First Home Darkroom; Which Film Developer to buy?

[j.lewis.photo]

I'm about to set up a darkroom and need some advice on chemicals.

Thus far I've only used D-76 film developer, and definately want to

get something more suitable for the film I shoot. I shoot in 6x4.5

with a mamiya camera, and usually use Ilford Films(Pan-F ISO 50,

Delta 100, FP4 ISO 125). I rarely use 400 speed or higher films so

I am not concerned about those. My main concern is detail and

tones, though I am very picky about fine grain. I would like to

achieve the finest grain possible without sacrificing image

quality. I usually print 11x14, but sometimes need 16x20, and I

would love to be able to print larger than that with my 645 camera

but right now thats just not happening due to grain/detail

limitations. (possibly focus issues also)

 

I'd appreciate any suggestions, so far I've just looked at Ilford

chemicals. It sounds like the ilford "S" film developer is standard

for slower speed ilford films. Paper chemical suggestions would

also be appreciated. I usually use Ilford papers, RC and fiber, for

printing anything from landscapes to street to architecture, and

sometimes portraits.

[johnreef]

Actually, I don't see what problems you would have with D76 with the films you use; D6 is a great developer. Also, consider that 645 enlarged to 16x20 is a stretch, and if you want to go larger with minimal grain and exceptional detail you will probably need a larger negative.

[jordan_w.]

I concur: Ilfosol S won't give you anything that D-76 can't. If you're used to it, stick with it. And yes, 16x20 from 645 will require really good technique (sturdy tripod, cable release, sharp lenses, well-aligned enlarger, etc.)

[j.lewis.photo]

Well I guess I've just never had to choose chemicals before since my school has always provided them. I assumed that the generic chemicals they provided for every type of film students brought in probably wasn't the best.

 

Anyways I'm starting fresh now, so does anyone have any suggestions?

[conrad_hoffman]

Finest possible grain without sacrificing image quality- sounds like a job for D-76! You should not be having a problem making good 11x14 and 16x20 prints from a 645. Investigate camera shake, focus, and enlarger/lens issues.

[paul_hoyt]

Josh,

 

D-76 is the developer that all others are evaluated against. The two basic properties that we fight against in developers is acutance and fine grain. As one developer becomes more fine grain the acutance decreases, as a rule. I moved from D-76 to HC-110 when I was exposing 120 film. I was very pleased with the results and I have made some very expressive 16X20 prints from 120 film. I like to develop film for 7 minutes or more (more consistent results) and use dilutions of HC-110 that fit my time preference. I am sure you could expose 2 rolls of the same subjects and develop each roll in the 2 developers for a test. I have moved up to 4X5 and HC-110 is my sole developer.

 

Paul

[frank.schifano]

Getting 16x20 from 645 is a bit of a stretch, but it can be done with proper technique. So be careful there. Issues of grain, resolution, and sharpness aside, high magnification prints lose a lot of delicate tonal gradations compared to smaller enlargements if you examine them up close. Most people won't notice it simply because they are not likely to stick their noses into the print. Another photographer might be more likely to engage in such practices and will notice.

 

No doubt about it, D-76 is an excellent choice. It will give you somewhat finer grain than HC-110 and a little bit better shadow shadow speed. It's very reliable and not fussy in the least. In short, D-76 is a hard act to follow. To put icing on the cake, there is a lot of data available for this developer paired with just about any film on the market. It has been around in one form or another since the mid-1920's. Do you think it would still be a popular item in the marketplace if it was not a good product? I doubt it. The only other film developer I like better is XTOL. Overall I get less grain, better shadow speed, and more sharpness with XTOL than I do with D-76, though most of the time the differences between the two are very subtle. There is plenty of published data for this developer and almost all commonly available pictoral films as well, though not nearly as much as there is for D-76. XTOL is a bit more pricey than D-76, but it is not prohibitively expensive. A little bit can go a long way since you can use it for many applications at dilutions of 1+3. Follow Kodak's recommendation to use at least 100 ml. of stock solution per roll of film though because it can and will poop out if you don't. I use it almost exclusively for TMX and TMY, and for conventional grain films when the scene brightness ration is high. The extra shadow speed afforded by this developer helps preserve your shadow detail and bit without the causing the highlights to become to dense to print properly.

 

Paper developer is easy for me. I use all kinds. Dektol, Dektol, and more Dektol. The stuff is very good. If you want cold tones, use it 1+1 or at the recommended 1+2 dilution. Dilute it to 1+3 or 1+4 and with some papers the tones get a little warmer. It keeps amazingly well. If, like me, you put only a few prints through your working solution in a session, just bottle it up and save it for next time. I just today discarded a batch that I made up 4 or 5 days ago and it was still going strong until I got to the last print of the evening. It still produced a good black and excellent highlight detail on Adorama's house brand of RC variable contrast paper, but it was starting to slow down a bit. I tried Bromophen once and didn't like it. My prints had a slight greenish cast to them and my effective paper speed dropped some. Dektol is a lot cheaper now and works better. What's not to like?

[colmmccarthy]

>Getting 16x20 from 645 is a bit of a stretch

 

Nonsense. I print 16x20 and upwards (usually 36x48) from 645 negs all the time. Granted, any image flaws are going to be magnified, but the same can be said of large prints from any format.

 

And I've found D-76 the best all round developer for the 120 films I use (TMAX 100, Neopan 400, Tri-X).

 

Sounds like you're doing everything right to me.

 

Colm

 

www.colmmccarthy.com

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

I use D76 because it's a great general purpose developer.

 

And 16x20 from a 645 is no problem whatsoever. Though you will get better tonality form 4x5.

 

Robert

[goemon]

D76 is a very good developer. However, if you shoot slow films (and you seem to) and would like a little more acutance, Ilfosol-S is pretty good--note that it doesn't work very well for higher speed films. As far as paper chemicals go, whatever floats your boat, honestly.

[henry_friedman]

I'll second the recommendation for Xtol. It offers an excellent combination of sharpness, fine grain and film speed. And its keeping qualities are better than d-76 or Ilfosol-s (which is dreadful). Divide the stock solution into full-to-the-brim 1 liter containers and it will still be going strong beyond 6 months.