What is a good traveling developer?

[Loose Gravel]

I'm thinking of going either to Europe or Asia for a few months (sometime in the distant future), and I'm wondering about developing my film as I go. I would take a tank for rolls and buy something for the 45 sheet film. Normally I use PMK on HP5+, but I wonder about flying around with bags of white powder and trying to explain this to customs. Can photo chemicals be had easily in other parts of the world? Is there some developer that works well with HP5+ that might be mixed from grocery store items? Should I take HC110 syrup or PMK premixed? Fixer need not be anything too special, as I will refix when I get home.

As always, I thank you for your ideas.

--LG--

 

[Roger Hicks]

I'm thinking of going either to Europe or Asia for a few months (sometime in the distant future), and I'm wondering about developing my film as I go. I would take a tank for rolls and buy something for the 45 sheet film. Normally I use PMK on HP5+, but I wonder about flying around with bags of white powder and trying to explain this to customs. Can photo chemicals be had easily in other parts of the world? Is there some developer that works well with HP5+ that might be mixed from grocery store items? Should I take HC110 syrup or PMK premixed? Fixer need not be anything too special, as I will refix when I get home.

As always, I thank you for your ideas.

--LG--

Europe and Asia are both big places. A lot depends on where you'll be. I'd personally back Ilford DD-X once you're on the ground, but with current restrictions (125ml? -- on CONTAINER size, not the amount of liquid it contains) white powder is probably easier.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Loose Gravel]

You're right, those are big places. I am thinking now of Czech Republic and Turkey, but my world traveling sister is suggesting Spain and Portugal. Right now these are dreams, but some kind of sabbatical like this would be fun.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Diafine comes in a small can. A client of mine used this dev when travelling in India, it is a no nonsense dev and may be the ticket for you.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Depending on where in Asia you'll be, look into one of those tropical developers that will work effectively at high water temperatures. If you go to Turkey, probably not a problem. If you head to someplace like India or Thailand, something that works at high temperatures would be a good idea. One thing you can do is shortly before your trip, when you have your first hotel already booked, contact the hotel and let them know you'll be shipping something to them (your developer and fixer chemistry), and ship powdered chems directly to them, still in the OEM packaging. I'd recommend Pyrocat-HD and TF4 Fixer from Photo Formulary. Contact the Formulary in advance and see if they have foreign-language MSDS insert sheets for their chemicals, so you can have them wrapped around the box when it goes in FedEx or whoever you ship with. If you go with Kodak or Ilford chemistry, they'll probably have those MSDS sheets in any language you might want.

I can put in a plug for Spain here. Spain is a wonderful destination - it is still one of the (relative) bargains of Europe, with great internal transportation on the RENFE rail system (you can do all kinds of route planning on their website, in English if you need to). The people are generally very nice and friendly, and there is fantastic food to be had - travel around the country and hit establishments that specialize in regional cuisine. I can give you restaurant and hotel recommendations for a number of locations in Spain. Oh, and with few exceptions, there will be nowhere you'll go that you won't have the camera glued to your face. One of the great things about Spain is the perpetual juxtaposition of the truly ancient with the modern. You can walk down a single street and go from a Santiago Calatrava designed bridge to a medieval chapel to a Roman fortification to a Moorish palace in a quarter mile.

 

[agGNOME]

Just a couple of tips to possibly consider:
-With a standard 1000ml stainless steel tank you can develop 4 4x5 sheets using rubber bands.
- A two-bath developer such as divded d-76 would give you versatility develop in most environments with little fuss over exact methods, times, and temps. The downside is that you may pigeonhole yourself with a set iso on your choosen film.

enjoy your time & soak in the culture

 

[Mike Richards]

Experience in Europe

I've lived in Europe -- Germany and Greece -- for 10 years now. Had very good experiences with Tetenal chemicals, which are widely available. For an all purpose developer, Neopresss HC is the equivalent of HC-110. And I use Superfix Plus diluted about 7 to 1 for a one-shot fixer -- fixes nicely in 4 minutes and needs only minimal washing. The nice thing about Tetenal chemicals is that they tend to run about half the price of equivalent Kodak or Ilford products. At least you won't feel so bad when you have to discard what you haven't used. You can probably bring along a small eyedropper bottle of wetting agent in your cabin baggage when you fly. Demineralized water is a good idea and generally available in any grocery store. Usually there's a picture of a flatiron if you can't read the label. I buy mine at a discount grocery store -- LIDL. These stores are more common than Starbucks. If you Google your itinerary cities with "photo chemicals" or something like that, you can probably identify sources beforehand. Best wishes for your journey, wherever it takes you.

 

[BradS]

HC-110 comes immediately to mind although I'm not fond of what it does to HP5+...besides, I think you'd have trouble carrying that much liquid with you on the plane and, I'd hate to leave it in the checked luggage to burst, freeze or otherwise make life interesting.

I love HP5+ in D-23. With just two ingredients, what could be simpler? It also is quite forgiving with respect to temperature. I'd go with D-23.

 

[glennfromwy]

One nice thing about Diafine - you don't have to discard it. You just use it over and over. Works at elevated temps to 85° F. without any changes. If you can find a 1 quart kit, you could take it over unopened in it's cans and mix it when you get there. A couple of liter plastic bottles from the grocer and you're set. You'll need the 2 liters of water to mix it anyway. The cans are the same kind canned food comes in - totally sealed, so there should be no problems with the security aspect.

 

[removed account4]

you can always process your film in coffee and vitamin c and washing soda.
they won't give you any raised eyebrows at the airport,
and you don't need to worry about nasty stuff in your luggage.
just make sure you use the cheepest most awful coffee you can find (instant).
... good coffee doesn't work well when it comes to developing film.

 

[lawrenceimpey]

I recently shipped some white powder -- Diafine and Xtol -- from the States to London in my checked baggage without a problem. Liquids are another matter and to be avoided. Personally I would go with D23. Take some some small digital scales and you can measure up what you need from just two chemicals (metol & sodium sulphite). That way you'll avoid travelling with liquids, which are forbidden on many flights and rather heavy. And there's always the chance they will spill all over your pyjamas :-(

 

[Paul Howell]

Diafine comes in a small can. A client of mine used this dev when travelling in India, it is a no nonsense dev and may be the ticket for you.

When I was working for the wire I covered Southern Eroupe and Africa, I always traveled with a couple of quart kits of Diafine, dont need stop, fixer, and wetting agent.