still a student but I just built my own darkroom!

The experience I've had in the darkroom has mainly been at school where all of the chemicals for both paper and film developing have already been chosen and mixed for us. Now, I do have a vague understanding of some common developers (Rodinal good for slow, big, film. Dektol good for paper) D76 is a good basic...but I'm not a fan.

I am looking for some suggestions as far as fixers for both film and paper and for a good film developer that isn't Rodinal or D76. I shoot Ilford Delta 400 35mm and use Ilford multigrade papers.

Also if I could get some suggestions for what to store the chemicals i'm using for my film in, that would be great too! does the developer get disposed of or does it get poured back? Like I said I'm still a little green and I really hate being clueless when it comes to the things that are important to me.

That's great to hear, having your own darkroom is so much better that using a community one. I think some of the fun is to experiment with different materials to get a sense of different things, especially if you are doing black and white, there are so many combinations. If you are on a budget the freestyle chemicals are really good alternatives.

Here are a few you should really give a try:

Xtol, hc110, in one shot dilutions

Lpd for papers

Arista rapid fixer or hypam.

You should reuse you print developer, stop, and fix. For films it's easier as a one shot developer unless you do a lot of rolls for replenishment, reuse stop and fixer as well.

And don't push aside d76 or dektol, both are really good developers that a few generations of darkroom printers have honed their skills on with. They are both inexpensive and deliver top quality results if used correctly and also have a bit or leeway if you don't when getting started.

I'm sure more people will chime in, this is a very common question.

Hello and welcome to apug! For storing chemistry I like to use the datatainer storage bottles (B&H sells them at a good price) but also if your the thrifty kind, I found out that old hydrogen peroxide bottles and 1/2 gallon or gallon sized amber jugs (like the ones used for prune juice or cider here in the US) are a good alternative. Always label properly and if you have little ones in the house it's best to keep all your photo chemistry in a lockable closet or shelf.
As far as what developers and fixers to buy, I'm sure you'll get a lot of suggestions. Personally, I'm very boring and Kodak-centric, I like to use Dektol, HC110, Kodak Indicator Stop Bath and Kodak Fixer. And Dektol isn't only for paper, it works great w/ film too, especially in higher dilutions, like 1:7 or even 1:20. A must though, IMHO, is Photo-Flo, its cheap, lasts long and cuts drying time. Good luck and have fun in your new darkroom!

Where are you? Some chems are not so easily available everywhere. You can do a lot worse than stick to ilfords range. I use delta400 as my main film and tend to use ddx. It's a little expensive but I find my usage rate matches it's storage rate well. I.e. it doesn't hang around too long. Don't reuse film developer but paper developer keeps a day or three. I regularly keep it a week and can't see any degregation in performance. For storage I buy 750ml and 1l white hpe bottles from fleabay. Others have different ideas but as the manufacturers use these they work for me. Don't use those awful accordion bottles. Don't use the same fixer for film and paper or you will get crap on your negs. Keep the clipped ends from your film after loading in the tanks to test your fixer is still working well. Discard when clearing time has doubled from fresh fixer.

It depends a bit on where you are, but there are few places where Ilford and Kodak materials are not obtainable.

If you use Ilford film, why not use their chemicals too? DD-X is expensive, but still only a fraction of the cost of the film you are developing. ID-11 is functionally identical to D76, and also an excellent developer. If you don't get good results with D76/ID-11 on Delta 400, you are expecting too much or doing something wrong. There is no magic bullet, so figure out what is bothering you and try to work on that. Of course, ask questions here if it will help.

Rodinal has never let me down, but you need to understand what it does, and what things it doesn't like. It needs very gentle agitation, not high temperature, and 1:50 dilution at least. Using it at 1:25 with rough and frequent agitation will never show you what it is capable of. At 22 deg C it produces noticeably more grain than at 20 deg C, and the theory is that 16 deg C is where it is actually best. I use it at 20, and accept the grain that it gives me. It is incredibly cheap and easy to make, too, as the Parodinal version. If I ever run into a developer crisis, I know my Parodinal is there to bail me out. And I'll print those negatives for anyone, anytime. It is a fantastic and convenient developer, used correctly.

All in all, I think the effort made to understand one developer and how to get the most from it is better invested than the effort spent in the hunt for the magic bullet. Whether that developer be HC-110, Rodinal, D76 or whatever else. If you ask 10 top-notch black and white photographers which film and developers they use, you'll probably get 10 different answers. But they'll all agree on this: Use what you have; understand what it does. I am fortunate to know one of the best printing experts in the world. He ran a black and white printing business for 40 years, and developed many famous photographers' films for them. I asked him what he used: D76 replenished, at 22 C and 8 minutes, regardless of which film it was. He can make a print from any negative that will blow your mind. He only uses Ilford paper and chemicals. Some photographers use TriX developed in D76, and nothing else, and produce results that are miles ahead of anything I can dream of. So, focus your energy on making good photographs, and use the Ilford (or Kodak) stuff as per instructions, and you will progress faster, IMHO.

D-76 is one good developer.

Develop the film using it and more importantly print those negatives and then you may know how much you want to differ for your existing choice but I presume not so much. ;-)

* Do not give up yet on Rodinal.

I prefer to use the film developers as one-shot.

D-76: @1+1(150ml of developer + 150ml of water) for 35mm film.

theburninghills said:

Also if I could get some suggestions for what to store the chemicals i'm using for my film in, that would be great too! does the developer get disposed of or does it get poured back?

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If the developer is the re-use type, e.g. TMax developer, Xtol or D76 at stock strength, you can pour it back into the bottle it was made up in. You keep track of the number of films developed, and adapt developing times accordingly. But it is not a perfect system, as each film is unique in the amount of developer it depletes. By film 12, it becomes a gamble.

For one-shot developers, simply discard after development. In this category are: Rodinal, HC-110 at dil "H", Xtol or D76 at 1:1 or 1:3, and many others. Usually only the stock strength stores well, and lower dilutions tend to crash soon, sometimes after even a few days or hours. So never be tempted to re-use anything diluted from stock strength. The amount of developer you consume per film is sometimes such that the developer becomes too depleted after the first roll in any case, and from there on you can expect inconsistency and failure.

Amber glass is good for storage, but inconvenient, heavy and prone to breakage. PET bottles are better for most purposes. If you store your chemicals in darkness, then transparent or white is fine. But if they stand on an open shelf, and you can't keep light away, it is much better to use amber glass or black PET. The cap is as important as the bottle. Make sure you get a plastic cap that seals perfectly. Never use a bottle with an aluminium cap - it gets corroded by alkali, and all developers are alkaline. Also, PET bottles can be squeezed to get most air out, whereas glass bottles have to be topped up with marbles. I find the latter impractical, and use only PET.

I love being in a darkroom. BTW welcome to APUG!

Jeff

If you want to step away from the ordinary, for a film developer, try Pyrocat HD. It's a two-part developer (mix x parts A, x parts B, y parts water) to come up with a working strength solution. I typically use it 1:1:100. This way it is very economical. It is a staining developer, meaning that it adds a proportional stain to the negative along with the developed silver. Do some reading here and over on LF Info to learn more about staining developers in general and Pyrocat HD in particular. For a paper developer, you can get Ansco 130, which you'll have to mix the stock from dry chemicals yourself, but it's not that much harder than mixing Dektol. Ansco 130 doesn't have the bromide drag problem you get with Dektol, so no more green tint to your shadows, and it really lasts forever, so it is very economical.

Welcome to APUG.

I much prefer replenished XTOL. If you live in the Los Angeles area, I can work with you and help you along when I finish moving back at the beginning of June.

I use T-max developer on-shot. It keeps a very long time as a liquid. Dilute it just before use. Same with fixer. I use Ammonia Thiosulfate and dilute it just before one-time use. It also seems to last a very long time. For stop I use 28% acetic acid. Again I dilute just before use and again it seems to last for a long time. I have been using that combination since 1988.

Jeff Kubach said:

I love being in a darkroom. BTW welcome to APUG!

Jeff

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ME TOO!

+ DITTO!!