elliot_myrick1

This is amazing, an almost new thread about DK-50! In 2015 for reasons I don't remember, I decided to make and try DK-50 on Plus-X 1:1. I was beyond blown away! What grain there was, minimal and tight. Nothing like one would expect in theory. Great tonality. Where have you been for the last 65 years?

 

At the time I was very much involved with APUG, which I see has rebranded itself. I did some posts there which you may find of interest. Anyway, about then I had to move and here it is 2019, ready to get back to film and developing. So I've been going through all my records and notes and internet searching as I get ready to go down the rabbit hole again.

 

Elliot, you observations about being equal to T-Max times will be a life saver. Development times has been the bottleneck for DK-50, for sure. I have printed out the pages from the Massive Development Chart filtered for DK-50, and all films for T-Max developers. BTW, that motorcycle image is stunning, right on what I got with my short lived experiments.

 

I also started experimenting with DK-50 in a divided format; god, I've been a slave to the idea of divided development for 40 years.

 

My original post on APUG: DK-50, Still alive and well?

It's now May of 2020 and I'm still loving it! I'm now also hooked on DK-60A 1:If you also have some DK-60A, dilute it 1:3 and follow the times for D-76 Stock. You can reuse this developer in its diluted form and can process up to 8 rolls per quart without replenishment. If you have the DK-60aTR, you dilute the replenisher 1:3 and replenish the developer 1:3 with it. I still have a bunch of cans of this stuff and try to stock up on both of these developers the first chance I get.

DK-50 and DK-60A are awesome developers and the formulas are nearly identical, with DK-60A having more balanced alkali and Sodium Sulfite than the DK-50 and has finer grain, too!

<p>What is in the jar with the D76? Any ideas? A desiccant perhaps. Is that $.60 in grease marker? Better than my $1 bag! Thats cool.</p>

The small canister in that jar are the developing agents of Metol and Hydroquinone, which are dissolved first. After mixing up the contents of that cardboard canister, you mix up the contents of the jar to make up the rest of the developer. D-76 used to come in two parts instead of one single mix powder.

I love Kodak DK-60A. My father would use it with his Super Panchro Press Type B 4X5 sheet films. I use it as an alternative to the DK-50 film developer.

Since it has more Sodium Metaborate (Kodalk aka Kodak Balanced Alkali) and more Sodium Sulfite, I get much finer grain and a wide array of continuous tones of every shade of grey, black and white. I dilute the DK-60A 1:3 and follow all of the development times recommended for D-76 Stock.

As with the DK-50, the diluted developer can be reused and replinished. If you choose to replinish the DK-60A, you must dilute the replinisher 1:3 as well. Without replinishment, a quart of the diluted DK-60A will process 9 rolls of film, increasing the development times by 30 seconds after every third film processed.

In my honest opinion, Kodak NEVER should have discontinued this developer as it outperforms their other current developers on their market.

Once you try out what I've experinented and discovered, you will NOT be disappointed and will crave for more DK-60A. At least Kodak has a published formula for the DK-60A, whereas you can mix the formula yourself and it's way better than the DK-50. The slightly higher Sulfite and Alkali content actually gives a much finer grain, full tonal range, full emulsion speed and excellent shadow detail and is a developer that is GREATLY UNDERESTIMATED. I still use DK-60A as my PRIMARY film developer.

This developer ALSO removes the pink antihalation dyes that Kodak used in their T-max films, 120 & 220 films, sheet films and ALL Fuji Neopan films, leaving extremely clean and clear negatives and is magnificent with expired films.

Try out my findings and see for yourself! Share your results! Once I'm able to pay for my subscription, I'll show you mine.

I hope that I've been a big help to someone that is trying to figure out on how to use this developer. And by the way, Ansco Permadol is their alternative to Kodak's DK-60A as their Isodol is their alternative to Kodak's DK-50 and should be treated the same way.

<p>Does any one have recent experience with this. I have a quantity of 5 oz cans and was thinking of giving it try. But wondering if newer films need any kind of adjustment?</p>

Isodol is the equivalent of Kodak DK-50 film developer. Dilute it 1:1 and follow times for Stock D-76. I still have a couple of cans myself and I still use it.

Both Xtol and T-Max developers are recommended for the highest EI of TMZ and Delta 3200.

 

Neither one has a time for DK-50 on its data sheet.

I use DK-50 1:1 and follow the processing times and temperatures for Kodak T-Max film developer for ALL films. I never had any issues. You may want to give it a try. You won't be disappointed!

Of course Kodak won't recommend times for a product that works so outstanding, aside from Kodak DK-50 being discontinued back in 2012. I still am able to still find DK-50 on eBay. Photographers Formulary still makes it. DK-50 is also a published formula.

If your "Data Sheets" have times for Kodak T-Max, you have those times for DK-50 1:1. Use them.

- In what way is a mixture of Metol, Hydroquinone, Sodium Metaborate, Sodium Sulphite and Potassium Bromide 'natural'?

 

Look. DK-50 is no longer available, and hasn't been manufactured for some considerable time. So why keep banging on about it?

 

If you want economy, I can post a formula for a Rodinal substitute that you can make out of Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) headache tablets, caustic soda and potassium metabisulphite. It probably costs around 5 UK pence - 7 US cents - per film.

eBay still has plenty of people selling DK-50. Also, Photographers Formulary sells the developer. Otherwise, you can mix the developer from raw chemicals yourself. So, what is the problem? The DK-50 developer is more economical than D-76, which uses 100 grams of sodium sulfite per liter and uses triple the amount of Metol and Hydroquinone than DK-50.

With that being said, D-76 is a total waste of money, aside from lower processing capacity and the excessive amounts of sodium sulfite and the two developing agents, aside from being able to process more films with DK-50 than D-76 and with excellent tonality separation and fine grain. Rodinal sucks, aside from being highly toxic as it uses caustic soda (AKA Lye) which causes burns, coarser grain and having to crush up Acetominophen, etc and its preparations. DK-50 is a much better choice! I call DK-50 the T-Max powder developer and for a good reason!

Dilute your DK-50 1:1 and you're good to go and it's replinishable, if you so choose to! Just dilute your replinisher 1:1 as well!

SO YES, It's worth it to "keep banging on about it"! Besides, follow the development times for T-Max developer 1:4 and you can't go wrong, unless it's specified as with Kodak 400TX films.

!st pic was shot on 400 T-max 35mm in DK-50 1:1, following times for Kodak T-max RS Developer. The image below is on expired Panatomic-X, March of 1976, Processed in DK-50 1:1 for 6 minutes at 68*F.

Theses devs may or may not be good. You'll have to open each can and find out. Fresh developers will be white or a light tan in color if still good. Overall, I've had great luck in using old, canned devs.

Sometimes, the DK-50 will be a violet or purple in color. The developer is still good and does not indicate exhaustion.

Those canned developers from Kodak are still good. I still have over a dozen of them and I still use and mix them. The contents are fresh and white. Kodak sealed their cans with Nitrogen, which removes the air prior to Kodak sealing them, unlike their enveloped packaged developers. Ansco uses the same packaging process as Kodak does. Ethol chemistries are not packaged with Nitrogen, and those developers are definitely shot when it's expired!

Take my word on it as I've been processing my own films for over 41 years!

An old thread indeed, but the following advice might be of use to someone else.

 

I'd be very suspicious of chemicals already in solution. They oxidise quite quickly even in well-sealed containers.

 

Try them out first on a strip of fogged 35mm leader. This can be developed in room lighting at the recommended time/temperature and fixed. The fogged density should be > 2.1D (too dark to easily see through). If the film doesn't get that dark, then the chemicals are no good.

I still have over a dozen cans of the DK-50 and Polydol. I still open, mix and use without any difficulties. The powder is still white and fresh as Kodak sealed their canned developers with Nitrogen, which removes all of the air, unlike those packaged in envelopes. Polydol, when mixed, is a yellowish weak tea color, which is normal for Polydol.

DK-50 is one of my favorite developers. Every bit as fast and clean working as Microphen, but with tighter grain. I recommend it for any work, it also sems to increase the apparent lattitude of a film. Times, that's tough. I usually test for each kind of film. I have a few practical tests I wrote down for Neopan 400 and Acros 100 in a dilution of 1:1. I'll try to look them up when I get back to the darkroom. The Acros was very nice I recall shot at E.I.80.

Dilute your DK-50 1:1 and follow processing times and temperatures for Kodak T-Max Developer 1:4 and you'll have perfect results every single time!