The return of the Syrup: HC-110 in the water-free version manufactured again

[runswithsizzers]

Only information available regarding development times for Adox HC-110 Professional is on the bottle.

Hopefully, there is more information on the back of the bottle? Instructions for making dilutions, storage life of dilutions, etc? If not, we are forced to track down information about "the German version produced until 2022" for more specific information. Would that 2022 product have the Kodak brand on it, or Tetenal, or something else? What was the Tetenal version called, and did Tetenal release data sheets?

What's strange is that their HC-110 is not part of their listed developers on their website.

I agree. It's been 8 months since the announcement that opens this thread, and I cannot find a single mention of Adox HC-110 Pro on their website. Not one. (At least not on the English version of the website.)

 

[pentaxuser]

Have you looked at the FotoImpex site? It is that one that carries Adox products It is there - I have just looked
I have no idea of the situation in the U.S. but it is certainly the one that makes sense for us in Europe to buy, both in terms of availability, reliabilty( it's clearly the genuine syrupy one) and price


pentaxuser

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Have you looked at the FotoImpex site? It is that one that carries Adox products It is there - I have just looked
I have no idea of the situation in the U.S. but it is certainly the one that makes sense for us in Europe to buy, both in terms of availability, reliabilty( it's clearly the genuine syrupy one) and price


pentaxuser

Don't know about the US either, but it's available in Canada. I have two bottles at home, bought in Montreal.

 

[cowanw]

Don't know about the US either, but it's available in Canada. I have two bottles at home, bought in Montreal.

May I ask, where from?

 

[MattKing]

I made this little table comparing three of the HC-110 varients. I know there are others, but these are the three I would be considering. BTW I think B&H might still have some of the syrupy Kodak HC-110 from 2019 available? But my table includes only the current, thinner version from PSI (Photo Systems, Inc).

View attachment 407024

I could not find any downloadable PDF data sheet documents for ADOX HC-110 or Kodak Professional High Concentrate. However, I'm sure those products come with some kind of instructions and (hopefully) some recommended times for some selected films. If anyone knows where the maufacturer's product instructions can be viewed online, I would love to look at them.

Use J-24 for the Kodak Professional High Concentrate product - that performance is what the developer is intended to provide.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Have you looked at the FotoImpex site? It is that one that carries Adox products It is there - I have just looked
I have no idea of the situation in the U.S. but it is certainly the one that makes sense for us in Europe to buy, both in terms of availability, reliabilty( it's clearly the genuine syrupy one) and price


pentaxuser

Yes, the Fotoimpex website shows ADOX HC-110 PRO is in stock and available for sale. The Fotoimpex page makes MSDS available for download, however, they do not provide any other technical data like dilutions, storage, and developing times (other than rough guidelines that are printed on the front label of the bottle). Normally I go to the manufacturer for that kind of information rather than a retailer, but some retailers provide a link to the manufacturer's data sheet or specific information about how to use the product. However, as previously mentioned, if the Adox website mentions ADOX HC-110 PRO, I can't find it.

The Fotoimpex page also mentions"
"Some chemicals must not be transported in a world airfreight parcel. Please choose your country in the checkout process to see if we can ship this item to you. We have solutions for many countries."
... so it is possible delivery from Berlin to the USA may go by boat?

Don't know about the US either, but it's available in Canada. I have two bottles at home, bought in Montreal.

To be clear, are you saying you bought the new ADOX HC-110 PRO in Montreal?

 

[Alex Benjamin]

To be clear, are you saying you bought the new ADOX HC-110 PRO in Montreal?

Yes.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

I've tried it over the week-end with Delta 100, Tri-X, FP4+ and HP5+. It works exactly as I remember the old HC-110 working, in that it's a beautiful but extremely unforgiving developer.

By "unforgiving" I mean that development times are so short, and this developer so active, that 15 to 30 seconds one way or the other has a huge impact (a complain Barry Thornton had with HC-110 and the reason why he abandoned it). The recommendations on the label are good starting points, but in that minute span they suggest, you can go from a gorgeous negative to a nearly unprintable one.

So it's a developer that, more than many others, needs a lot of testing, both for the speed at which you rate your film, and for the development times that works best for you.

Hopefully, there is more information on the back of the bottle? Instructions for making dilutions, storage life of dilutions, etc?

Absolutely none. Just the usual warnings about toxicity.

 

[DREW WILEY]

There's nothing particularly fussy about HC-110; it was marketed for its consistency. And if your development times are too short, you're either using too strong a concentration or too high a temp. I don't know how one could be 30 sec off with any developer; that sounds careless. Perhaps you are mixing it incorrectly.

 

[pentaxuser]

Would the suggestion provided by Covington Innovations, which Matt mentioned, solve the "critical" nature of the short times in the case of some films, namely by moving to higher dilution?

pentaxuser

 

[logan2z]

There's nothing particularly fussy about HC-110; it was marketed for its consistency. And if your development times are too short, you're either using too strong a concentration or too high a temp. I don't know how one could be 30 sec off with any developer; that sounds careless. Perhaps you are mixing it incorrectly.

Would the suggestion provided by Covington Innovations, which Matt mentioned, solve the "critical" nature of the short times in the case of some films, namely by moving to higher dilution?

pentaxuser

FWIW, I use dilution H which is 1:63. That results in a 10 1/2 minute development time for HP5+ @ 68 degrees F.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

There's nothing particularly fussy about HC-110; it was marketed for its consistency. And if your development times are too short, you're either using too strong a concentration or too high a temp. I don't know how one could be 30 sec off with any developer; that sounds careless. Perhaps you are mixing it incorrectly.

Well, Drew, while it's true that I didn't exactly pass my high-school math classes with flying colours, I do know how to mix 1+31 .

Now if you took the time to read the Adox HC-110 label, you'd have realized that they acknowledge the fact I noted, by stating "High dilutions for contrast control possible!".

At dilution B, HC-110 is fussy, and, when the manufacturer suggests development times as "Aprox. 5-6 minutes," well, then it is quite possible to be 30 seconds off without being careless.

Would the suggestion provided by Covington Innovations, which Matt mentioned, solve the "critical" nature of the short times in the case of some films, namely by moving to higher dilution?

As I just mentioned, Adox does suggest moving to higher dilutions to better control contrast.

I didn't have much time to work with it this weekend, so just went for 1+31 with FP4+ and Delta 100, and Bruce Barnbaum's 1+33 dilution with HP5+.

For Delta 100, I went for 6 minutes, Ilford's suggested time for HC-110, and the upper limit time suggested by Adox for 100 ASA films. The negative is clearly over-developed, and I'm sure shaving off 30 seconds will make a big difference.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Generally, the instructions were to dilute the concentrate 1:3 for stock usage, then further dilute that down to whatever working strength you want. I happen to dilute all the way down from concentrated syrup; but I'm very careful how I do it, since the concentrate can stick to the sides and bottom of the graduate and come out unevenly.

5 or 6 minutes is ridiculously fast, and somewhat hard to control. Something is amiss. You might want to check the Massive Development Chart for more typical usage. Also note Logan's preference for dilution H on a previous post.

I never trust Barnbaum because he preaches placing shadows values belly-button high up on the curve. That kind of old-school "thick negative" technique might have made sense back in the day when contact papers were routine and light meters dicey. But it also explains why he has to bleach his print highlights so much, due to overexposure. Yes, he gets the look he wants; but he does it the hard way.

 

[MattKing]

FWIW, I always found @JBrunner 's 1 + 49 dilution suggestion to be quite handy: https://www.photrio.com/forum/resources/hc110-made-simple.220/