Ilford Pan F+, which developer?

Fraunhofer · Apr 17, 2016

I have shot a roll of Pan F+ today at EI 25 and have the following developers available
DD-X
HC-110
Pyrocat HD
Caffenol

Shooting was done in bright sun light, now which one do you recommend at which dilution for which time?

chip j · Apr 18, 2016

Tetenol Neofin Blue was made for Pan F.

markbarendt · Apr 18, 2016

Fraunhofer said:
I have shot a roll of Pan F+ today at EI 25 and have the following developers available
DD-X
HC-110
Pyrocat HD
Caffenol

Shooting was done in bright sun light, now which one do you recommend at which dilution for which time?

If you don't know it doesn't matter.

I'm not being flippant, good work can be done with any developer.

Flip a coin, and move forward.

NB23 · Apr 18, 2016

I had Ilfosol-3 on hand and I developed all 20 rolls with it. All looked spectacular. So from then on I decided I'd stick with Ilfosol-3 for Pan-F as well as for TMAX100.

Athiril · Apr 18, 2016

DD-X out of your available choice to be honest.

RobC · Apr 18, 2016

all the gear and no idea.

chriscrawfordphoto · Apr 18, 2016

I have had good results with Pan-F in D-76 1+1, Rodinal 1+50, and PMK. I suspect that any developer will work fine for it. I'd probably choose DDX if I had to stick to your list, since its an Ilford developer, and Ilford has published dev. times for it that should be reliable starting points.

Ian Grant · Apr 18, 2016

I'd use Pyrocat HD as you have it, 1+1 to 100, I find it works well with all Ilford films and I use it with Pan F. I've been amazed at how fine the grain is with HP5 pushed to 3200 EI in Pyrocat.

Pyrocat of the 4 will cope best with the contrast usually found in bright sunlight.

Ian

RobC · Apr 18, 2016

ddx gives a very short toe and usually a small speed increase of 1/3 stop over ISO speed so given that you exposed at EI 25 then I would expect you to get extremely good shadow separation/detail if thats what you want. However, if you are looking to keep highlights under control then DDX probably isn't a good choice in this case and neither is HC110 which tends give an upswept curve. i.e. emphasises highlights. I have no idea about caffenol and so would probably go with Ians suggestion of Pyrocat HD as staining developers usually keep highlights under control to a degree. It is a semi compensating developer.

Fraunhofer · Apr 18, 2016

Ian Grant said:
I'd use Pyrocat HD as you have it, 1+1 to 100, I find it works well with all Ilford films and I use it with Pan F. I've been amazed at how fine the grain is with HP5 pushed to 3200 EI in Pyrocat.

Pyrocat of the 4 will cope best with the contrast usually found in bright sunlight.

Ian

Would you have a recommendation for development time at EI25 ?

Tony-S · Apr 18, 2016

Fraunhofer said:
Would you have a recommendation for development time at EI25 ?

I do 9 minutes at 1+1+100 at 68F ISO 25.

Xmas · Apr 19, 2016

chriscrawfordphoto said:
I have had good results with Pan-F in D-76 1+1, Rodinal 1+50, and PMK. I suspect that any developer will work fine for it. I'd probably choose DDX if I had to stick to your list, since its an Ilford developer, and Ilford has published dev. times for it that should be reliable starting points.

Id use ilfords time and temperatures too if I was starting from scratch.
Or less time if I was worried about contrast.
But PanF has just been excellent for me, on contrasty days. hope you are ok too.

amellice · Apr 19, 2016

I tried it with Rodinal semi stand and I got results that I like

Born2Late · Apr 19, 2016

I recently tried using D23 on a roll shot on a very sunny day (harsh lighting). I was very pleased with the results. You have to mix your own, but it is quite simple.

Arcturus · Apr 19, 2016

D76 1+1. Once I started using D76 for absolutely everything a lot of headaches went away. Panf with D76 at box time and speed produced negatives that printed perfectly at grade 2 using a diffusion head.

JPR · May 2, 2016

I cannot comment by way of comparison on the developers in your list. But, I do like Pan F Plus and DD-X very much.

I shoot at ISO 50 and develop according to the Ilford box, and I like it. I had no problems with the highlights either. I will try to find high dynamic range image tonight for you.

I am not an Ilford person per se. I like Tri-X for instance in ACUROL-N but not DD-X, so I'm not just plugging for Ilford here!

Gerald C Koch · May 2, 2016

Born2Late said:
I recently tried using D23 on a roll shot on a very sunny day (harsh lighting). I was very pleased with the results. You have to mix your own, but it is quite simple.

+1

D-23 also helps control the contrast of PanF+ particularly in harsh lighting situations. It has always been my first choice for this film. You can use it FS or 1+1.

Brian L · May 6, 2016

Gerald C Koch said:
+1

D-23 also helps control the contrast of PanF+ particularly in harsh lighting situations. It has always been my first choice for this film. You can use it FS or 1+1.

Just one Question: What's the difference between using D-23 FS or 1+1?
Thanks,
all the Best,
Brian

JW PHOTO · May 6, 2016

Brian L said:
Just one Question: What's the difference between using D-23 FS or 1+1?
Thanks,
all the Best,
Brian

D23 F(full) S(strength) is like whiskey without water and D23 1+1 is like one shot of whiskey with one shot of water.

JPR · May 12, 2016

Sorry to be so late getting back to this post. The shot below happens to be Pan F Plus in ACUROL-N, but as you can guess from the subject matter, there is a huge dynamic range. The details on the jacket are perfectly discernable in the scanned RAW file in Lightroom and in the blacks as well. DD-X is even more forgiving than ACUROL-N which is a high contrast developer I find. From the grain point of view, I find the two developers very similar. So, if properly, exposed Pan F Plus is no problem even in harsh environments with DD-X. Certainly, this is a reasonable choice for you given the developers you have.

(ps. I take my M virtually everywhere, even on ski slopes...)

DREW WILEY · May 12, 2016

I've had by far the best luck with PMK pyro. ASA 25, try 6 min 68F in hand inversion tanks. But do not use the standard PMK ratios. Follow Gordon
Hutchings advice per thins film uniquely: 5mm A, 5 mm B, per 500 ml water (versus 5:10:500).

Sidd · Jun 19, 2024

Ian Grant said:
I'd use Pyrocat HD as you have it, 1+1 to 100, I find it works well with all Ilford films and I use it with Pan F. I've been amazed at how fine the grain is with HP5 pushed to 3200 EI in Pyrocat.

Pyrocat of the 4 will cope best with the contrast usually found in bright sunlight.

Ian

Ian would you please let me know the development time of pan f+ in pyrocat. My rolls are shot at ISO 50, under bright sun and snow. These are my precious rolls so I don't want to experiment.

agentlossing · Jun 21, 2024

Has anyone used Kodak TMAX developer with PanF? I'm deciding between that and Rodinal.

Tony-S · Jun 22, 2024

I pretty much only use 510 Pyro for Pan F+ to keep the contrast under control.

Andrew O'Neill · Jun 22, 2024

Pyrocat-HD 1+1+100... EI 25, 10:30, agitation constant for first 30sec, then 5sec every 2 min. But I mainly use D-23 1+3 with Pan F now.

Ilford Pan F+, which developer?

Fraunhofer

chip j

markbarendt

NB23

Athiril

RobC

chriscrawfordphoto

Ian Grant

RobC

Fraunhofer

Tony-S

Xmas

amellice

Born2Late

Arcturus

JPR

Gerald C Koch

Brian L

JW PHOTO

JPR

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