Ilfotec DD-X giving low maximum density, normal?

I bought a litre of DD-X last month via mail order. Of course it was very cold but the package had instructions on it not to let it freeze. When I got it I looked and there were no crystals formed so I thought I was OK.

From the first roll I processed I noticed that the maximum density on the film leader of 35mm film was a bit light, I could see through it pretty well while usually I can just barely see through it. Is that normal for DD-X? With slow films like Delta 100 and FP4+ it yields perfectly usable negatives, just a little thin but with Delta 400 it is a bit too light and with Delta 3200 it is quite light. Since there isn't an expiry date I can't tell if I was sold out of date chems. I've sent an inquiry to Ilford with the batch number but it is the holidays so they haven't got back to me yet. (Simon I can give you the batch number if interested).

I had been shooting HC prior to getting this bottle of DD-X and using more HC on my next rolls of Delta 400 and 3200 again gave me the correct maximum density. I use the same tanks, same temps, the times are what I've always used. My DD-X bottle is halfway done now so I poured it off into a 500mL bottle (full) and will continue to use HC until I find out if this DD-X is bad. When I poured it off I checked again and there was nothing that crystalized out.

Is this just how DD-X works these days, a low max density to keep the highlights from blocking up too much? Or is it toast? 500mL of DD-X is only worth $10 or a couple of rolls of film so I'll pour it down the drain if it is no good, senseless to run $25-50 worth of film through it if its bad but I thought I'd ask before I dumped it.

I know its just one bottle but it makes me think I might want to stick to HC and powder from now on...

Thanks for your reply. Someone replied in private too with a few ideas but nothing definite. If anything I know from all the views that this is not a common problem with DD-X which is good to know. I haven't got anything back from Ilford about it just yet. Ilford's data sheet says DD-X lasts two years unopened so I doubt Henrys had one in the warehouse for longer than that but I am anxious to hear about that batch number.

I consistently get lighter density from the fully exposed leaders in DD-X than I do with HC (either 1+15 or 1+31). Delta 100 in DD-X at 12 minutes isn't terrible but it is lighter than HC done for 6 minutes at the same temperature in HC 1+31, half the time! Delta 3200 for 13 or 13:30 is even lighter and in fact too light; the negatives are still printable but just... Selenium toning has been suggested to darken them up.

I still have half the bottle to play with. I've poured it into a 500mL bottle so it doesn't get any worse but I must say I'm not that excited about using it at this point though it does make for fine grain.

I'm using it at 1+4. Someone check my math but 50 + 200 for a 250mL tank is 1 + 4 right? So is 100 + 400 for double reel/120 reel 500mL... so I don't think I'm mixing it up too weak.

Giving DD-X an extra minute or two darkens it up a bit but for proper density it looks like I may need to add 50% or more time which just seems wrong.

Thanks for your reply. That may be my mistake, comparing it to other developers. I actually have higher density highlights from actual images on the roll than the density of the leader so the D-max is actually higher. Delta 3200 is tough to get right in the first place as it is so underexposed in practice. As I said, the negatives are printable so perhaps I'm looking at the leader too much, reason to shoot more 120 I guess.

So I worked with Ilford tech support who told me that the DD-X is not too old and my film should be fine too so they said that the main film I'm having trouble with, Delta 3200 is touchy and I'd just need to make adjustments. I'd been using the same sort of adjustments I'd had to make for HC when I first used that combo which was a mistake as the times, while appearing similar in the table gave very different results for me in practice.

This morning I did a triple clip test souping a leader from a roll shot at 3200 for 9:30, 12:00 and 17:00, the recommended times (IIRC, working from memory here) for 3200, 6400 and 12800 EI which seemed like good starting points. Actually, I'm fibbing a bit: since my darkroom was cold and I didn't want to try and maintain a temperature bath through clip tests and final development I used it at 18.5C which, from tables on Ilford fact sheets meant I was actually doing the clip tests for 12, 17 and 20 minutes.

I'd developed a roll before for 13 minutes since a minute past the 6400 mark usually worked for me with HC and it came out thin so I was not surprised when the 12 minute clip came out too thin. The 17 minute clip was better but still not great but the 20 minute clip looked good!

So, going for broke I loaded my Delta 3200 roll, poured the developer in the tank and agitated for the first 10s of every long minute of a 20 minute development. Then Ilfostop. Then Ilford Rapid Fixer for 5:00. Then the 5, 10, 20 inversion wash cycle with Ilfotol wetting agent in the final wash.

The results were still drying this morning when I left for work so I couldn't make any prints (or, cough, hybridphoto.com methods) to check but from looking at the still drying negs held up to the tube lighting the results look good. The shadows look excellent going down (in the negative) still to 'white' for the blacks I was expecting and the highlights go to black. I will need to see if the highlights have blocked while getting the density I wanted, the leader can still be seen through but it isn't thin like it was at 13:00 in 19-20C before.

Hopefully the prints will look good as I like what DD-X does for the grain of this film, just didn't love the D-max. If I can solve both simultaneously, i.e. if this longer time hasn't accentuated the grain then I will be a very happy camper.

It still sounds to me like a long time to reach d-max but perhaps DD-X gets less active in a cooler darkroom than HC. I'm rarely at 20C unless I use a bath and then I'll usually at 22-23C so I do wonder if HC needs less additional time for cold temps though I follow the adjustment graphs from both sheets so I thought I'd made the correct adjustments. Test, test, test I guess.

The proof is in the printing of course! Tonight or tomorrow the trays will be full and I'll see what grade I can use.