Ilfosol 3 and HP5+

[Andrew O'Neill]

Ilfosol still working well for me. This taken with a Nikon F5 on HP5+ @ ei200


Princess by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Very nice!

 

[John Bragg]

Very nice!

Thanks Andrew. I am liking this the more I use it, espescially for portraits. Another recent one here.

Philip by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Thanks Andrew. I am liking this the more I use it, espescially for portraits. Another recent one here.

Philip by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Well done! HP5 is a fantastic film for portraiture.

 

[foc]

Thanks Andrew. I am liking this the more I use it, espescially for portraits. Another recent one here.

Philip by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Great image. That is one to show the Ilfosol 3 doubters

 

[John Bragg]

Great image. That is one to show the Ilfosol 3 doubters

Thankyou. I think one of its strengths is its ability to render skin tones and high values without blowing them.

 

[John Bragg]

More images from this combination. All these taken with Nikon FM2n and 50mm f1.4 Ais and Ilford HP5+ @ ei200 and developed as before in Ilfosol 3 for 6 minutes @20°c


Cake by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Carole Portrait by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Vivienne Portrait by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Eddie portrait by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Lian Portrait by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Kids Play 1 by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Where's the like button??

 

[John Bragg]

Where's the like button??

Indeed Andrew. Images these days are so short lived like. These have been printed for family and friends as part of an ongoing project to document those near and dear to me. Hopefully slightly less ephemeral. We really as a whole don't print enough.

 

[John Bragg]

Roosting Woodpigeon by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

 

[Ernst-Jan]

To contribute about the shelf life and said sudden death properties of Ilfosol 3:

I had a bottle of Ilfosol 3 opened in March. There was only about 50mL left in the original bottle (I spray butane in it after use) and I didn't know is it was good. It was 2 months ago when I used it for the last time and already had a slightly yellow colour.

So I cut a small piece of 35mm film, put it in the plastic film container and developed it. Worked fine, so I used it to developed it two more rolls.

Last time I used Ilfosol 3 (so before this bottle) was in 2019 and a liked it a lot. I liked the results as well as the times when using 1+14. But I experimented a bit around, I also used ID-11, Perceptol and XT-3 after the Ilfosol adventure. Ilfosol 3 is the one I liked the most, but the shelf life still scared me, in 2019 I could use all of it in 4,5 months. Good to know that after 6 months it's also fine, even with a small amount in the original bottle.

 

[John Bragg]

To contribute about the shelf life and said sudden death properties of Ilfosol 3:

I had a bottle of Ilfosol 3 opened in March. There was only about 50mL left in the original bottle (I spray butane in it after use) and I didn't know is it was good. It was 2 months ago when I used it for the last time and already had a slightly yellow colour.

So I cut a small piece of 35mm film, put it in the plastic film container and developed it. Worked fine, so I used it to developed it two more rolls.

Last time I used Ilfosol 3 (so before this bottle) was in 2019 and a liked it a lot. I liked the results as well as the times when using 1+14. But I experimented a bit around, I also used ID-11, Perceptol and XT-3 after the Ilfosol adventure. Ilfosol 3 is the one I liked the most, but the shelf life still scared me, in 2019 I could use all of it in 4,5 months. Good to know that after 6 months it's also fine, even with a small amount in the original bottle.

It is now my favorite developer without exception. I have found using Calpol 100ml (Infant Tylenol) bottles to be the most perfect storage solution and it stays perfectly Gin clear, with no signs of oxidation. Glass bottles are king for chemical storage and a year is perfectly possible. Things can't oxidise if the air is kept out of a perfectly sealed bottle, whereas plastic never was as good.

 

[warden]

It is now my favorite developer without exception. .

Me too. With the Xtol manufacturing problems I switched to TMax developer for a while but had to fight excessive contrast if I used it at the manufacturer's recommendations. Ilfosol 3 works straight out of the box, with the contrast I like.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

It's a great developer. Too bad it can't be replenished.

 

[John Bragg]

Same recipe still working well for me. Nikon F100 and Nikkor 50mm f1.8 af D

Now she has turned 6 ! Still putting up with Daddy taking photos and eager to join in with her film point and shoot camera. She loves Black and White too....

Icecream treat by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

 

[pentaxuser]

It is now my favorite developer without exception.

Ísn't that the key to whether showing any of the these superb prints to the doubters will have any effect if it isn't their favourite developer. I doubt it will have any effect. It is a noble sentiment expressed by foc but it wouldn't persuade me to devote the time to place these in a thread unless it was for the benefit of those who are genuinely undecided

A dying breed I fear

pentaxuser

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

My students use Ilfosol-3 at 1+14. I'm going to do some tests to see if I can get away with diluting it even further, for the sake of saving money. One 500ml bottle is now 18 Canadian Loonies!

 

[NB23]

My students use Ilfosol-3 at 1+14. I'm going to do some tests to see if I can get away with diluting it even further, for the sake of saving money. One 500ml bottle is now 18 Canadian Loonies!

You will always get results by diluting developers to great extent. Even satisfactory.
You can dilute D76 to 1;10 with proper tume adjustment.
Even Ilfosol, of course.

But my honest opinion would be that you reuse ilfosol 1:9 (within 24hours) and add 10% dvelopment time. That’s it. You shall see no degradation.

Or better yet, if you develop your films in tanks of 4, wait to have 8 films ready to be developed use one 1:9 solution for both sessions, where 1 Liter of 1:9 solution would develop 8 films within the same session.

Or, if you have a 2-film tank, wait until you have 4 films ready for development and reuse the 500ml solution for the 2 subsequent rolls.

A developer solution is highly active even after development. It has enough potency for another session within a reasonable amount of time, especially if it’s within 1-2 hours apart.

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

Same recipe still working well for me. Nikon F100 and Nikkor 50mm f1.8 af D

Now she has turned 6 ! Still putting up with Daddy taking photos and eager to join in with her film point and shoot camera. She loves Black and White too....

Icecream treat by E.J. Bragg, on Flickr

Nice photos. Are these scans from negatives or prints?

 

[John Bragg]

Nice photos. Are these scans from negatives or prints?

Thanks Keith, they are scans from negatives. Sadly my darkroom is in mothballs.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

You will always get results by diluting developers to great extent. Even satisfactory.
You can dilute D76 to 1;10 with proper tume adjustment.
Even Ilfosol, of course.

But my honest opinion would be that you reuse ilfosol 1:9 (within 24hours) and add 10% dvelopment time. That’s it. You shall see no degradation.

Or better yet, if you develop your films in tanks of 4, wait to have 8 films ready to be developed use one 1:9 solution for both sessions, where 1 Liter of 1:9 solution would develop 8 films within the same session.

Or, if you have a 2-film tank, wait until you have 4 films ready for development and reuse the 500ml solution for the 2 subsequent rolls.

A developer solution is highly active even after development. It has enough potency for another session within a reasonable amount of time, especially if it’s within 1-2 hours apart.

That's a great idea... reusing the diluted developer and extending time...But it would be difficult to keep track of with my students. My students always pair up when developing. That has helped. Thanks!

 

[John Wiegerink]

To add further experience, I've got this old Ilfosol 3 bottle, opened in 2020, in december. I've transferred the content into a bottle saved from the anti-reflux Gaviscon Advanced. Those bottles are fantastic: they are glass amber bottles and the cap is very secure. I've sprayed it with Tetenal Protectan. Today I've developed a roll with it: that is 2 years of storage. The film developed just fine. It's incredible, I couldn't believe my eyes.

I was forced into buying a bottle of Ilford's Ilfosol3 since it's the only developer I could buy "off the shelf" where I live. All of my chemicals and developers have been moved up to my cottage, and I'm stuck home for the Holidays and some personal business. I had just picked up a Kodak Reflex Ia TLR and wanted to test it so I went to Norman's Camera bought some HP5+ and Delta 400 along with the only developer they stock, Ilfosol3. I processed the negatives from the Kodak with the developer mixed at 1+9 for a quick test. The results were excellent, to say the least. I actually think I like Ilfosol3 better than FX-39II when comparing not so solvent developers. It's been "doom and gloom" weather-wise here, but the sun is supposed to come out today and if it happens I will shoot a roll of GP3 100 that I haven't tried yet. I'll scan and post the results. The last bottle of Ilfosol3 I had went bad in an opened bottle, so I took what was left in this one and immediately put the rest in small 4oz. Boston brown bottles filled to the top. We'll see how long it last that way. If it keeps well that way, I think I might just keep this developer on hand in my darkroom up north at the cottage.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I was forced into buying a bottle of Ilford's Ilfosol3 since it's the only developer I could buy "off the shelf" where I live. All of my chemicals and developers have been moved up to my cottage, and I'm stuck home for the Holidays and some personal business. I had just picked up a Kodak Reflex Ia TLR and wanted to test it so I went to Norman's Camera bought some HP5+ and Delta 400 along with the only developer they stock, Ilfosol3. I processed the negatives from the Kodak with the developer mixed at 1+9 for a quick test. The results were excellent, to say the least. I actually think I like Ilfosol3 better than FX-39II when comparing not so solvent developers. It's been "doom and gloom" weather-wise here, but the sun is supposed to come out today and if it happens I will shoot a roll of GP3 100 that I haven't tried yet. I'll scan and post the results. The last bottle of Ilfosol3 I had went bad in an opened bottle, so I took what was left in this one and immediately put the rest in small 4oz. Boston brown bottles filled to the top. We'll see how long it last that way. If it keeps well that way, I think I might just keep this developer on hand in my darkroom up north at the cottage.

Sun...that's that little, super bright orb in the sky that I've heard so much about? Just checking...

 

[John Wiegerink]

Sun...that's that little, super bright orb in the sky that I've heard so much about? Just checking...

I don't really know Andrew, since I've completely forgotten what it looks like. I'll keep looking for your super bright orb and if I see it I'll rush out and snap a few. At least we didn't get snow dumped on us with all the "doom and gloom". Actually, a little snow would be more photogenic than all the lifeless bare ground. Yes, that's what we need, pure white, fluffy snow and bright sunshine with a few puffy white clouds. I'll order some for tomorrow!

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I don't really know Andrew, since I've completely forgotten what it looks like. I'll keep looking for your super bright orb and if I see it I'll rush out and snap a few. At least we didn't get snow dumped on us with all the "doom and gloom". Actually, a little snow would be more photogenic than all the lifeless bare ground. Yes, that's what we need, pure white, fluffy snow and bright sunshine with a few puffy white clouds. I'll order some for tomorrow!

 

[John Wiegerink]

Andy,
I forgot to tell you I just ordered some for you too. It'll take three or four days to get there from Michigan. It's a little less gloomy here right now, but still no orb. I'm heady out to snap in the next hour, orb or no orb.