scott_davis5 Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 What's everyone's favorite developer to use with FP4+? I'm trying some out for the first time and would like to know ISOs and developers that people like. I realize with the pending sale/closure of Ilford I may well be getting on the bandwagon just before it goes over the cliff, but I'd like to try some alternative to Big Yellow in the way of a slow film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_de_fehr Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 PC-TEA @ EI 125. Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim obrien Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 In light of all the recent Folgernol posts, I am proposing you develop in BananasFosterol. Just be careful when you flame off the rum, it might effect a dramatic change in the emulsion of your FP4. tim in san jose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_mckeith Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Rodinal EI 50(?)- 1:50 -9.5 min- keeping in mind,I use antique/vintage cameras- sunny 16=1/50th sec.= EI 50 in my book,which isn't really a book,but a guess-o-meter- FP4 has pretty good latitude-I don't worry about a min.either way- my favorite film for antiques- trying to stock about 1000' in the freezer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_mckeith Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Tim- I'm learning to make TMAX-ALA MODE- (for antiques) not that hard Rodinal-EI 50 1:50 9 min reduce agitation-nice tonality- minus the balls(of FP4) everything changes -Suzuki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_mcloughlin Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 HC-110 (B) 4.5 to 5 minutes, one inversion per minute. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter_glover Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Rodinal 1+50 @ 70? with constant agitation foirst 30 sec then 5 seconds every minute Normal Contrast - 100 ISO - 7:00 minutes Ilford DDX (150ml plus 850ml water to make one litre about 1+5.5) Jobo Expert Drum speed 50rpm @ 70? Normal Contrast - 80 ISO - 6:30 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikos peri Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 HC110B - 7min - EI 64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elek_ludvigh Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Hi Scott, I have tried a bunch of developers but think Acutol 1:14, 8 min@68 gives me the best grain- acutance-tonality result that I have found. I shoot mostly 35MM landscapes and senics, often very contrasty in the harsh Florida sun. Xtol 1:2, 11 min@68 is darn good also. In either developer I rate FP4+ at 125 and get nice shadow detail. I love FP4+, but lately have been shooting mostly Fuji Across 100 in Acutol. It is unbelievably sharp and fine grained with very nice tones, although not the more traditional look of FP4+ Good Luck! Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman j. rohleder Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 I hated FP4+ in both ID11/D76 and Rodinal- but I was stuck with some hundred meters worth of bulk rolls in the freezer. So when I recently went to a weekend trip to Prague I decided to use up a few rolls and tried out Calbe A49 (formerly known as Agfa Atomal and made by the former ORWO chemical department in Calbe). Shot at EI80, developed in A49 1+1 at 22?C for 5:30min at allmost continuous agitaion in my Agfa Rondinax tank - very decent results. Small grain, fair sharpness, nice tonal range - I got used to it and I really begin to like it. The negative print nicely at g2/g3. Roman PS: Slow film? FP4+ is a medium speed film! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lex_jenkins Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Best results I've gotten so far with FP4+ was at EI 64 in ID-11, 1:1. I seem to recall developing for 9 minutes at 68F, but on second thought that sounds like it might be a little too long. Anyway, it produced an excellent compromise between fine grain and good apparent sharpness. Full shadow detail, no blown highlights and excellent midtone separation. This is the combination I'd use for large prints. Oh, hang on... I don't use ID-11 any longer because I'm trying to stick with liquid concentrates. I'd try HC-110 and see if that produces similar results. For smaller prints I'd probably use an acutance developer to kick up the apparent sharpness, while keeping grain under control by not printing too large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank.schifano Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 XTOL 1+3 for around 15 minutes at 20 degC get me pretty close to the box speed. To be a little on the safe side, I meter at EI 100. Rodinal 1+50 gets me about EI 64 and more grain with no apparent increase in sharpness that I can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran_ois_courtois Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Lex, if you like ID-11 (like I do) then try Paterson FX39: it is a liquid developper with very high acutance while keeping grain under control - no like Rodinal. Besides you can expose your film at actual film speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lol1 Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 It depends on what you want to do with your negatives. Now that I am scanning mine on a Nikon Coolscan IV, and contrary to much received wisdom on this subject, I find I need a slightly more contrasty neg than when enlarging (on a Kaiser System V). Ilford DD-X 1+4 for 10min at 20C is what Ilford recommend and this has given me exactly the kind of neg I need in terms of contrast (film rated at 125). Personally I think that DD-X is about the best liquid developer I have ever used in terms of having a wonderful balance of grain and tonal quality and also excellent keeping qualities. It's a pity that a company that makes such fine products should be in administration but I will continue to use this combo for as long as I can get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan_dandar Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Can anyone give me an idea what the comparison between FP4+ in Xtol and HC110 would be? Thanks! Isn't it funny that all the high speed films and digital SLR cameras we have these days has caused people to think of ISO 400 as normal and 125 as slow? There was a time not so long ago when ISO 200 was considered "high speed" film. Old cameras like my 1955 Rolleiflex have "film reminder dials" that go down to 12. Ah progress... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothy_nolan Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 ...i'll play the voice of dear departed Hans Becker and say Acutol 1+14... ...he turned me on to the combo and I've loved the results...<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_hull Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 PMK Pyro! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_mathis Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 EI 64 in Formulary PMK or EI 200 in Microphen 1:1 are my favorites but I have also toyed with HC-110B, Formulary TFX-2 and Rodinal 1:25 and 1:50 and can't find much to bitch about with any of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_s. Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 I use FX-2, which is a great speed enhancing developer. I rate FP4 at 160-200 with this developer and love the pictures. I did test shots rated at 50, 100 and 200 EI and did not see any loss of shadow detail in the final prints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conrad_hoffman Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 IMO, FP4+ is incredibly insensitive to different developers. Developed to the same CI, it's hard to tell one from another. I've made prints from Rodinal and D-76 (identical subject) that were indistinguishable. My normal developer is a buffered FX2. FX37 is also good. HC-110 works fine. I don't find FP4+ all that great for scanning unless it's developed in a PPD based developer to take the edge off the grain. My best results are usually at EI64 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_murphy1 Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Scott, this is a popular films, so as you can see there are a lot of different opinions on the best developer for it. This topic has been discussed many times before in this forum. My result agree with Lex's: ID-11 is a good choice to start with. The EI is quite variable with this film, depending upon the developer used. Even D-76, which is supposedly the same thing as ID-11, allows a slightly higher EI than ID-11 does. Most developers cause a "speed loss" (if you believe 125 is the nominal speed), while DD-X and X-tol allow the highest EI (up to 200). Also, note that the look changes quite a lot with this film depending on the contrast index that you develop it to. Be sure to increase the EI by a third or two of a stop when extending the development time beyond 20% of normal. If you are shooting portraits, the general observations include: ID-11 and D-76 (stock) give a moderately soft, moderate grain look; fine grain developers like Perceptol and Microdol (stock) give a very soft look with blown highlights (but a very nice look nevertheless); Microphen (stock) give a nice, middle of the road look; Rodinal and PMK give a smooth look to the skin but large grain; DD-X and X-tol (diluted) give brutally sharp results, and for HC-110 I don't know how to characterize the look. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob fowler Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 FP4+ @ EI 125, Perceptol 1:3 for 22 minutes at 68F or Perceptol 1:1 for 16 minutes, or Microdol-X 1:3 for 23 minutes works well for me. Rodinal 1:50 for 15 minutes gives a slightly edgier look (IMHO). HC-110 dil H for 18.5 minutes is good as well. Coem to think of it, about the ONLY developer that I've tried and didn't like was DK-50! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aa2000 Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Try Ilford Ilfosol-S for ->very<- low contrast and almost grain-free negatives. From my experinece, FP4+ (at 125) in Ilfosol-S is finer grain than in X-Tol (1:1). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter_glover Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Scott, In my post above I published the wrong data for Rodinal - ignore it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tklim Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Scott, I use my own version of Pat Gainer's VC dev: Sol. A: Ascorbic Acid 10 g; Phenidone 0.2 g water to make 1000 ml Sol. B: Sodium Carbonate /anhydrous/ 25 g Water to make 1000 ml Working solution: 1 part A + 1 part B + 6 parts water /For my tank I take 50 ml A + 50 ml B + 300 ml water/ For FP4+ my E.I. is 125, and I process it for 8 mins @ 20C/68F. Killing acutance, grain invisible within reasonable limits of enlargement from a 35 mm film. The negative prints easily with a condenser enlarger on AGFA Multicontrast RC paper without filtration. Regards to all, Tomasz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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