FP-4 Plus Developing Times in D-76

I am trying out D-76 with -135 FP-4 Plus. The FP-4 Plus developing time

referenced The Film Developing Cookbook (1998)is 8 min, at 20C/ISO 125.

Ilford's 2004 tech data recommends 11 min at 20C/ISO 125. Kodak no longer

lists FP-4 on their D-76 B&W chemical site. Freestyle's massive developing

chart shows 11 min. What is the correct time and why is there disagreement in

the data?

See PDF

 

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/2006216122447.pdf

 

Ilford.com

 

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/producttype.asp?n=3&t=Consumer+%26+Professional+Films

And this PDF

 

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/2006216115141521.pdf

I think the difference is: A. One source is for D-76 Stock. B. Other source is for D-76 1:1

In the above post I referenced the ID-11 time in the Film Developing Cookbook (FDC). The correct FDC time for FP-4 Plus in D-76 1:1 is 8.5 min at 20C/125 vs 11 min in ID-11 at the same temp and ISO. D-76 and ID-11 are for all purposes the same developer so what explains the different times for FP-4?

I've been using D-76 1+1 for 7min 15sec at 20C with four inversions every 60 seconds with FP4+ and it works for me. I took about 10% off the time to allow for my scanning rather than printing the negs.<BR><BR> This is a shot done that way: http://www.pbase.com/digilux2/image/64871940

<BR>

Cheers,<BR>

- Carl

Richard,

They write something about that in the book, there shouldn't be any difference. The data in the book is mostly a reprint of the massive dev chart, garbage in garbage out I guess. Let's see if this link works: Here is that shot I mentioned above: http://www.pbase.com/digilux2/image/64871940

 

- Carl

From limited experience with this film/developer combo, 11 min may be too much for my workflow. I recently printed negatives processed at (EI 64, 8 min, 20C, D-76 1:1) printed on Ilford, Multigrade FB w Ilford #2 filter using a rented condenser enlarger. Development was in a small tank, initial 1 min continuous agitation followed by three inversions per 30s. I thought the results could be softer for the Omega B-22 enlarger I was using. I seem to recall Ilford changed the FP-4 Plus D-11 time from 8 to 11 five or six years ago. Just curious if the new times work out for others.

If you gave the same developer to two different people and told them to establish a development time for FP-4+, and didn't specify gamma or printing method, they'd likely come up with different answers. Throw in different water supplies, safety factors and philosphies like "gee, we sure wouldn't want anybody to accidently underdevelop", and it's no wonder published times vary. D-76 and ID-11 are similar, but almost certainly not identical, unless you mix them from scratch using the same formulas, and I doubt Ilford, Kodak, Troop and Freestyle did much comparing of data when they published times ;-) It just comes back to the oft repeated advice- you have to dial in your EI and development time to suit your printing methods and other conditions. FWIW, for the last few years I've been drifting towards less development and more exposure, as I learn to appreciate prints with graduation and shadow detail, rather than the impact of raw contrast.

Conrad

 

Shooting with a lower EI helped my negatives. David Vestal in his book, The Art of Black and White Enlarging, explains why. I discovered for my workflow Tri-X 400 looks better with an EI of 200 in D-76 or 250 in XTOL. Use the charted ISO 400 developing times when enlarging in a diffusion type enlarger. Make adjustments as required using less agitation or a tad less time.

I should add the metioned EIs in the above post are for 1:1 dilutions in either D-76 or XTOL.