LPD developer

I am using LPD developer for the first time, can someone advice on how to prepare the concentrate solution (powder+water)?
How long should it stay before being used?

thanks

Hello, LPD is really great stuff! I get the to make 1 gallon powder version(small can). I put half a gallon of warm distilled water in a brown gallon size container, then pour the powder in mixing in figure eight motion. Then when almost tea color and clarity I add the rest of the water to make a gallon. Once it is mixed you can use it to make your working solution. When I print, I usually mix it 1:3, it should last at least 4 days in the open tray, sometimes more.
Hope this helps
PBrooks

! mix it 1:1 to 1:4, generally somewhere in between. When i'm done I store it in a plastic jug. I get several uses out of it over the course of a month or two. It keeps working and working. When it gets tired, I add a little bit of stock back in to it.

Buy it in the can, it's the best way to go.
Also, once you mix the powder and water (which is stock), put it in a glass bottle. Glass vodka/whiskey bottles are good, particularly ones with plastic screw caps. My stock lasts upwards of a year in a full bottle if not longer.
I'm still using stuff from last year, and even when it is murky brown it will still work.

Great stuff! I haven't used anything else in years.

How would LPD compare to Ansco 130??

I'm not familiar with Ansco 130, but compared to Dektol.. LPD seems richer and deeper. It can be more cold or warm depending on dilution but it also depends on the paper.

Generally I think of it as being similar to Dektol but it's longevity and versatility are what makes it preferable. Also it's price is very reasonable compared to Dektol.

If I were mixing my own things might and would probably be different..
Hopefully someone with Ansco 130 experience could chime in..

LPD, Ansco 130 and Dektol are my favorites.

The nice thing about LPD is that dilution controls the color while not affecting the contrast. There are subtle differences between all three, depending on the paper you're using as well.

LPD & 130 seem to last forever, especially if you rebottle them at the end of every session.

VincentM said:

How would LPD compare to Ansco 130??

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Ansco 130 is a Hydroquinone/Metol/Glycin print developer - - not a Phenidone/Hydroquinone developer like ETHOL LPD.

I like the rich Ansco 130 blacks much better than the blacks I got with LPD.

And of course, I still like MA Smith's Amidol formula best of all.

Of all the Phenidone/Hydroquinone (i.e. PQ) paper developers I have used, I personally like Ilford ID-78 the best - not LPD.

LPD & 130 seem to last forever, especially if you re bottle them at the end of every session.

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I wanted to make a test print day before yesterday but needed to mix up fresh chemistry, I found a half full gallon jug of mixed LPD under the sink and used it. It worked just as if I had just mixed it. What ever is in it keeps it for a long time. I have three cans of it left on hand.

I usually mix up Amidol up but the LPD is one of those great developers that I like to use to.

I think what make the L in LPD is the use of phenidone. Resistant to bromide created from the developing process. Phenidone paper developers were pretty rare, IIRC, when LPD came out.

I make my own using Ilford ID-62 and bump the sulfite to 100 grams for extra oxidation protection. I have intentionally left this out in open trays, partially used, with FL summer temps, and it was finally taken down after a couple of weeks.

Mix the whole batch and break into small bottles, either glass or plastic filled to the brim. In that way it keeps for severla months (I tried 1 year until I used my last)
I liked LPD a lot, specially since dilution determined how your images look. 1+3 was my standard (500 ml of concentrate to 2l ) for the trays I had, even though I used 1+6 or even 1+20 some times.
I found that higher dilutions made images warmer in Ilford Warmtone, AGFA MCP and Patteson papers, and the effect of Selenium toner in these prints was a lot richer than in lower dilution prints.
Even hard to print papaers (Ilford MG-RC) had a significant change in tone.

I switched to LPD last year, and have been enjoying it ever since with the Fomatone 333 papers. It gives beautiful results depending upon dilution.

But I must confess I buy the liquid all ready to go. I'm disabled, and standing in the darkroom for 1 day leaves me down for 2, so the liquid version is much much handier. Just mix & go. Always mix up a fresh batch before each printing session, that way the quality level stays high.

I've found that the brown "Berghoff" brand of rootbeer/diet rootbeer dark brown bottles come in very handy for fixer, and would probably be just as good with your situation. It's made by the "Berghoff German Restaurant" in Chicago, and darkroom use always gives me an excuse for the wife to keep some around haha.