mm and 1 120 reels, forgetting that it actually had 3 120's. The top half of all the pics on one roll are really weird looking.

 

[PhotoJim]

That's exactly what I was thinking. My Paterson tanks need 500 mL per 120 roll and 290 mL (I round to 300) for 35mm. Since I never re-use film developer - I make dilute working solutions - I make what I need and I dump it after. A litre of D-76/ID-11 stock will give me 4 rolls worth of 1:1 developer for 120 at 500 mL per roll, and 6 rolls worth at 300 mL per, with 200 mL of stock remaining in the latter case.

I guess the point I was trying to make is that D-76/ID-11 is a lot cheaper than Ilfosol, it's very good, and it's quite convenient. The mixing isn't a huge problem since you can mix up pretty modest amounts of stock solution at a time. (It's cheaper if you buy 3.8L or 5L packages, but you have to go through it faster, of course. It only keeps about half a year in full, closed bottles.)