Using Dektol as a film developer

DanielStone · Apr 14, 2009

hi all,

had to ask this one as soon as i heard it with my own ears.

A friend of mine was telling me about how a woman who shot for Vogue back in the 50's used Dektol as her film developer. It gave hear a very graphic, high contrast look and obviously gave her the look she wanted.

I am very interested in trying this out for myself, but wasn't sure regarding times for developing, etc...

If any of you have had any experience, please let me know. Would be much appreciated.

Thanks

p.s. if any of you know the womans name, can you let me know, i would like to research her work.

DanielStone · Apr 14, 2009

also,

i have heard of people making black and white slides using c-41 color neg films in dektol and then using a reversal bath to create them. not the finest grained pieces of film, but have any of you experience with this?

if so, please let me know

thanks

gordrob · Apr 14, 2009

In Kodak's beginner photo kits for contact printing in the 60's - Kodak Tri-Chem Packs were used. The developer was Dektol and you used it for both film and paper development. In the kits it was recommended for use in developing Verichrome Pan film but in Kodak data books it was also recommended for rapid development of some high speed negative materials. Your best bet would be to test it on a sheet of film and see if you like the results.
Gord

jim appleyard · Apr 14, 2009

This has been done quite a bit and I think the common dilution is 1+9. a search here will bring up lots of info for you.

removed account4 · Apr 14, 2009

hi daniel

there are a ton of threads about using paper developer for film ...
search with the 'advanced search" / google search ( upper right )
using "dektol+filmdeveloper" as your key words ...
these should get your started at least

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

the last url has a few links showing the results of dektol+film ..

i have never processed film in dektol, but have processed quite a bit of film in
a print developer called ansco 130. dilute print developer gives a certain look
to film - sometimes good, sometimes bad - you have to be willing to shoot
a lot of rolls/sheets to figure out how you want to use it ( dilution, agitation methods ) ..

if you have money / film to burn, it can be kind of fun

Photo Engineer · Apr 14, 2009

Try Dektol 1:3 for 3 minutes or 1:7 for 7 minutes for most films. These are two good starting points to leap off from. We were taught this trick by Al Weber and Dave Vestal in their workshop. I had known about the use before that but had never had a really useful starting point until then.

PE

Thomas Bertilsson · Apr 14, 2009

At 1:7 - can the developer be re-used? Or is it single shot?

Photo Engineer · Apr 14, 2009

Thomas Bertilsson said:
At 1:7 - can the developer be re-used? Or is it single shot?

IDK. I would not reuse it anyhow at any strength given the cost of Dektol. It is pretty inexpensive.

PE

Thomas Bertilsson · Apr 14, 2009

Good point.

Mark Antony · Apr 14, 2009

I used Dektol to develop a roll of Tech pan in the 1980's where I needed only two tones black and white
I seem to remember I rated the Tech pan at 250 but can't for the life of me remember the dilution or time for the Dektol (in those days I just gave it the time from the data sheet).
I'll see if I can dig up the negs later...
Mark

R W Penn · Apr 14, 2009

In the 1950s for newspaper work sheet film was developed in 1-2 dektol dip in alky to remove water. Print developed in same tray of dectol {also called d-72} 10mins to get print to engraving room.

R W Penn · Apr 14, 2009

It was a great time to do photo work.

Mark Antony · Apr 14, 2009

I dug up the roll.
I didn't like it much then so this is the first image from that roll:

Mark

DanielStone · Apr 14, 2009

jim appleyard said:
This has been done quite a bit and I think the common dilution is 1+9. a search here will bring up lots of info for you.

is the 1:9 from the stock solution(already mixed with water, ready to use for print developing)

sorry, have never done this before. and without a regular source of income right now, looking, i have to watch my pocketbook for any undue expenses, that's why i shoot acros

Anscojohn · Apr 14, 2009

DanielStone said:
hi all,

had to ask this one as soon as i heard it with my own ears.

A friend of mine was telling me about how a woman who shot for Vogue back in the 50's used Dektol as her film developer. It gave hear a very graphic, high contrast look and obviously gave her the look she wanted.

I am very interested in trying this out for myself, but wasn't sure regarding times for developing, etc...

If any of you have had any experience, please let me know. Would be much appreciated.

Thanks
*******
We souped 4x5 Super Pan Pres Type B (ASA 125) in Dektol, printed the negs wet, and dried them on a dryer reserved for dirty prints when the courier was waiting for a print to take to the newspaper printer.

Two minutes in straight Dektol with constant, gentle agitation in a 5x7 tray did it. Beautiful negs, actually.

jim appleyard · Apr 14, 2009

DanielStone said:
is the 1:9 from the stock solution(already mixed with water, ready to use for print developing)

sorry, have never done this before. and without a regular source of income right now, looking, i have to watch my pocketbook for any undue expenses, that's why i shoot acros

Yes, stock diluted 1+9. I'm sorry I don't have a time for you, but that should come up in your search.

srs5694 · Apr 14, 2009

There are half a dozen entries for films in Dektol on the Massive Dev Chart. I actually would have expected more entries, but it's a start....

Philippe Grunchec · Apr 15, 2009

What aboutPQ Universal?

2F/2F · Apr 29, 2009

I used Dektol for grain and high contrast before I discovered D-19, which I found to be more versatile and easily controllable for film. Dektol gives the film a serious kick in the teeth, though. There is nothing off the shelf that I know of that does quite what it does to film (except perhaps graphic arts developers). I would use double the standard paper dilution (making it a 1 part stock to 7 parts water working solution) for five to ten minutes, if I remember correctly, depending on the contrast I wanted. I usually got the near-halftone look I wanted with eight to ten minutes on a contrasty film underexposed, like Pan F at 200 or FP4 at 500. 1:9 at 5 minutes might be something I would try if I wanted a little more midtone-wise...in fact, I might just try that now. I know for sure that I have something that I did with it and Rollei Pan 25. I should be able to find it easily if you are interested. It is not an extreme example, as it does have a midtone or two, but it will give you an idea. (All my times were arrived at using approximately 72F water, BTW.)

Joe O'Hara · Apr 30, 2009

Years back, I developed a couple of rolls of Tri-X 35mm exposed at ISO 1600 in Dektol. I don't recall the
development time or dilution. It produced a really intense, grainy image. In bright sunlight, it looked almost
like infrared film. Definitely worth a try.

jamesgignac · Apr 30, 2009

I was first trained (in my very lame highschool darkroom) using Dektol for both film and paper developing. A 1:9 mix for film was our standard, though our teacher usually tried to talk us into stretching our chemicals out even further than that.

To be honest when I finally started off on my own and did some reading I was rather surprised that there actually WERE separate film developers out there. What a crazy world! My prints have never been the same - typically for the better, though I still enjoy the high-contrast look of my highschool prints.

removed account4 · Apr 30, 2009

Mark Antony said:
I used Dektol to develop a roll of Tech pan in the 1980's where I needed only two tones black and white
I seem to remember I rated the Tech pan at 250 but can't for the life of me remember the dilution or time for the Dektol (in those days I just gave it the time from the data sheet).
I'll see if I can dig up the negs later...
Mark

mark

i used to do the same thing, techpan was the closest thing to
kodalith film, after kodalith became hard to get.
i seem to remember the instructions said to shoot at 250
and process in dektol ( 1:2 ) for about 3 or 4 minutes ..
but it was a while ago ...

artego1 · Nov 2, 2014

Dektol is great when used as a film developer for push-processing of films 2 stops. (rate Tri-X or HP-5 @1600 / FP-4 @ 400) and process for 6.5-7 minutes @68 degrees using a normal Dektol working dilution of 1:2 (1 part Dektol : 2 parts Water).

destroya · Nov 2, 2014

when i reversal process B&W film I use dektol 1:2 for the first developer as you really need the high contrast in the first developer. never tried it for straight neg development though,

WALKSWITHLIGHT · Sep 12, 2016

DanielStone said:
hi all,

had to ask this one as soon as i heard it with my own ears.

A friend of mine was telling me about how a woman who shot for Vogue back in the 50's used Dektol as her film developer. It gave hear a very graphic, high contrast look and obviously gave her the look she wanted.

I am very interested in trying this out for myself, but wasn't sure regarding times for developing, etc...

If any of you have had any experience, please let me know. Would be much appreciated.

Thanks

p.s. if any of you know the womans name, can you let me know, i would like to research her work.

Hi. I use Dektol to develop Rollei Retro 400S film. I put water

Using Dektol as a film developer

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency