Kentmere 100 in HC-110

RattyMouse · Jun 29, 2016

Anyone have guidance on how to develop Kentmere 100 in Kodak HC-110? I like to use Dilution E if possible so that would be best for me. I'll take dilution B if I have to though.

Thanks!

Ko.Fe. · Jun 29, 2016

I'm using what is in Massive Developing Chart.

Jon Buffington · Jun 29, 2016

Tom, you have seen lots of my examples of kentmere 100 with hc110. I use dilution h. My normal method which works well for me is 30 seconds of gentle agitation with gentle agitation every 2 minutes afterwards. I develop for 13-13.5 minutes at 68 deg. Negs turn out very nice. One thing I have found with kentmere is it does tend to blow the highlights a bit easier than other films. I find with the higher dilution and gentle agitation method above that I can generally preserve the highlights and get a bit better shadow detail.

chriscrawfordphoto · Jun 29, 2016

Here's the tech info sheet for Kentmere 400:
http://www.kentmere.co.uk/Webfiles/20091291714152280.pdf

I would try the times the info sheet gives for Ilfotech HC developer. Ilfotech HC is ilford's version of HC-110 and they have identical developing times for most films.

Jon Buffington · Jun 29, 2016

Above developing method. First is with a Nikon FM and series e 28/2.8 w/ yellow filter Second is a Canon A1 or Ae1 with chrome nosed 35/2 (slightly yellowed from thorium, no filter)

Jon Buffington · Jun 29, 2016

I have found kentmere 400 needs more developing time than 100. This is from developing about 15-20 rolls of each over the past year. Just my experience. Above method I need 14 min with 400, 13 is enough for good dense negs on 100.

RattyMouse · Jun 30, 2016

Jon Buffington said:
Tom, you have seen lots of my examples of kentmere 100 with hc110. I use dilution h. My normal method which works well for me is 30 seconds of gentle agitation with gentle agitation every 2 minutes afterwards. I develop for 13-13.5 minutes at 68 deg. Negs turn out very nice. One thing I have found with kentmere is it does tend to blow the highlights a bit easier than other films. I find with the higher dilution and gentle agitation method above that I can generally preserve the highlights and get a bit better shadow detail.

Thanks Jon. I tend to like to develop faster than this so I might use dilution B after all. That plus the minimum amount of concentrate might make that necessary.

I'm only doing a single roll of film so may need to use a higher dilution.

Your results, as always, are spectacular.

HiHoSilver · Jun 30, 2016

'Just a 2nd on Ratty's appreciation of your results, Jon. 'Very beautiful.

Jon Buffington · Jul 1, 2016

Well, I appreciate the kind words, Tom as well as yours, hihosilver Please post some examples with dilution b.

RattyMouse · Jul 5, 2016

RattyMouse said:
Anyone have guidance on how to develop Kentmere 100 in Kodak HC-110? I like to use Dilution E if possible so that would be best for me. I'll take dilution B if I have to though.

Thanks!

Just an update here, I used Dilution B at 22 degrees C for 5.75 mins and it worked out real well. Nice negatives that were very easy to work with.

Jon Buffington · Jul 8, 2016

Glad to hear it! Got any example to post? I will have to give that dilution/time a try.

stefano giovannini · Sep 28, 2016

How does HC-110 compare to XTOL for Kentmere 400? I just started shooting / processing film again. I was pleasantly surprised by K400, nicer results than TX. I am going to do some shot comparison with T Max 400.

I am tempted to buy a bottle of HC-110, although I like the eco friendliness of XTOL.

Looking at Massive Dev Chart I noticed that using HC-110 dil B the dev times between Kentmere 400 and T Max 400 are the same basically 5.5 min
while using XTOL it is 12 min and 9.25 min for the different films.

Seems like a huge difference.

I also noticed often the dev times for HP5+ and K400 are similar but there is no HC-110 dil E times for K400. Could I use the HP% times?

5 min at 20 C is too short, considering in the summer I get usually 24 C temperatures without putting an ice cube or 2 in the developer solution (but then I'd worry of temp increase shift while developing).

thanks

stefano

OptiKen · Sep 28, 2016

I too, use HC-110 @ H dilution. The higher rate of dilution with the longer times seems to yield a broader tonal range for me

stefano giovannini · Sep 28, 2016

Thanks. Have you compared it to XTOL? do you use the times from Massive Dev Chart?

Jon Buffington · Sep 28, 2016

Haven't been using much hc110 lately (on an id-11 and rodinal kick) but here are some from last year with kentmere 400. Same developing technique I posted above.
with om10 and zuiko 50/1.8

and with an oly XA

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-jh6kncw/0/XL/i-jh6kncw-XL.jpg

looks like my notes are 14minutes with slight agi every 2 minutes dilution h. Later in my notes I have a star 13.5 minutes at 68 deg. Either 13.5 or 14 would work well with kentmere 400. Granted these were scans with some slight (levels, sharpening) in LR5

stefano giovannini · Sep 28, 2016

Wow - very nice, especially the tree. What scanner?
I have been photographing negs with a macro lens and mirrorless sony camera. Faster than scanning (Epson V550), grain is visible, but scanner has more contrast. It is a bit hard to invert negs in Lightroom as sliders are reversed and small movements change a lot/

soem samples
TMAX
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155256806653066.1073742131.631078065&type=1&l=4bba4c6521

TMY and K400
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155249194618066.1073742130.631078065&type=1&l=3b50541f08

here a mix of Kentmere 400 and T Max. all in Xtol. I found Tri X too coarse, even if I like contrast, TX is not what I remember from the 1990s.
I just shot 1 roll of TMY and K400. same shots, same lens on 2 Minolta AF SLR cameras. Developing now and will look at the differences.

I wonder if HC-110 would be better for my style (also easier to mix.

Jon Buffington · Sep 29, 2016

Not to get on a scanner discussion on APUG but I will answer your question. I use a Kodak Pakon F135+
I find k400 having a lot less contrast with hc110 than hp5 at 400. Of course developing I am sure plays a part. My experience with TX is different than yours though.

Kentmere is a just a little bit more grainy than TX and HP5+ but not in a bad way. The lower contrast can be advantageous in harsh, contrasty light. Any 400 film really with the wide exposure latitude. Other than the grain (which many see as a non issue and even others prefer), it is a top notch film. Of course, YMMV.

stefano giovannini · Sep 29, 2016

Here are my samples
Kentmere 400 and T Max 400, developed in Xtol 1+1 according to the Massive Dev Chart. Negs digitized with Sony A6000 and macro lens over a lightbox.
Cameras were Minolta Maxxum 70 and Minolta Maxxum 5 with Minolta 24-85 mm AF.
had to increase the contrast a bit in Lightroom. I wonder if with HC-110 I'd get some deeper blacks and brighter whites out of the tank
Compare full frame and some 100% and 50% crops

PS first image of buildings was cropped about 15% to a tighter crop

stefano giovannini · Sep 29, 2016

another

Jon Buffington · Sep 29, 2016

I think your samples show how good k400 really is. Obviously tmy2 will be near grainless due to be T Grain however k400 offers a very pleasing, traditional style grain with plenty of resolution. Nice work!

stefano giovannini · Sep 29, 2016

Yeah, somehow I find the K400 nicer that TX, more detail in the highlights and more grays.
Somehow for a dollar more per roll, the TMY-2 may be a better deal.
I'd like to get some deeper blacks without increasing contrast or making the midtones too dark.
Do you think the look of these photos would be very different with HC-110 than XTOL 1+1? I wish HC-110 would be available in small sample 100ml bottles as well.

Jon Buffington · Sep 29, 2016

stefano giovannini said:
Yeah, somehow I find the K400 nicer that TX, more detail in the highlights and more grays.
Somehow for a dollar more per roll, the TMY-2 may be a better deal.
I'd like to get some deeper blacks without increasing contrast or making the midtones too dark.
Do you think the look of these photos would be very different with HC-110 than XTOL 1+1? I wish HC-110 would be available in small sample 100ml bottles as well.

If buying cassettes, I generally spend the extra dollar for tmy2/delta400/TX/HP5 however k400 in bulk is super cheap through B&H so I buy bulk rolls and load my own.

stefano giovannini · Sep 29, 2016

Thanks.
Delta and HP5 are $3 more than Kentmere. Is Kentmere 400 similar to HP5? I am afraid of scratches with bulk loading. Also do you lose the last shot of the roll with bulk loading? not sure if it is worth loading, buying the loader and the cassettes.

I just would like to know if TMY in HC-110 would have more contrast than in Xtol 1+1. Wish there was a small size of HC-110 for testing

Jon Buffington · Sep 30, 2016

stefano giovannini said:
Thanks.

I just would like to know if TMY in HC-110 would have more contrast than in Xtol 1+1. Wish there was a small size of HC-110 for testing

Don't know but I believe agitation (amount, frequency) is going to have more to do with contrast as with time.

Plenty of threads on bulk loading. Some like to do it, some don't. You do lose some frames. Kentmere to my eyes is not like hp5+

Kentmere 100 in HC-110

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