Impression of Ilfosol 3

[miha]

Judging from previous scuttlebutt here on APUG the shelf life of Ilford developers is not that good.

On the contrary: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[serge silberman]

Thanks for taking the time to contact me. After much research, I kept seeing two combinations coming up. Ilford FP4+ and Kodak D76. I ordered some of both and tried it. I cut the development time by 30% since it was a high contrast scene and for the rotary processor. I was amazed at the difference. Great shadow detail and I was able to hold the highlights. Then I shot a sheet of Delta100 and developed with D76. Again cut by 30% as a starting point. The results was much improved over the Ilfosol 3 that I had been using. The last time I used Ilfosol, I noticed it had started to turn color, I'm guessing it's on it was out. I have been really happy with D76 as a developer and plan to continue working with it. Thanks!

Glad it worked out for you.
D76 is a tried and true developer that has stood the test of time.
Cheers,

Serge

 

[Gerald C Koch]

On the contrary: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

There is an older post #9 on this thread that echoes my statement on Ilfosol. There were several additional ones on other threads. At one time faulty caps used by Ilford were said to be the problem. However this was not the main cause.

Several developers sold by Ilford and Paderson were formulated by Geoffrey Crawley who was, lets face it, not trained as a chemist. They all had various problems. Some like the Ilfosols and Paterson FX-50 had a short storage life

 

[miha]

I have no experince with Paterson developers, however Ilfosol 3, Ilfotec HC, DD-X, Multigrade and Warmtone all have excellent shelf life, and lasts even in half full bottles, Ilfotec HC in paricular. What's your personal experience with any of the Ilford developers regarding longevity Gerald?

 

[Gerald C Koch]

I have no experince with Paterson developers, however Ilfosol 3, Ilfotec HC, DD-X, Multigrade and Warmtone all have excellent shelf life, and lasts even in half full bottles, Ilfotec HC in paricular. What's your personal experience with any of the Ilford developers regarding longevity Gerald?

I can't remember whether it was Ilfosol or Ilfosol 3 but its storage life was quit shorte. However it did produce good results. Manufacturers do make undisclosed changes to their products so that a latter version of Ilfosol may been better. Ilfosol S contained sodium ascorbate as one of the developing agents. It was subject to the dreaded Fenton oxidation problem. I notice that Ilfosol 3 uses hydroquinone instead. But this also reduces it to a fairly standard PQ developer formulation which makes it rather pricey for what you get. I personally would rather mix up DS-10 or one of the many Xtol clones.

 

[miha]

Ilfosol S and 3 both contain HQ. It's an excellent developer for slow/medium fast films, and different to a standard PQ developer (that would be DDX, TMAX, ULTRAFIN-T PLUS, etc).
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/2009212926161268.pdf

 

[Gerald C Koch]

According to the cited data sheet Ilfosol S did contain sodium ascorbate. It also contained hydroquinone which was thought at the time to help preserve the ascorbate. This turned out not to be true.

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/pdf/msds/ilford/ILFOSOL-S.PDF

Since ascorbic acid is non-toxic it would not have to be listed in Ilford's MSDS.

 

[Tony-S]

I've only tried Ilfosol 3 once and it was dead 3 moths after I opened the bottle. Maybe that's what the '3' means in the name?

Anyway, XTOL plus Delta 100 is a fantastic combo and in a bladder XTOL will last for more than a year.

 

[foc]

I have been using Ilfosol 3 for the last 3 years and never had a problem. I decant the 500ml bottle into 100ml brown glass bottles. I have been very happy with the results.