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scared to commit

caocholta

Member
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Jun 6, 2010
Messages
10
Location
Maryland, US
Format
35mm
Ok so I have been shooting B&W off and onfor the last 8 years. I'm getting tired of going to the local community college's darkroom to develop my film. I never know who used, if it was mixed properly etc... I've been trying to get myself to commit to a developer for several months now. The ones that I have had personnal experince with is Sprint, Kodak Xtol and D-76. I never was quite satisfied with the negatives. I primarily shoot FP4 and HP5, occassionally PAN-F and SFX. I don't mind having different developers for different film (I definately shoot enough volume). My one real criteria is I would like to avoid powder. I am just worried I would never mix up a batch 'right'.

I have been looking at the pyrocoat developer... but I don't have enough experience to know if that is the right developer for me.

I need to commit and stop being a pansy when it comes to choosing a developer.

Thanks,
Logan

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Logan,

We use Sprint in our darkrooms at school, its what I teach my students on. I often use it myself. However I always have a bottle of Rodinal around. Probably one of the cheapest, most versatile, and easy to mix developers. And it lasts forever. They are the only two film developers I use anymore.

You're about to get 200 suggestions hehe. But honestly, if you spend some time with the Sprint developer and really nail a film with it, its fine stuff. Probably 50% of my students choose the two Ilford films you mentioned, the other 50% usually shoot Tri-X ... even my beginning B&W classes get good negatives from the Ilford films out of the gate, and over the semester I see the students refine their methods so that the film processing part becomes second nature.

Good luck!
 
Why aren't you satisfied with your negs ?
 
Perhaps try Ilford ID-11? I've used XTOL on HP5 for the last several months working in a community darkroom, with good results. Not keen on mixing powders, for whatever lame reason, so I picked up some ID-11 for use at home. It's a liquid, rather pricey compared with powders, but for my limited amounts I'm never going to notice the cost.
 

Huh, I didn't know ID-11 came in a liquid ... all our stock is powder. Is that new? I used to use this a lot years ago.
 
Make a list of liquid developers available to you. Close your eyes and put your finger on one. Buy it, use it and if you want, pour it down the drain. What are you committing... 10 bucks?

DDX
rodinal
HC110
Tmax developer
Pyrocat
all off the top of my head.
buy two and alternate until you see a difference.

Dennis
 
I'm not sure why you are afraid of powder.... It's really easy to mix and as long as you follow instructions, you really can't mess up.

Basically, take water of specified amount, dump the powder and stir.... stir.... and stir.... Then, add enough water to make the required amount. That's it. If XTOL, you have powder A and B. Dump A and stir... dump B and stir... add water.

There's nothing to it.
 

Except you have to wait for it to cool down Also, storage may be an issue if one is traveling somewhere to develop .. sure, you can break it down into smaller containers, but I've always found a small bottle of one-shot developer to be more convienent. Powered devs are best maximized if you can really control their use and extend them with proper replenishment. But sure, its nowhere near impossible to use them, and mixing is quite easy.
 

no need to cool down for Xtol, it can be mixed at room temp.
 
Laurent said:
no need to cool down for Xtol, it can be mixed at room temp.
Click to expand...

He might have been referring to the tendancy of some developers to heat up upon mixing - - some sort of endo/exothermic entropy/enthalpy thing I learned about then forgot years ago ... Anyways, D19 does so noticeably
 
I've only ever used powder developers, to develop my film.

Before Agfa's demise, it was Atomal FF (sigh) and now D76, as I was in dire need and couldn't pick up anything else to try at the time.

I do have 5-6 bottles of ID11 in liquid form (if memory serves) that I was given, but still not tried out.

Powder is fine as long as you mix it well. I usually mix it at about 24C-26C, so by the time I've added the top up water from the tap, it's about right for my processing. If not, I use my dev/temp chart and adjust accordingly.
 
nick mulder said:
He might have been referring to the tendancy of some developers to heat up upon mixing - - some sort of endo/exothermic entropy/enthalpy thing I learned about then forgot years ago ... Anyways, D19 does so noticeably
Click to expand...

Na, I meant the devs that require 90+ degree mixing temps
 
Are you guys sure about the ID-11 in liquid form? Never heard of it and nothing in Ilford's spec sheets about it.
 
You needn't be fearful of Pyrocat-HD, just purchase two childrens medicine dosing syringes, and label them "A" and "B" to keep them seperate so as not to cross-contaminate the bottles. Its mixed as needed at the time of developing, gives outstanding results.
I also recommend D-76, not hard to mix, and will last months in full, tightly stoppered bottles. Yes, the water does need to be hot (straight from the tap works) for mixing, but only 3/4's of the solution, then adding in the balance of the water will cool it down. This is done in advance, and then decant as much stock solution to use as needed, and diluting further does not require hot water.
As to you not being satisfied with your negatives, why? Getting great negatives takes some experimentation, and keeping good notes to find the combination of exposure and development to reach it.
 
The OP has tried some very good general purpose developers. It makes more sense to figure out what's wrong with his current process than to search for a magic bullet.
 
caocholta said:
Ok so I have been shooting B&W off and onfor the last 8 years. I'm getting tired of going to the local community college's darkroom to develop my film. I never know who used, if it was mixed properly etc...

Dead Link Removed
Click to expand...

I didn't read it as another "magic bullet" thread ... because the statement above is often the case at schools. Gang darkrooms can be hit or miss, especially if they aren't well managed by good staff. Even in ours over the years, we've had the odd work-study student mix up chemistry wrong for whatever reason, even after extensive training. Or an elective student will pollute a tank ... etc. Obviously the starting point for all of us should be a well controlled environment that we personally oversee and control.

So I read his request as more of a "I need a developer I can carry back and forth with me so I know I've controlled that part." He's received some good suggestions, now has to try a few

But yes, it may help us all if you could be more specific about what you don't like about you negatives. The problem might not reside with the developer at all .. could be camera metering, or a combination of that with inappropriate development times.

I'd think that over 8 years you got at least SOME good film out of that darkroom
 
You can probably develop film better at home than a school darkroom. That's why I built a darkroom, plus so I could develop at odd hours when the school darkroom is closed.

The quality control, cleanliness, repeatability, will be much better at home if you do everything yourself. At school, you don't know if your developer is used or new or set around for days prior without a cap. You don't know if the thermometer is any good, etc...
 
Well first I'm going to say I'm a she not a he (It is a peeve of mine... thanks to my parents choice of names).

No I am not looking for a magic bullet, but rather more control. I guess I just need to buy some developers and experiment and get over myself I just have two really, really important rolls of my grandmother in the hospital right before she passed and I've been somewhat hyperventilating over not f***ing the negs up.

I was going to set up a little film chemistry area in my house. I already have a dark box and everything else besides chemicals (the important stuff). So I was just trying to see what everyone recommended for liquid developers. Maybe one day I'll grow some balls and try powder... It really was a prof. of mine several years back that scared me off of powder... he was pretty persistent that I really wanted liquid.

As a side note is there any collective work somewhere that lists all the developers and what they are best for etc... It seems to me that everytime I ask someone about a developer they go oh this one is really great if you stop down with this film at this speed and this one is even beter if whatever. I'm assuming it is mostly opinion, but I am just curious
 

The trick is to go to a paint store and buy a big white plastic paint bucket. Mark the inside of the bucket at 4.0 liters and 5.0 liters [and maybe 0.5 gallons and 1.0 gallons for good measure - pun pun pun]. Fill to 4.0 liters and mix in A, stir for a few minutes. This way you can see when A is completely mixed! Add about 0.5 liters, not 1.0 liters and add B and stir. The color changes. Keep stirring. Then when you think it is mixed fill to 5.0 liters and stir for a minute or two.

The last time I did this I found that I had some powder at the bottom of the bucket when I was pouring the last liter. I poured all the XTOL back in the bucket and stirred for another minute or two and then all the powder was absorbed.

This is a good practice to use for mixing all powdered chemical. It is much better than trying to mix in a bottle.

Steve
 

The main reason I do all my film at school:

1. Nice film dryer. I have pets at home

2. Temp controlled rooms and water

But I still use my own Developers
 
Wait.... you are not "he" and you are going to see if you "grow balls?" I have one of those names, too. I used to get all sorts of useless sample products in mail that I have no use for.

This question of "what's a best developer" has been asked here so many times and never once, I've seen a consensus. List usually looks like developer section of Adorama or something. I don't think you'll get the kind of answer you are looking for. You can mix yours a day ahead and avoid temperature problems. Need to measure fairly precise amount, dissolve well, etc, is all the same. I'm curious, why your professor insisted on liquid....

For your important roll, you'll probably better off picking one of the same you are used to using, do a test roll first to make sure, then proceed.
 
5stringdeath said:
The main reason I do all my film at school:

1. Nice film dryer. I have pets at home

2. Temp controlled rooms and water

But I still use my own Developers
Click to expand...

I hate using the dryer at the school... there is so much sh*t at the bottom of it and I have to sit there and guard my film so that I can insure no one touches it or knocks it off.

I must have a complex because as a little girl I used to do swim team and I would always get a trophy with a male swimmer wearing a speedo ontop whereas all my firends would get a "female trophy".

Later today I'm going to sit down and just make an order of several kinds of developers. I'll order some powdered ones and invite my dad over for dinner (he is a nuclear engineer and gets all excited about this kind of stuff) so that I can insure it will be done right.

Logan
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