stick to one developer and film combo: really?

[brooklynkid]

Kodak X-tol

Great results with APX 100 and Kodak X-tol. However, now that Agfa discontinuing APX series, the experiments start again. X-tol will still be the developer of choice.

 

[CBG]

For someone totally new to shooting and processing - I think it's a wonderful piece of advice - for a while - and with a few important caveats.

There are so awfully many variables that most anything that can get rid of a few variables will help a beginner get an effective handle on truly essential controls.

Presuming the beginner is shooting ordinary subject matter as learning material, I would urge the learner to start with a very "middle of the road" film / developer combination, nothing fancy or weird, as basic as trix / d76 or Ilford's or whoever's similar. Leave notions of great art for later. Just learn to focus, compose, load a tank and agitate ... the basics, until the new photographer gets a real sense of what one can expect from a given shot.

As soon as one knows what to expect - then the learner has the clarity to start seeing the differences obtained from different techniques.

Best,

C

"a common piece of advice i hear is for someone new to developing to stick to one film and developer for the first XX number of rolls and get to know the characteristics. this makes a lot of sense, since it's hard to know what's going right or wrong if the variables keep changing."

 

[Black Dog]

It's definitely sound advice. I mean, tanning/staining devs are tops IMO but can be a bit daunting and faffy for beginners compared to say Aculux (great with HP5+), or Acutol (great with FP4+).

 

[nworth]

It's a good idea to stick to one film-developer combination when you can. This is especially true for the occassional photographer and for beginners, although the beginner may want to experiment a bit to find a combination he is comfortable with. If you switch around, you will get inconsistent results. There are exceptions. You may not be able to find your favorites. So then you substitute and hope for the best. You may want to explore some special characteristic of a particular film or developer. Fine, but bracket exposures and be prepared for unexpected results. You may just want to explore. Fine, but don't risk important shots that way.

 

[removed account4]

the best thing about using one developer and one film is you can fool around with your film and be comfortable with your developer ... and then, you can fool around with your developer and be comfortable with your film.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I've been playing around with various films and three main developers (Diafine, Rodinal, and D76) for years. I've just lately stopped using D76, though I want to start again for experimenting. I've always been one to experiment with things rather than to just blindly follow instructions. I do have favorite combinations, though, and tend to use those more frequently: Tri-X and FP4 in Diafine and Tri-X, FP4, and Pan-F in Rodinal.

My next experiment is cheapo Chinese film in coffee developer. Most likely Caffenol C or just regular Caffenol.

 

[per volquartz]

Nothing comes easy...

A painter will select his brush based on temperament and look.
A photographer should select his film likewise.

A painter selects his pigments and pallette, again to suit his feelings and to fit the content of the end result.
A photographer should select his developers for the same reasons.

A photographer should learn to work with one film developer combination to fully understand the effects of how agitation and development times affect the look of that particular film.

After this is well understood I recommend to buy a brick of the same film (50 rolls of either 35mm or 120) and try various developers, shooting the same subject matter with the same film. Then you will understand what different developers do.

In addition to making test prints of each type of film / developer combination I would further suggest to look at film grain structure under a microscope, then look at corresponding prints. That way you will better understand why a given print looks the way it does.

After this I'd buy ten rolls of each type of film (slow, medium, fast, - and different brands, Efke, Ilford, Kodak and Fuji, Arista etc...) and try these films - shooting the same subject matter - and process the film using the developer - or developers you felt looked best in your deveoper tests.

Then you'll have enough knowledge to select your film like a painter select his or her brush.
By trying your favorite developers from your developer tests you'll learn to select your pigments and pallete - again like a painter.

Finally, Id say that is important to alway test and try new films and developers. To follow blindly what works for someone else's style will only lead to plagiarism and boring images.

 

[frugal]

Again, I'd say I have no problem with experimentation but, especially when just learning, it needs to be done in a more formal testing way so that you can compare things. For instance, try the same film in multiple developers and then compare the results, then you're looking at how that film reacts in the different developers. Or try different films in the same developer, same thing, there's a basis for comparison. But I see a lot of people talking about trying a wide variety of films and each in their own developers and I find myself wondering how they can ever learn anything from that since they're changing 2 variables at the same time (and this also assumes that they get the processing right for each combination).

I'm planning to try some different films and developers soon but I plan to try to be a little systematic about it and use each film in each developer so that I can see which combinations work with each particular film and make some informed decisions.