Is Ilfosol S supposed to be brown?

Derek Lofgreen · Apr 3, 2007

I went to the camera shop to buy some new developer (yes the store actually carries wet darkroom gear). I got it home and over the weekend was going to soup some negs. I opened a brand new bottle of Ilfosol S and it was brown, like tea or weak coffee color. Is it supposed to be brown when it's new or is it bad?

So far all the liquid dev I've used has been clear and then turn brown over time as they oxidize. I haven't used this particular kind so I'm just checking before I soup my negs.

D.

reub2000 · Apr 3, 2007

Why not test it by developing an exposed leader?

Akki14 · Apr 3, 2007

I thought the bottle said it should be yellow and it's quite a bright yellow if i remember correctly. I'd go with the develop a bit of leader suggestion to make sure it's not off.

Derek Lofgreen · Apr 3, 2007

I guess I could. I just thought there would be someone here who knew.

D.

Lee J · Apr 3, 2007

Yes Ilfosol S is brown, unlike most other (?) Ilford film developers.

steven_e007 · Apr 4, 2007

I've just bought a fresh bottle of Ilfosol S a few days ago. I haven't opened it yet.

Hang on a minute, I'll just nip up the loft and fetch it...

...ok. I'm back.

Well, it was just like very weak tea. A pale yellowy brown.

HTH

Steve

Simon R Galley · Apr 4, 2007

Dear All,

ILFOSOL S when opened should be the colour of weak tea, more yellow than brown.

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited :

mkiernan · Apr 4, 2007

I used to use Ilfosol-S all the time (as it was the developer my Camera Shop carried). Although most bottles were fine, a couple were very bad, resulting in very thin negatives. I quickly learned that brown is bad, yellowish brown is OK. Relative to other developers Ilfosol is cheap, so I persevered for quite awhile, just throwing away bottles when they turned out brown. I have subsequently changes to HC110 because it is consistently OK, just like my preciously guarded stock of Rodinol (which is brown anyway). Ilfosol seems to be less reliable than other developers (at least the ones mentioned here), but it is value for money, and you can tell when it is off. I think your bottle is off.

Michael K

dphill · Apr 4, 2007

But Ilfosol 3 is supposed to fix that problem, right Simon?

Dan

Derek Lofgreen · Apr 4, 2007

Thanks guys. I was testing a very old folder and souped the negs with the dev and they are pretty thin. I don't know if it's the developer or the camera. I have another roll from a tired and true camera i will try with the developer. The developer does look like tea to me, glad to know it's supposed too.

D.

pentaxuser · Apr 4, 2007

Derek Lofgreen said:
Thanks guys. I was testing a very old folder and souped the negs with the dev and they are pretty thin. I don't know if it's the developer or the camera. I have another roll from a tired and true camera i will try with the developer. The developer does look like tea to me, glad to know it's supposed too.

D.

There was an article on Ilfosol and thin negs a couple of weeks ago in the U.K. magazine "Amateur Photographer". I cannot recall the film in question but the conclusion was that the Ilford dev times might be too short.

I posted a thread on 35mm D400 and Ilfosol. The Ilford times were 9 mins for 35mm but 10 for 120. Based on the article I decided on 10.5 mins for my 35mm D400. The negs were OK but I think that 11 mins might be even better.

So while 120 film in D400 is a minute longer, it could be that even 120 would benefit from longer dev.

Now for some speculation based on the above: The Ilford times might be a little short across a range of films. Certainly if 10.5 mins was about OK then 9 mins at 1.5 mins shorter is likely to produce thin negs.

pentaxuser

Uncle Bill · Apr 4, 2007

So when will Ilfosil 3 be available in the Americas and will there be a change in development times.

Bill

Derek Lofgreen · Apr 4, 2007

Hmm, the film was Pan F Plus and on the inside of the box it said to use Ilfosol S at 1:14 for 6 minutes. Did I read it wrong or is that what it's supposed to be?

D.

Simon R Galley · Apr 5, 2007

ILFOSOL 3 is scheduled for manufacture within the next three months. So USA in 4 months or so.

Simon.

Ole · Apr 5, 2007

That's great news Simon, even if I have a cupboard full of Ilfotec-HC!

Uncle Bill · Apr 5, 2007

Can't wait to try Ilfosil 3 out Simon. Let us know when its ready.

Bill

sienarot · Apr 7, 2007

The first time I used Ilfosol S, it was a very bright yellow (I don't know if I'd describe it as yellowy-brown). Before I found out about "sudden developer death syndrome" that Ilfosol is known to have, I used some that had been sitting around for many months only to find out it had expired. It was a very rusty brown colour at this time.

Is Ilfosol S supposed to be brown?

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