D-76 or HC-110

[jose_pg]

Which one do you prefer and why?

 

Thank you so much

 

Jose

[alan_gage]

"Which one do you prefer and why?"

 

HC-110.

 

Because it's a syrup and lasts a long time

 

Alan

[kevin_hundsnurscher]

HC-110<br>

Less dev time, cheaper, comes in a syrup, and keeps indefinitely in syrup form.

[gaburdette]

As noted above I prefer HC-110 because of it's life span. I am still working on a bottle of stock solution I mixed December of 2003. There has been no noticable change in the developer over the past year. I have tried D-76 and liked it as well. But with it's shorter life span I will be sticking to the HC-110. The only change I plan is to mix it from the syrup in the future rather than making the stock solution.

[ronald_moravec1]

D76 gives finer grain specially if you use full strength. Mix, cool, and store in small one time use size bottles full to the top. This is good for 6 months without air getting to it.

[jay_de_fehr]

I prefer PC-TEA to either, because it gives grain and film speed similar to D-76, with better sharpness, and it's better than HC110 in every category.

 

Jay

[michaelging]

I use D76,I think it has a longer tonal scale and does not block up as quickly as HC-110. I think 90% of getting a good print is controling contrast.

[silent1]

Put me down for another HC-110 user. In addition to the "it's a liquid and it keeps forever as concentrate" arguments, I'll also note that, depending on what you want, you can get dev times anywhere from under three minutes (Dilution A at 75 F) to stand development of an hour of more (Dilution G), with the same concentrate and the same film. It can also be used (in Dilution G) as a low contrast developer for pictorial images on document films (i.e. microfilms, Tech Pan, etc.), and in stronger solutions (stock solution or Dilution A) makes a very nice ultra-cold tone paper developer. And all in a little bottle for about $11.

[steve_bauer2]

Well, I only use Tri-X for black and white.

 

When I was shooting lots of b&w film (like at least three rolls a week), I would rate Tri-X at

200 and use D-76 1:1 (9 mins @ 68 degrees, 8 mins if you want less contrast). I was

always very happy with that.

 

But I use less b&w film now, and mixing up batches of D-76 started becoming

inconvenient, especially for just one roll. Also, because of the now-prevalent look of

digital images, I LIKED the grain. Rating it at 200 also became inconvenient, just for

occasional use. When developing it in HC-110, it was like rocket fuel.

 

So now I just leave it at ASA 400 (320, if I think of it) and just use HC-110, mostly because

of the convenience. And, as I said, it provides a nice balance and different look than

digital or even color film or chrome. It's distinctive, easy, and I just don't have the time to

fuss and experiment the way I did when I was in school. So that's that, and I'm happy with

it. But D-76 is a wonderful developer, and if I were just shooting for the pleasure of it, I'd

probably still shoots lots of Tri-X @ 200 and use D-76, but that period of my life is sort of

behind me.

[StuartMoxham]

I like HC110 with TriX and HP5. I get nice negs no suprises and it is reliable. I don't really shoot anything else anymore TriX in 35mm and HP5 in 120 roll. I find I can produce really nice 8x10inch prints from 35mm TriX in HC110 not too grainy fairly sharp so for me thats about as close to perfect as I need. I still have D76 on hand and I did give in to temptation and try TriX in D76 1:1 it was a little sharper but more grainy and I did not like it then I tried D76 1:0 the grain was finer than D76 1:1 but some how I just prefer HC110.

 

I kept the D76 on hand for FP4 D76 1:1 and APX100 D76 1:0 combos that I intended to shoot last summer but I just kept on with TriX and HC110 and I guess that this year will be the same so I won't mix a new batch of D76. I keep a bottle of Rodinal in my dark room as well just in case I want some grain or a different look but I don't use it very often and if I shot Tmax 400 I would use D76 1:0 for that becasue it looks better to me than HC110 but I don't Tmax400 anymore as I prefer TriX.

 

I guess I am very happy with TriX and HP5 in HC110 that I don't want to change now unless I have to. Once you find a good combo it is nice to stay with it so you can concentrate and photography and making good prints. I would say that HC110 has turned out to be the magic bullet for me so now I can stop searching.

[lex_jenkins]

Having used both extensively in school, in newspaper labs and since then in personal use, my opinion is that there's no significant difference in the end result between the two developers.

 

Using Tri-X as a basis for comparison (because it's most familiar to me): the grain produced by HC-110 at Dilutions B and H are comparable to ID-11/D-76 at 1+1; so is contrast/gamma.

 

The developers are close enough that for my purposes there's no reason to keep ID-11/D-76 around when it tends to vary in potency over the typical six-month lifespan of a container of stock solution. Also, ID-11/D-76 stock solution needs to be stored with as little airspace as possible to prevent oxidation. HC-110 syrup is much less picky about storage.

 

Some folks say they see differences in grain and contrast between Dilutions B and H. I don't.

 

Other than using it for a year in my personal darkroom within the past three years, I discontinued using ID-11/D-76 long ago because it wasn't maintained properly in school and community darkrooms. At the very least it would become exhausted. At worst, when students were assigned to maintain the tank they'd carelessly toss in stop bath or fixer, killing the developer. So I began using my own personal container of HC-110 syrup.

 

Again, my observations are based primarily on Tri-X in 35mm and 120.

[steve_bauer2]

The thing about HC-110 versus D-76 is the variables.

 

a) HC-110, if you are diligent, can be more consistent. You can measure exactly one

ounce and mix it with water at exactly 68 degrees. But you are basically using it at 1:31,

so obviously it's rocket fuel, and any slight variation will produce different results. (Like,

you HAVE to use exactly one oz.)

 

b) D-76 on the other hand can be used 1:1, so obviously it matters less if you have a teeny

bit more or a teeny bit less. Also, the development time is longer, leaving you more

wiggle room. But the variables come in the form of things like leaving it out and letting it

go stale, trying to get it at the right temperature, not shaking your mixing bottle

sufficiently, etc.

 

Personally, I find HC-110 easier to control. You just have to measure out the exact right

amount. I find that easier than finding storage and cooling bottles for D-76.