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scared to commit

Dont go out and buy a bunch of different developers. Instead, buy one developer and a few rolls of the same type film that has Grandmoms pics, and become familiar with both. After some practice you will be confident enough to develope the important negatives.IMHO, jumping around between different chems and filma wont give you the knowledge of what to expect from any of them.
 

+1
 
As posted in the two above. Learn one film and one developer very well before thinking about formulating a schedule to start an analysis of considering forming a committee to discuss planning the use of another film type or developer. :rolleyes:

Got it?

Steve
 
For Pan F, FP4+, and HP5+, my favorite developer that works well with all three and gives me the results I like, is either Rodinal or HC-110.

It takes a lot of work to use a film and developer to good potential, and seeing what you can get on a print. Once you are getting good "scientific" objective results, you can decide if it looks the way you like.

Keeping good notes is a big help.
 


The last time I checked the inability to commit is historically a male problem and not a female problem.

Steve
 
I agree, millions of film went through D76 by some pretty decent photographers.
Robert Budding said:
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.
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For now, just pick a convenient developer and one or maybe two emulsions (a fast and slow) and stick with them until you know them intimately. Differences are minor. You won't be able to take advantage of the characteristics of any developer/film combo until you are its daddy.
 
Dear Logan,

All the films and developers you mentioned in your post are just fine. Pick a developer, randomly if you wish, and concentrate on getting it working for you.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra
 

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nick mulder said:
He might have been referring to the tendancy of some developers to heat up upon mixing
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That has never happened to me, and I use (and mix) XTOL exclusively. It's probably harder to mix and bake a cake than it is to make XTOL stock from powder. Seriously, if you can make Kool-Aid, then you can make XTOL stock.
 

Fortunately for me, the water I use for my chemistry comes in 1.0 liter bottles. So, I don't even need measurement markings. When I originally started, it helped that the first bucket I bought (from the hardware store) had every liter marked; it was a clear, transparent bucket. That's really handy.
 

Ah but some of the chemical increase the volume of liquid when they are mixed. That is why I said to fill to 5 liters after mixing.

Steve
 
tkamiya said:
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.
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Indeed. Think about it this way: Every one of those products listed for sale at Adorama (or B&H or Freestyle or whatever) is used by somebody -- in fact, a lot of somebodies -- in preference to all the other products. Those that don't develop a following get discontinued. Given the huge number of developers available, that should tell you that there is no clear-cut "best" developer, even for particular films. (I'm pretty sure there are more commercially available developers than there are films, and this ignores the mix-it-yourself developers.)

I'll echo a question asked by others, Logan: Why aren't you satisfied with your results? If you're seeing inconsistency between rolls (one is overdeveloped and the next is underdeveloped), then it could be better control in your own darkroom would fix the problem, no change in developer required; or maybe you need to learn to better control a factor like temperature or agitation technique. If you're seeing other flaws (scratches, surge marks, etc.), then please describe the problems or post samples; somebody here can probably help you eliminate the problems. If your prints lack a particular look you think they should have, then perhaps you should post some examples, both of your prints and of what you like. Maybe somebody could offer you some tips about how to get the look you want. In some cases the problem could be in making prints (or scanning) rather than in film developing, too; or maybe you need to change the way you shoot (control lighting, say) rather than the way you develop your film.

Although experimenting with different developers can be worthwhile, that should be done once you've mastered the basics. Perhaps you've done so and you really just need an unusual developer to match your vision; but I suspect you're running into some other problem that requires some other type of refinement, in which case experimenting with developers will be a waste of time, at least right now.

Brandon D. said:
It's probably harder to mix and bake a cake than it is to make XTOL stock from powder. Seriously, if you can make Kool-Aid, then you can make XTOL stock.
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This is certainly true. If the only concern about powders is the difficulty of mixing them, I wouldn't worry about it. As others have said, a bucket with appropriate volumes marked out will do the job. The comparison to Kool-Aid is a good one. Baking a cake, even from a mix, is much harder than mixing XTOL (or D-76 or any other commercial powdered developer).

That said, other problems with powder developers have come up in this thread, and sometimes issues like the space they consume (once mixed to stock) or longevity (again, once mixed to stock) are important. Logan will have to decide that for herself. There are certainly good liquid B&W developers, and if you like one of them, then great -- use it.
 

Well, no developing system is absolutely perfect and completely "umproblematic" to work with. Imperfection is normal in photography. There are always dilemmas to work around considering that we're up against Murphy's Law, pretty much, no matter what we're trying to accomplish. Yet, that hasn't stopped those of us who use powdered developers successfully on a consistent basis with relative ease. I came up with a solution for storage & space before I ever bought my developer, e.g., it helps to research old threads to see how others store their chemicals. And, as far as longevity is concerned, many people have had XTOL stock last for up to 6-12 months. So, many problems are pretty easy to avoid.
 
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Hi Logan,

It seems there are 2 questions - one.. how to develop the 'important' rolls. The comments about picking any good 'standard' developer... D76, Sprint etc.... are very good.... along with shooting a few rolls of the same film under similar lighting(indoors) to make sure you have it right.... then develop the important rolls.

When doing those important rolls.. take you time... double check and label any container for all the chems (dev/stop/fix)... to make sure they don't get mixed. True story... after developing a few hundred rolls over 15 yrs.... I managed to develop similar, important rolls(last of my mother-in-law)... with my fixer ( ... The first clue was when the developer didn't come out of the tank purple like it usually did. It was the first and only time I've made that mistake.

As far as other rolls and being satisfied with negatives? I found that getting my exposures right made things far more right than changing any developer did. I like liquid chems too, and so I've settled into Rodinal or Pyrocat for most things. If I was a powder person, I think I'd settle into D76 and make it work well for me.
 
Robert Budding said:
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.
Click to expand...

Agree. All the developers you have used are solid classic developers. If you are not happy then you need to figure out what you are doing wrong rather than look for a magic bullet. I would stick to any of the three developers and mix it yourself. Sprint is a particular favorite of mine and is a liquid, and D76 and Xtol are superb classic developers. D76 is a true classic and Xtol is a modern classic. If D76 (or Xtol or Sprint) mixed correctly is not doing the job then you need to double check your technique including metering and exposure, temp, agitation, dilutions etc. BTW both Sprint (a Phenidone/hydroquinone developer) and Xtol will likely give you a higher effective film speed than D76 but you should at some point do your own film speed test using your selected developer and see, it is more important specially since you are not happy with your current result. Is your meter accurate? Is the thermometer accurate? Mix/dissolve the chemistry yourself to take out that concern.
 
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The reason that I like to use a concentrated liguid developer like Rodinal or HC-110 is that they take up little space in an improvised darkrsoom. The concentrates keep very well and there is no bother with powders. If you use a powdered developer you should not mix it in the same room that you use for developing since any dust that escapes during mixing can later settle on undeveloped film and papers.
 
Thanks everyone, I think I'm going to go with the Ilford ID-11 developer. I've been in a fog with trying to plan my grandmother's funeral. Hopefully once it is all behind me I can think straight enough to put an order in.

Logan
 
I finally made my order. I got Ilford ID-11. I finally realized I just had to do it. I also ordered one of those plastic suit hanging bags from target. Does anyone know how long it takes film to dry in one of those? I have pets so I can't just hang my film in the shower, but if I hang the film in an enclosed plastic bag I would imagine it would take quite awhile for it to dry.

Thanks again,
Logan
 
I used to use one of those and let my film hang over night. I doesn't hurt to have a vent in the bottom to allow some moisture out and a little fresh air in.
 

See, I told you you could get over it. Men have the commitment problem.

Steve
 
Ok that's a good idea... I think I'll just leave it in the shower overnight because the animals dont normally go into the bathroom (Ihave 6 dogs and 3 cats).

And I think its not so much of a committment problem, but control issue. I like having complete control and understanding of things, and I don't quite get how the chemicals and film and what not work to get a negative in the end. I mean I get the idea and concept, but not every detail... I don't know maybe I just need to let go I did buy a copy of the darkroom cookbook vol 2 (for film developing) b/c someone recommended it and hopefully that will make it easier for me to get a better picture.

Logan
 
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