I've ordered a 1L kit of D-76 and I am looking forward to developing film with the gold standard developer. That will help establish a baseline of what a developed film is supposed to look like.
But... Long term, I'd rather use developers that I can mix myself or are concentrates that never go bad. That would better suit the sporadic & random nature of my photography hobby. I have Rodinal, PC-TEA, and the ingredients & tools (e.g. milligram scale) to mix D-23 in small batches. I know that Rodinal (and I think also PC-TEA?) will give a different look to D-76 because D-76 is a solvent / fine-grain developer. But D-23 is also a fine-grain developer. D-23 is apparently a lower contrast than D-76, but my understanding is that contrast is something I can learn to control with over/under exposure and push/pull processing.
Is there any reason it might not be a good idea to use D-23 as my single fine-grain developer?
But... Long term, I'd rather use developers that I can mix myself or are concentrates that never go bad. That would better suit the sporadic & random nature of my photography hobby. I have Rodinal, PC-TEA, and the ingredients & tools (e.g. milligram scale) to mix D-23 in small batches. I know that Rodinal (and I think also PC-TEA?) will give a different look to D-76 because D-76 is a solvent / fine-grain developer. But D-23 is also a fine-grain developer. D-23 is apparently a lower contrast than D-76, but my understanding is that contrast is something I can learn to control with over/under exposure and push/pull processing.
Is there any reason it might not be a good idea to use D-23 as my single fine-grain developer?