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high vs low contrast developers for beginners


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I am relatively new to B&W developing and am a little confused about

high/low contrast film developers.

Does using a low contrast developer for the negative reduce my

ability to reproduce deep blacks and white highlights when it comes

to printing? Or does using a high contrast developer give less even

gradation?

For example I have heard that higher dilutions of Rodinal gives less

contrast and fantastic gradation, but does this come at the cost of

strong highlights and shadows?

Would a high or low contrast developer be better for a beginner for a

wide range of subjects? Or am I worrying for nothing about things

that can just be adjusted when printing.

 

Thanks for your help.

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Contrast on the negative is generally dependent on exposure and development time, not the type of developer used. There are exceptions.

 

Compensating developers, correctly used, can help keep highlights in check, essentially taming contrast. I've observed this effect with Microphen when pushing film, tho' I can't vouch for whether it's a true compensating developer. Many Rodinal users, myself included, have observed that it has a compensating effect when used in very dilute solutions with extended development - generally, exposing film normally under difficult circumstances, such as nighttime photography with deep shadow areas and bright light sources.

 

Diafine is another notable exception. It typically produces flatter than usual contrast negatives under very contrasty lighting situations. Even it has limitations, tho', and works better with certain films than others.

 

To get a better understanding of how contrast on the negative is controlled conventionally through careful evaluation of the available lighting, exposure and development study up a bit on the Zone System. Even if you choose not to pursue the path of using a densitometer to test film and all of that is entailed by the Zone System, you'll still benefit from knowing that there are definition relationships between these factors that can be controlled and repeated for consistent results.

 

For example, with a bit of study and experimentation you'll soon discover that Rodinal is neither a low contrast nor high contrast developer. At normal dilutions (1:25 to 1:50) the contrast index or gamma is influenced almost entirely by development time (assuming exposure as a given).

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Andrew...good question <i>but</i> one that you may get a dozen different but correct answers for. My suggestion to you is based upon your statement that you are relatively new to B&W processing; if you'd done a hundred rolls of TriX in D76 it would be something else totally.<p>So with that in mind I'll say at this point don't sweat the small stuff...printing can change much of a negs traits Eg; a reasonable variance in contrast.<p>And now my spiel...you can stop reading here if you like :-}<p>When you start processing film I think it's really important to try and sort out using just one film and one developer...say 50 rolls of TriX in D76. Once you've done that you will have experienced the way a developer and film interact. If you are constantly changing films and developers you will never experience that relationship...you won't really know what is changing what in the process. So go out and buy something like a five liter package of Xtol and a box of 50 rolls of say Ilford HP5+. Shoot and process a roll a day. I guarantee that after 2 months of that you will be light years ahead where you are now...cheers
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The use of the term "contrast" with developers, is different from

contrast in a negative. From your perspective any decent developer

will give you a good negative. To explain the term in developers, it relates to the way the developing agents behave as the film develops.

As the silver develops there are various byproducts produced.

These byproducts affect the activity of the developing agents.

The highest concentration of these byproducts will be in the

densest part of the negative. If the developer slows down

due to these byproducts, then obvioiusly the speed of development

will be slower in the high density areas, than in the low density areas. This reduces the contrast in the highlights, and this

developer is classed as a low density developer. Conversely,

if the developer activity increases due to the byproducts, the rate

of development in the highlights will be faster than in the low

density areas. This is a high contrast developer.

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I think you're mixing up several things. I agree with others: If you're a beginner, don't play with too many things. Keep one developer and experiment with it. Just want to add: The 2 most important factors for contrast during development are time (already mentioned) and agitation. An exception to that is with 2 baths developers where agitation has little impact.
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"Would a high or low contrast developer be better for a beginner--?. As others have said simply stick with a readily available general purpose developer and don't worry about the subtle differences between the various choices. I would recommend D76 diluted 1:1. Initially, stick with a single 400 speed film simply because they handle high contrast scenes more easily than slow films (I use a lot of Tri-X Pan -400). After picking 1 film and 1 developer start thinking consistency with respect to your development process. Do everything EXACTLY the same time after time. Consistency means mixing and diluting the developer accurately every time. Consistency means agitating the same way roll after roll. Consistency means picking 1 temperature (68 degrees is good) and maintaining that throughout the process. Getting into good habits now will save you all kinds of headaches as you move forward. Consistency enables you to change 1 variable (primarily dev time) and quickly evaluate the results. IMO that is what you should be worrying about not the esoteric differences between developers.
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What Rick said in CAPS-LOCK.

 

Start with a tried and true formulation like D76 1:1, HC-110, ID-11, Xtol 1:1, etc. Save the experiments with Rodinal and the like until you've established a routine for getting good negs from a main stream film and developer.

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