Orca 100 Developer Choice

Not too long ago, I shot a roll of Orca 100-a B&W film that Lomography sells.

 

I never thought I'd use their products, but after I bought a Pentax Auto 110 they were about my only option for in-date film.

 

In any case, I have an exposed roll of Orca 100 in 110, and for obvious reasons I want to get the best resolution I can get from this roll of film. The film was shot on the "low speed' setting of the Auto 110, which is 80.

 

I have D76, HC-110, Rodinal, and TMAX on hand. Of those four, does anyone have any specific suggestions-both for developer and dilution-that will give me the sharpest/highest resolution results I can get?

 

Thanks.

I think we can eliminate Rodinal since it's not a fine grain developer. Stock D-76 might work. Not sure about times though. HC110 dilution B would be my second choice.

Thanks Mike-I'd eliminated Rodinal pretty well too.

 

Unfortunately, with a negative this small it's a bit of a balancing act. D76 straight should give reasonably tight grain, but is not very sharp since it is a solvent developer. I'd be afraid this would hurt resolution on this. I know 110 is a crummy format in general, but at the same time the Auto 110 is about as good as it gets. A lot of these were shot from a tripod with a cable release to try and extract as much resolution as I can.

 

I'm wondering if I'd be better off with D76 1:1, or even with HC110 more dilute than dilution B.

 

Or maybe this is an excuse to buy/mix up a different developer. Any suggestions in that department?

My main developer choices are Diafine and HC-110.

 

I have small amounts of some others.

 

HC-110 is popular for old film, as it is rumored to reduce fog.

 

As mentioned above, some developers have silver halide solvents, which softens the shape of the grains, such that they look less "grainy", though they actually aren't, and the softening might reduce actual resolution.

 

I think my choice is HC-110 (B), but then that is mostly my choice now.

 

I have a roll of VP 110-12 that I might use sometime soon.

 

I also have some C41 110 film that went into the fridge soon after I bought it new.

I will probably use the VP to test the camera before going to the work of developing C41.

Without be sure how well the film stains, I would try PMK . . . The staining and tanning of the negative masks the grain and increases edge effects to give better acutance.

Undiluted D-76 is supposed to give less 'sharpness' than diluting it 1:1.

Personally, I've seen little evidence to support this assertion, which seems based more on hearsay than on anyone actually examining their negatives critically.

 

Having said that, I've had finer grain from HC-110 than from D-76 with certain films. So I'd say HC-110 is (possibly) the safer bet.