I asked because one of the outside pro labs I use, North Coast Photo Service NCPS in Carlsbad,California, uses Clayton D76+.
I believe that F76+ is a PQ (Phenidone in place of Metol) developer. I use Clayton F76+ as my daily developer. I also home-brewed and used D76 (and variants) for thirty years or so until a few years ago when I opted for Claytons F76+. I think that Clayton’s gives excellent results (excellent tonality, fine-grain and open-shadow areas) with traditional as well as T-grained films. I find it easier to vary dilutions if I really have a roll that needs more or less contrast (rare). I also find it convenient (as it’s a liquid) and it lasts about three months if stored in tightly sealed containers in a dark, cool place.
I asked because one of the outside pro labs I use, North Coast Photo Service NCPS in Carlsbad,California, uses Clayton D76+.
Just another note. When I asked them what developer they normally used and they said Clayton D76+, they claimed to get similar results as Kodak's D76. I have no way to prove their claims nor have I made any comparisons.
One recommendation was some kind of rating or grading system to indicate how reliable the data is -- including a notation to identify "official" times provided by manufacturers. Do you have reason to believe something like that might actually happen?
Just another note. When I asked them what developer they normally used and they said Clayton D76+, they claimed to get similar results as Kodak's D76. I have no way to prove their claims nor have I made any comparisons.
As a postscript to my original post, in the last couple of weeks I’ve had the opportunity to test and compare the latest reincarnation of Kodak D76, Adox D76 and Ilford ID11 along side each other.
The current Kodak D76 would appear to be marginally weaker than previous versions and I would say a 20-25% increase in development times is needed.
Thank you for sharing this!As Kodak D76 is supposed to identical to ID11, and marketed as such, I used 35mm FP4 and the Ilford data of 11mins @ 1+1 for all three developers. On inspection both the Adox D76 and ID11 negatives were visually the same, while the D76 negatives appeared slightly underdeveloped. A second test with Kodak D76 extending the development times by 25% produced negatives closer in appearance to the results from the other two developers.
The current Kodak D76 would appear to be marginally weaker than previous versions and I would say a 20-25% increase in development times is needed.
Very interesting, thanks for the report.
Did you do the comparison by photographing the same subject and with fixed camera settings?
It would be interesting to also compare the grain structure and sharpness of the different developers. If you want, you could send me the negatives and I‘ll do a scan at 14‘000 or 20‘000ppi to see if there are any differences.
To produce the test film I choose an area of my garden that gave a full range of tones. In soft lighting, using my Nikon F2 mounted on a tripod and a 50mm lens, cable release and mirror lock up, I shot a complete roll of 36exp FP4. Exposing a series of five exposures, -2,-1, N, +1,+2, then a blank. To keep the lighting the same and the results even the whole film was shot in less than 3mins. In the darkroom the film was cut into three equal lengths, with each piece then loaded onto a spiral for processing one at a time.
To produce the test film I choose an area of my garden that gave a full range of tones. In soft lighting, using my Nikon F2 mounted on a tripod and a 50mm lens, cable release and mirror lock up, I shot a complete roll of 36exp FP4. Exposing a series of five exposures, -2,-1, N, +1,+2, then a blank. To keep the lighting the same and the results even the whole film was shot in less than 3mins. In the darkroom the film was cut into three equal lengths, with each piece then loaded onto a spiral for processing one at a time.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?