Diafine vs. other two-bath developers

Hello,

I would like to know how do you find other two bath developer

formulations (e.g. DD76) compared to Diafine. Do they have the same

compensating effect? Is their shelf life as long?

I am interested in other formulas as for various reasons I can't get

hold of the original Diafine (yes, it can be mail-ordered but it isn't

an option for me). I have a set of chemicals for scratch-mixing, but

sodium bisulfite required for Diafine is missing. Is there a

substitute maybe? Or can it be produced from sodium sulphite?

Also while I'm here, I'd like to thank the forum denizens for help

with developing that Tri-X roll rated partly at 400 and partly at

1600. I developed it with D76 1:1 as 800 and got very good results for

the frames exposed at 400 and acceptable for the ones at 1600 (they

were fairly good except the shots including a lot of snow; printing

these on a contrast paper helped somewhat).

I googled "Divided D-76" and found a formula here:

http://www.geocities.com/destowe/dd76.html

There are various others as well

Mtetol Hydroquinone and sodium sulphite.....

Barry Thornton made a two-bath based on Stoeckler's formula that was optimized for today?s thinner emulsions. I have not had time to try it but he seemed to speak highly of it in his book "Edge of Darkness", in which the formula is given. His allows for custom bath B's depending on what you want to achieve.

- Randy

Diluxol Vitesse from monochromephotography.com in England is similar in concept to Diafine. I ordered some and it got here (U.S.) very quickly. I'm sure I will have fun trying it. You can get formulas for divided developers from The Darkroom Cookbook (Anschell & Troop), The Amateur Phtographer's Handbook (Sussman) and 150 Do-It-Youself Black & White Popular Photographic Formulas (Dignan). On Page 58 of the Dignan book there is a simple "Divided D-76" formula: Bath A Metol 2 grams, Sodium Sulfite - dessicated 100 grams, Hydroquinone 5 grams, water to make 1 liter Bath B Borax 60 grams water to make 1 liter. The Dignan book is from 1977 and some of the formulas must be much older. He recommended shooting Tri-X at 200 and developing for 3 minutes in Bath A and then 3-4 minutes on Bath B with no rinse in between the two. He also recommends 68 degrees (F) while Diafine and Diluxol Vitesse can be used over a range of temperatures without changing the times.

On Page 28 of the Dignan book there is a simple divided developer called "Beutler's Formula: Stock Solution A Water 750ml, Metol 10 grams, Sodium Sulfite 50 grams, water to make 1 Liter Stock Solution B Water 750ml, Sodium Carbonate 50 grams, water to make 1 Liter. This may not be considered an actual divided developer and the two parts are probably just stored separately for better keeping. The recommended procedure is 1 part A + 1 Part B + 8 parts water. There is a time of 4 minutes at 75 degrees (F) given for the late and lamented Panatomic-X rated at 50. You might try it now with Ilford Pan F Plus.

I am just searching for a compensating developer now. This is the simplest and best I found so far:

http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/DD-23/dd-23.html

Here is Thornton's 2 bath formula, which I have used with Arista 400 (HP5+) and Arista 125 (FP4+) with results that I like very much:

BATH A

Water: 750 ml

Metol: 6.5 g

Sodium Sulfite: 80 g

Water to make 1L

BATH B

Water: 750 ml

Sodium Metaborate: 12g

Water to make 1L

I vary the formula a bit, and usually split the sodium sulfite evenly between the A and B baths.

Time is 4 minutes in each solution (5 minutes for sheet film). No wash between A and B. You can achieve + or minus development by varying the amount of sodium metaborate in the B bath: I think about 8 g/L for - and 20 g/L for +.

I think this is a great combination for landscape photography.

To expand on Karp's second Sodium Metaborate bath, you can actually use this second bath with nearly any developer.

I do it quite a bit when I want to use HC-110 but I want a compensating effect without heavy dilution.

Simply develop in your normal developer for 1/2-2/3 normal dev time, pour, no wash, pour in second bath. Let stand for 3-4 minutes. This causes the developer in the shadows to continue developing while the developer in the highlights exhausts.