Tgrained films in DD-X

[joeyk49]

Does anyone have experience with Ilford DD-X and T Grained films? I apologize for not knowing the chemistry involved here. I promise to one day spend some time learning which type of developer works best with which type of film. But with a 16 year old and an 11 year old, it just ain't gonna be this year...

I went in to my local camera shop because I'm low on developer and knew that he carried one of the old standards; D-76. Rodinal has gotten a little pricey for me, lately (I'm used to it at about 30% less than what its selling for now.)

I must now call it a camera store (if I can digress for a second) instead of a photography shop because the owner is slowly divesting himself of analog items; specifically chemicals. He even keeps what little he has behind the propped open door to his back stock room. If you don't know its there, you won't find it.

As it turns out, all he has left are some rather dusty bottles of Ilfosol S, DD-X and TMax developers. I asked him if the DDX will work with the TGrained stuff...he had no idea...I looked at the instruction sheet on the back of the bottle and it gave me times for TMax et al...BUT, its a liter bottle, which makes 5 liters of working solution...too much for me; so I put it back on the shelf and give a slight sigh...

Without missing a beat, the shop owner said, "If that'll work for you, I'll let you have it for half..."

One more example of an analog shutterbug finding some way to benefit from the digital revolution. I left with the DD-X, naturally; $7.00 for the bottle.

Now all I need to know is: Will it do double duty for my Pan F, Delta400, D3200 and T3200 stuff? These are the bulk of what I shoot....

 

[André E.C.]

Now all I need to know is: Will it do double duty for my Pan F, Delta400, D3200 and T3200 stuff? These are the bulk of what I shoot....

Joey,

DD-X was designed for work with tabular emulsions, I use it as my only developer, for tabular or traditional film, with very pleasing results .
As for the D3200 and T3200 question, well, gonna feel like fish in the water.
Give it a try!

Cheers

André

 

[joeyk49]

Joey,

As for the D3200 and T3200 question, well, gonna feel like fish in the water.
Give it a try!

André

At $7.00 for the bottle, precisely what I was thinking!

If its good with the traditional stuff, maybe I should try for some more...how long would you expect it to keep, unopened?

 

[André E.C.]

...how long would you expect it to keep, unopened?

Ilford says 2 years in full tightly capped bottles and 6 months in half full tightly capped ones.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/20061302032542969.pdf

Cheers

André

 

[FrankB]

DD-X works very nicely with Delta 100, Delta 400 and Delta 3200 and was my standard soup, until I was introduced to Aculux 2...!

 

[fwp]

I don't know about how well DD-X will work with pan-f but I've used it with Ilford's Delta film with excellent results. Since I like dilute developers I used it at 1:9.

 

[joeyk49]

only dilute as much concentrate as you need for each session, don't make up the whole 5 liters, because once diluted, it won't last long.
Jay

I learned that lesson already...

I noticed that standard dilution is 1:4, so it may not hang around as long as I originally thought...

I like the way PanF looks in Rodinal, but I may try a roll or two in DD-X just for the heck of it.

 

[André E.C.]

I use it as a one shot developer, at 1:4 or 1:7!
Have fun Joey!

André

 

[titrisol]

DDX is a home-user version of the good ol' Ilford dip and dunk (DD) developer, and it came to the markjet in the late 90s.
According to David Carper it was tested and developed to complement the DELTA film line, specially Delta 3200. It is also very good for pushing film.
In my own experience, it lasts a long time as a concentrate, I used a bottle in about 8 months and at the end of it didin;t worked as well as the 1st rolls.

I love that developer and it works great in all the Deltas, and Fuji Acros, have not tried it in TMAX.
In conventional films it does a great job in balancing grain, tonality and shrapness.

If economy is a concners, you can make a "session" of 6 or 7 rolls with one batch on 1+4 developer, without significant changes in quality, by following the instructions on the label. I got much better economy that way.

For PanF or similar I'd use 1+9 dilkution to keep the times within reasonable values.