As previously said D-72 is great for paper, usable for film and also easy to mix yourself. You can also divide it in 2 parts, part A with the sulfite and metol, Part B with the Hq, carbonate and KBr. The first part will be D-23 , a great film developer.
One developer for both film and paper?
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I like D-23 a lot. Soon I will be trying the two-bath D-23 by Barry Thornton.
I've tried the two bath a few years ago but was not so happy with the results. I thinks I'll have to try again since everybody seems to like it.
The "One developer fits all" that I have used and liked the most is Kalogen. It's flying way under the radar, but really shouldn't be. You can do a simple search by just typing in Kalogen in the search bar for this forum. I'll give Gerald Koch's times and dilutions, plus the formula.
Here's the formula:
Kalogen
Distilled water 750ml
Metol 12.5g
Sodium Sulfite 150g
Potassium Bromide 7.5g
Benzotriazole, %1 50ml
Hydroquineone 45g
Sodium Hydroxide 22.5
Distilled water to make 1l
Dilutions as Gerald suggested from his post:
I might add that I use it at 1+99 for slow films and 1+49 for medium to fast speed film and 1+11 to 1+15 for papers.
Example times
Ilford Pan F+ EI = 64 1+99 13 m @20C
Eastman 5222 EI = 400 1+49 11 m @20C
Now at 8 1/2 years for full PET bottle without any sign of decomposition.
That should give you a good idea what this developer is. I have used it for film and paper, and it works perfect, is very economical and has a shelf life that should last until the next ice age. I just mixed up a brand-new batch, but I have part of a glass bottle full that was made in 2016, which works just as well as the new batch. Folks here should really truly give this developer a try. Gerald said it was the only developer for both his film and paper developing that he used for the last few years. I must add that Gerald was highly respected on this site and a very good chemist.
Here's the formula:
Kalogen
Distilled water 750ml
Metol 12.5g
Sodium Sulfite 150g
Potassium Bromide 7.5g
Benzotriazole, %1 50ml
Hydroquineone 45g
Sodium Hydroxide 22.5
Distilled water to make 1l
Dilutions as Gerald suggested from his post:
I might add that I use it at 1+99 for slow films and 1+49 for medium to fast speed film and 1+11 to 1+15 for papers.
Example times
Ilford Pan F+ EI = 64 1+99 13 m @20C
Eastman 5222 EI = 400 1+49 11 m @20C
Now at 8 1/2 years for full PET bottle without any sign of decomposition.
That should give you a good idea what this developer is. I have used it for film and paper, and it works perfect, is very economical and has a shelf life that should last until the next ice age. I just mixed up a brand-new batch, but I have part of a glass bottle full that was made in 2016, which works just as well as the new batch. Folks here should really truly give this developer a try. Gerald said it was the only developer for both his film and paper developing that he used for the last few years. I must add that Gerald was highly respected on this site and a very good chemist.
Should be 0.1%. The solubility of benzo is too low to attain 1%.
Hmm! I don't know, but I've mixed the recipe exactly how Gerald wrote it, and it worked perfect. I've not had a problem of making a 1% solution of Benzotriazole? You do have to heat the water to about 150F degrees.
If you manage to get more than 5 grams of benzo to dissolve in one litre of water, whatever temperature, and actually stay dissolved, it's not benzo.
Well, I have been known to be wrong before. Just ask my wife. I don't have my Benzotriazole here at home, so I can't mix a new 1% solution until I get back to my cottage. I'm still fairly sure I had no problem mixing 10g of Benzotriazole into 1 liter of heated distilled water. Of course, my memory could be affected by a brain fart lodged crossways in the bat cage that sits on top of my shoulders. So you could be right Don.
Here is how I do my own DIY chemistry. I bought an assortment of amber glass bottles in different sizes and labeled them sodium sulfite, metol sodium carbonate, borax ect with the measured amounts. For example, d-23 is 100 grams of sodium sulphite and 7.5 grams of metol. I then fill 6-12 bottles of metol and 6-12 bottles of sodium sulfite and I bag them as individual 1 liter kits. I also do my d-72 the same way. This is a nice project to do on a cold night instead of watching you tube. Now I have fresh chemistry ready to mix at the drop of a hat. After it is mixed I rinse the little bottles with the warm solution and then place a bottle of frozen water in the mixing beaker to quickly cool it back to 70 degrees or so. I rinse the bottles with water and dry them on a rack to be ready for the next weighing session.
It can be mixed into Alcohol or Glycol to create a 1% solution which in this case is omitted.
True, its solubility is much higher in alcohol. However, if the solution is to be made in something other than water, it should be specified. Frankly, when mixing the above formula, it would be easy enough to just mix in the 0.5g.
It's odd another source for a formula (Digital Truth) is more concentrated in terms of developing agents and doesn't even include benzotriazole. Although, the difference between 0g/L and 0.5g/L of benzo might not be that significant, diluted down 1/50.
The formula listed here is an improved version posted by someone in this forum. He re-calculated the amount of developing agents and alkali. As a matter of fact, he found the original formula (the one listed on Digital Truth) had too much Hydroxide. IMHO, the benzotriazole in this formula was intended for paper dev in order to prevent it being too warm-toned and could be omitted for film.
This was a rabbit hole.
Everywhere you look, there are variations of this formula. Some guy on Flickr cites references to numerous 125-year-old journals as the origin, but no direct links. When I search those journals, I find no such thing (fun looking, though). The oldest reference is Paul Anderson's Pictorial Photography in 1917, where it's unnamed.
No benzotriazole and the amounts convert to the amounts given at Digital Truth.
Anyway, my only concern was people trying to make a 1% solution of benzo in water. And in the other thread, it seems like benzo as a powder won't dissolve in the formula directly.
If benzo is to be used when this is diluted for paper use, it would be sensible to have a half-litre of 0.1% benzo in water to add at that time, rather than in the Kalogen stock. The reduced bromide is likely inconsequential with fresh film.
Yes, I agree, there or more than one way to skin a cat. I just mix it the way Gerald Koch had it in his revised version. Had no problem mixing and it works very nicely. I used to keep a bottle of Rodinal in the darkroom since it was handy and had a "no end" shelf life. Now I just keep Kalogen on hand and it serves the purpose.
It does seem to be a valuable thing to have.
Yes, it's really a pretty potent developer for both film and paper. The real reason I started experimenting with Kalogen to see if it would work alright for me was I needed a handy developer in a small package with excellent or good shelf life. That was because I'm constantly going back and forth between my cottage and home and bringing my gallon + replenisher of Xtol was out of the question. Now I can cart one tiny bottle of Kalogen and two small bottles of Pyrocat-HDC A and B. That way I have things covered very well. Is Kalogen perfect? No, but it's pretty darn good enough for me.
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