Why is HC110 not recommended for Arista.EDU Ultra?

<p>I just bought some Arista.EDU Ultra 100 and 400 speed 4x5 sheet film. On the info sheet for the 100 the HC110 is listed as NR or Not Recommended but it has a listing on the 400 speed info sheet. Does anyone have any experience using HC110 with the 100, either good or bad? I have even looked on the Massive Developing chart and they don't have any listings for the 100 with HC110 either. They don't have any times listed for sheet film with HC110.</p>

<p>Development times for Foma films are on the short side. HC-110 is an unusually fast developer. HC-110 and Foma 100 would work, but the development times would likely be something around 3 minutes or so, too short for repeatable results.</p>

<p>You could always use a weaker dilution. The Massive Dev Chart has them.</p>

<p>The Chart has them where? I looked through it with the film listed as Arista.EDU Ultra, it only had listings for 200 and 400 speed film. I guess I could use the times listed for Fomapan 100 which is listed at: dilution H for 120 for 10 minutes and sheet film for 9 minutes. 35mm is listed at dilution F for 12 minutes. I don't get the note for the sheet film, it states "for diffusion head enlarger". Why would that make a difference in developing?</p>

<p>Clay;<br /> <br /> many film development charts list two sets of tables.<br /> <br /> One is for diffusion; another for condensor enlargers.<br /> <br /> The time is longer for a diffusion enlarger since one is purposely developing for more contrast.<br /> <br /> A diffusion enlarger has less contrast/punch than a condensor enlarger; thus many folks develop to a higher contrast; so the prints are the same with both schemes. The "transfer function" is less steep with a diffusion enlarger</p>

<p>Well, you're ok there (more or less.) Arista.EDU Ultra and Foma 100 are the same thing so you can go with that. One thing to watch out for though is that Foma films, and Arista.EDU Ultra by extension, like to build a lot of contrast quickly. HC-110, being as active as it is, would make the timing all the more critical. The 100 speed material isn't so bad, but the 200 and 400 speed films can get out of control pretty fast. If I were to err, I'd err on the side of caution and use the shorter time as a starting point. If the negatives are a little flat, it's not a big problem since you can always dial in a bit more contrast if you're using variable contrast papers. Conversely, you can dial down the contrast too, but that doesn't work nearly as well.</p>

<p>Remember too, that the data in "The Massive Dev Chart" are by no means the official numbers from the manufacturers. In some cases they are, but very often they are only one photographers notes about what worked. You have no guarantee that the data produced usable results. In fact, you have no guarantee of anything.</p>

<p>Kodaks HC110 has 6 different offical dilutions; there are others too.</p>

<p>With my Nikor 4x5 film tank that has a long fill/dump time; I often use a weaker dilution so the development times are purposely longer; thus easy to control.</p>

<p>Indeed it has, and higher dilutions of HC-110 do work well. I call into question only the validity of the development time data given in the MDC. Sometimes, and very often, it's good. Other times, not so much, making it wise practice to reference the data against known good sources when possible.</p>

<p>My reason for asking is I usually use D76 for developing but I have a bottle of HC110 that I bought to do old film with. I have a FR tank that does 4x5 and I want to use HC110 in it because it only uses 24ml (dilution H) of developer where as D76 would be 12½oz at 1:3 or 25oz at 1:1. To promote even developing in the FR tank I used <a href="../large-format-photography-forum/00XVH9">a rubber cork and some duct tape</a> and did inversion agitation. For those of you that know what an FR tank is you can laugh if you want. The negatives came out well, but that was Ilford Delta 100 and I just bought 100 sheets of the Arista.EDU film. I do like the Arista.EDU Ultra in 120 so I figured that it would be good in 4x5. I did try tray developing some practice pieces of film but they came out all scratched up. I think I did like six pieces together to try that system out. I did not like it.<br>

I guess if it matters, my enlarger is an Omega D2, I believe a condenser enlarger so I will make sure the time is a little on the short side to start with.</p>

<p>Generally when HC110 is not recommended it is either because the developing time is excessive short or it would lead to higher than normal contrast. One or two films (can't remember which) claimed dichroic fogging could result, but I've never seen an example of it. Experimentation with some of the higher, unofficial dilutions might provide a solution. For example, 35mm Rolleipan 25 has no official dilution for HC110 but I found a time for dilution H that produced easily printable negatives. <br>

With sheet film, though, you have to be careful with higher dilutions, as the developing agents may become exhausted before the film is fully developed.</p>

<p>With 1500ml total solution and the 6ml minimum for 80 square inches of film of HC110 you could stand develop 4 sheets of film @ a 1:250 dilution. You can also use dilution G (1:119) and process 8 sheets of film. You need to run some development test to find out what works.</p>

<p>I dumped my FR 4x5 tank for a Combi which I dumped for a Jobo 2500 system. I would have saved a $100+, lots of test time, and a lot of cleanup time if I had got the Jobo to begin with. </p>

<p>Developing times for roll films will work for sheet films provided you are using the same type of processing. Times for roll film with inversion processing will not be correct for sheet film dip and dunk or tray processing. I have found roll film inversion times to be within 10% of perfect for sheet film inversion.</p>

<p>I use Dilution H:</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3644/3476836041_21501b4c24.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>I find Arista Ultra 100 sheet film can be developed in HC110. I get <em><strong>identica</strong><strong>l</strong></em> results with D-76 1:1 for 9 minutes and HC110B for 4 minutes. Tray development, 20C, continuous agitation.</p>

<p>I have used the Legacy L110 (HC110 clone) Dil H for 8-12 min. 68ish deg.F Seems to be a dense neg and hard to print on my Omega B22 and grainyish (not bad though). Next roll I'm trying 30% less devel. time. I'm a rookie so it is hit and miss.</p>