What is your Favorite General Purpose Film Developer?

[markbarendt]

DD-X or WD2D+

Started with D-76, moved to XTol replenished. I didn't see a big difference in negative quality between these two, both were just fine, the ease of replenishment was the biggie for me. Truly, replenished systems are really sweet to use.

I switched to DD-X because my processing volume had changed and to be honest just wanted to try something different. DD-X truly seems to be a bit of a step up in quality from the above, this is highly subjective but it seems to give me negatives that print the way I like easier.

The WD2D+ has been a big surprise. I tried it on a whim here lately just to see why some people like Pyro developers so much. The prints are beautiful so far and films that I found finicky before (in reliably getting the planned contrast from development), like Delta 100, have at least so far been automatic for me in WD2D+ using the numbers right off the instruction sheet.

The finickyness of Delta 100, and the very few roll of TMax 100 that I've tried, has been true for me with D-76, XTol, and DD-X.

WD2D+ does take just a little extra work, a pre-wet step plus measuring and mixing for every run. It requires use within 3-minutes so there's no mixing enough for the day, you have to mix as you go for each tank or tray, and you should use protective gloves.

Even with the extra work I can see the distinct possibility of WD2D+ becoming my general purpose developer if it remains as automatic and reliable as it has been so far. Reliably good results without a lot of thought is really what I want from a general purpose developer.

 

[markbarendt]

Pyrocat HD is all I use these days, so reliable and easy to use and the negative print so easily.

Ian

You beat me to it with fewer words to say the same thing.

I'd almost bet that whatever Pyro I had started with would have shown me these advantages.

 

[daleeman]

I must admit I am a diehard Diafine user.

 

[IloveTLRs]

R09 one shot

Develop Pan F+ 50 in it and you'll see why

 

[bdial]

replenished Xtol

 

[Neal]

Xtol. Almost exclusively for at least 10 years now.

Neal Wydra

 

[Rick A]

D-76 for many years, lately its Pyrocat-HD or Rodinal, and D-76.

 

[Henry Alive]

HC110, 1:47 (E)

 

[zsas]

Newly come back to film and Xtol has been perfect thus far

 

[Marvin]

D76

 

[bblhed]

I like D-76 stock, as my normal solution and I use it 1 shot, I guess I need to get out more.

I was on a dektol 1:3 kick for a while and I liked the rough grain of it, but then my tastes changed.

 

[cliveh]

D76 at 1:1

 

[piu58]

Rodinal. I like it's sharpness and flexibiity.

 

[dmdair]

Great responses from everyone, Thank You! Lots of ideas on Developers to try!

Thanks Again,
Matthew

 

[Alan W]

T max rs 1+9 for tmax 400,tmax 100 and delta 400.D76 for everything else(right now!)

 

[brucemuir]

Pyrocat is not Pyro.

Pyrocat is Pyrocatechin
and PMK is Pyrogallol? (plus metol)

Is this correct?

I use PMK but in the category of general purpose I would probably say D76 1+1 for my most used.

 

[Roger Cole]

I think a lot depends on what you consider "general purpose." I use T-Max mainly for Kodak films, Diafine for Tri-X at times, but I consider D76 "the standard" - everything else is usually compared to it, and for good reason. It's easy to use, works well, and has no bad habits. There are sharper developers, finer grained developers, developers that give (a little) more real speed and (a fair amount) more usable speed, there are staining developers and compensating developers and all these have their virtues but if I could live out the rest of my photo days with only one black and white developer, that would probably be D76. It doesn't excel at any one thing but it doesn't suck in any very notable ways either.

 

[Eric Rose]

My number one go to developer for anything larger than 35mm is PyroCat-HD. Something that works well for just about anything D-76.

 

[markbarendt]

Pyrocat is not Pyro.

I don't get what you're trying to say.

It is commonly considered a Pyro developer, even by the guy that designed it.

An Introduction to Pyro Staining Developers, With Special Attention to the Pyrocat-HD Formula

Did I miss a memo?

 

[markbarendt]

These are fine developers, but I'm not sure I'd really classify them as general purpose. Their working properties (degree of stain, etc) can vary depending on the film, with small format film they can be grainy (although sharp) anddifferent colors and/or intensities of stain can have an effects on printing contrast with VC papers. I'm not saying any these things are negative attributes at all, just that they can be a little more finicky to work with compared with what I usually think of as general purpose developers.

Well, at this point, I don't see why staining developers would be considered more finicky than any other developer, in fact so far, I find the WD2D+ more forgiving than the D-76, XTol, and DD-X (read easier to print over a wider range of films) and the development process was no tougher to learn than any other.

The 35mm FP4 films I've developed in WD2D+ so far print great to my eye at 11x14 even with a bit of crop. I use constant agitation with instruction sheet times and temps, no rests.

The stain color would only become an issue if someone was switching developers all the time.

The more I use WD2D+ the more I think I should have started with Pyro's earlier.

 

[ic-racer]

t-max

 

[luxikon]

Rodinal

 

[derwent]

My local camera shop stocks only ID-11 so that's what I started with and have used as a general purpose dev.
Has worked on everything I've thrown at it.
I use it one shot 1+3.

Recently got some Rodinal but I've hear it's not good on grainy films and fast films so I'm waiting to get some Pan F to try it on....

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

FX-39, the duck's guts...

 

[Ian Grant]

I don't get what you're trying to say.

It is commonly considered a Pyro developer, even by the guy that designed it.

An Introduction to Pyro Staining Developers, With Special Attention to the Pyrocat-HD Formula

Did I miss a memo?

No both Pyrocatechin (Pyrocatechol) and Pyrogallol can be used in Pyro type developers in the same way as Phenidone or Dimezone or their close derivatives are used in PQ (Phenidone/Hydroquinone) developers.

The confusion is the term Pyro is used in general for staining developers containing either developing agent while the abbreviation is used in specific formulae for Pyrogallol.

Ian