Print developer that doesn't use hydroquinone

[eSPhotos]

Does anyone know the print developer recipes that doesn't use hydroquinone?
My stock of hydroquinone is getting low and it's not easy to buy in Aus.
Thanks

 

[Athiril]

vanbar sell it, though its like 4x cost now than last time, since they only let you get it in lots of lower quantity @ higher price.

 

[eSPhotos]

Thanks Athiril, I will check them out.

Done some web surfing and found one called Chris Patton's E-72 which is a variation of D-72 but uses Ascorbic Acid in place of hydroquinone.
Sounds perfect for me as I have stacks of AA.
Has anyone used this?

 

[piu58]

Maco sells their Rollei Vintage Classic Developer which is HQ free: http://www.macodirect.de/rollei-vintagebrclassic-developerbr1-liter-p-450.html

 

[ath]

Well, there is http://www.jackspcs.com/ and the article section of apug.

 

[Neal]

Dear eSPhotos,

I think Eco Pro is still availalbe.

Neal Wydra

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Google for Ryuji Suzuki's DS-14 and DS-15 developers which uses ascorbic acid.

 

[Murray Kelly]

Pat Gainer described a perfectly good paper developer with Phenidone, ascorbic Acid (health food shop) and Sod. Carb. (pool pH raiser (Bunnings)) Big advantage: it doesn't stain the working area!

Details escape me now but it shouldn't be too hard to find here.

D-72 (Dektol) easily replicated or boughten.

The Oz suppliers are slowly dying. And I don't believe it's our fault. They would rather sell digital stuff.

 

[eSPhotos]

Thanks all,
Will follow up on those items mentioned.
Don't know what happened but Ryuji Suzuki's Silvergrain site is closed ..

 

[john_s]

I have bought hydroquinone from Merck in Melbourne.

 

[john_s]

.....Don't know what happened but Ryuji Suzuki's Silvergrain site is closed ..

Maybe RJ has moved on. When i find interesting info on the web these days, I take a copy of it. I have a copy of RJ's paper dev article if interested. I'll attempt to attach the formulas for his latest published developers. I guess that DS-14 will last longer than DS-15 based on his recommendations for Nova processors where dev is usually left for some time.

 

[john_s]

Attached excerpt.

 

[eSPhotos]

Thanks John, much appreciated.
I have not tried any of RJ's developers but I'll have a go.

 

[MichaelMadio]

Here's one based on Patrick Gainer's that I use:

Sodium Carbonate - 5g
Ascorbic Acid - 4g
Phenidone - 0.1g
Potassium Bromide - 0.5g
Water to make 1L

 

[nworth]

There are a lot of them. Metol only formulations give soft results, like Kodak Selectol Soft. Amidol developers are short lived, energetic, cold tone. Catechol developers are warm tone. Glycin developers can be either warm or neutral tone and usually have good keeping propertied. here is a short list of various formulas (far from exhaustive) for you to look at:

Agfa 105 soft working paper developer
Water (52C) 750 ml
Metol 3 g
Sodium sulfite (anh) 15 g
Sodium carbonate (mono) 15 g
Potassium bromide 400 mg
WTM 1 l
Use undiluted. Develop 1-1/2 minutes.

Ansco 113 cold tone paper developer
Water 750 ml
Amidol 6.6 g
Sodium sulfite (anh) 44 g
Potasssium bromide 500 mg
WTM 1 l
Mix immediately before use.
Do not dilute. Develop 2 minutes, followed by citric acid stop bath.
May be diluted up to 1:20 for progressively softer results.

Catechol warm tone paper developer
Water (43C) 700 ml
Pyrocatechin 4 g
Potassium carbonate 45 g
Potassium bromide 400 mg
WTM 1 l
Use full strength at 38C with greatly reduced exposure. After development, cool the print in a water bath.

DeSmidt Print developer
Water 1500 ml
Phenidone 200 mg
(4 ml of 5% solution in methanol)
Ascorbic acid 10 g
Sodium sulfite 30 g
Sodium carbonate 50 g
Benzotriazole (2%) 25 ml
WTM 2 l

Edwal 102 paper developer (Formulary 102)
Water (52C) 900 ml
Sodium sulfite 80 g
Sodium phosphate (tri-basic) 120 g
Glycin 25 g
Potassium bromide 3 g
WTM 1 l
Dilute 1:3 for slower papers, 1:4 for faster papers. Develop 2 - 6 minutes. (No image will appear in the first minute or so.) Use a non-hardening fixer.
Gives neutral black tones. If desired, potassium bromide (10 percent solution) may be added as needed.


Gevaert GD-11 warm tone paper developer
Sodium sulfite 28.4 g
Glycin 14.2 g
Potassium carbonate 74.4 g
Potassium bromide 7 g
WTM 1 l
Variation in tone may be obtained by changing the bromide concentration, time of development, and temperature. The longer the exposure and shorter the development, the warmer the tone.


Glycin paper developer
Gives black tones with bromide papers, warm black to sepia tones on chloride and
chlorobromide papers.
Water 1 l
Sodium sulfite 100 g
Trisodium phosphate 125 g
Glycin 25 g
Potassium bromide 1-3 g
Dilute 1:3 for chloride and chlorobromide papers, 1:4 for bromide papers. Develop 2 to 3 minutes.
Note: A wide range of effects is possible by varying the dilution, exposure, and developing time.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Thanks all,
Will follow up on those items mentioned.
Don't know what happened but Ryuji Suzuki's Silvergrain site is closed ..

You can still find the formulas on the web. In fact I think they are in the APUG archives.

 

[nworth]

I got curious again. I mixed up two trays of developer. One was D-72 (1+2); the other was the same as D-72, except that I substituted catechol (1,2-dihydroxybenzene) for hydroquinone (1,4-dihydroxybenzene). I made prints from two negatives, developing identical exposures on Adox MCP-312 in each developer for 1 minute 50 seconds. After fixing, rinsing, and a brief drying, an initial inspection showed that the prints from the different developers were essentially identical in tone, density, and contrast. In fact, I couldn't tell them apart.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Catechol is interesting in that it can be used as the only developing agent. Such catechol developers were popular in the 30's and 40's for 35mm films.

 

[wogster]

Here's one based on Patrick Gainer's that I use:

Sodium Carbonate - 5g
Ascorbic Acid - 4g
Phenidone - 0.1g
Potassium Bromide - 0.5g
Water to make 1L

What happened to Patrick, he doesn't seem to post anymore....

 

[eSPhotos]

Thanks all,
Indeed, there are a lot of recipes that uses ascorbic acid.
Studying a few recipes in non-scientific way, it seems that hydroquinone can be replaced by ascorbic acid with pH correction or with sodium ascorbate.
I think the best way to learn is to mix a few and test.