Selectol (D-52) color when freshly mixed?

[frobozz]

I'm playing around with various weird cine films, some of which recommend D-97 developer. It's not available in prepackaged form, and I'm not set up to mix up stuff from discrete ingredients, so I was looking for something close. I read somewhere that D-97 is very similar to D-52 and sure enough that seems to be the case. So I scored some ancient cans of Selectol and mixed up a gallon.

The color was VERY brown as I started, but ended up a much lighter color, like very watered-down tea. The metal can was well sealed, the contents were white and completely loose and crystalline, nothing about it would make me think it had gone bad. And Selectol is often referred to as a warm-tone developer, so maybe it's not supposed to be crystal clear? I was hoping someone that had used the original Selectol/D-52 back in the day might be able to comment on this and let me know if it's normal, or a sign that it's toast.

I did dip a scrap of the film into the developer while it was still 90 degrees from having mixed it, and it very quickly turned completely black, so the developer still has some potency, it may just be off from its ideal performance if this weak brown color is not normal.

(Maybe for simplicity's sake I should just use Dektol. It's not like a warm tone makes any sense with film anyway!)

Duncan

 

[Gerald C Koch]

You don't need a special developer to develop cine films for still photography. I have developed hundreds of feet of Eastman film in regular developers such as HC-110 with excellend results. Cine negative film is designed to be printed on positive stock which requires a lower gamma negative. Therefore the recommended developers and times are not correct for still film use. For still use you need a gamma of about 0.55.

 

[nworth]

D-52 is usually clear and water white when freshly mixed. The brown color says that something was wrong and the developer went bad even before you used it. Most cine films develop very nicely in D-76. D-97 has some advantages for machine processing. As noted above, HC-110 works, too.

 

[frobozz]

Right, I get that in the long run I have lots of developer choices, but I wanted to get a baseline with something close to what the film is normally developed in. These are "positive" films (either negative films made for printing from negatives, or direct positive films) which use D-97.

For the negative films that use D-96, I'll just use ID-11, which is D-76, which is close enough to D-96.

Any idea what could have gone bad in a sealed can? There's only a couple of ingredients, the powder looked pearly white and loose and not clumped. It sure looked like the can was still perfectly sealed.

Duncan

 

[frobozz]

Just for reference, the ingredients for D-97 and D-52/Selectol are Metol (Elon), Sodium Sulfite, Hydroquinone, Sodium Carbonate, and Potassium Bromide. Any of those especially susceptible to aging even when sealed? Interestingly the Selectol can said to mix it at 90 degrees F, while the D-97 formula says to start with 125 degree F water.

Duncan

 

[frobozz]

Well, the Selectol wasn't even as dark as my usual working Rodinal solutions, though it certainly wasn't crystal clear/white. But it worked just fine, the first film I tested it on turned out perfectly.

Duncan

 

[frobozz]

OK, I picked up a much newer pack of Selectol, but it was in the foil/paper packaging. The crystals looked darker, more like sandbox sand... and when mixed it turned a very dark, opaque brown. Like mud. Now that was some Selectol that had gone bad! My canned stuff was a million miles away from that, just the slightest hint of brown to a very clear liquid. I'm gonna stick with the cans for now... though eventually I'll try some fresh Dektol to see if it makes any difference, and in the long run hope that one of my normal film developers will do as good a job anyway.

Duncan