Double Negative Posted July 8, 2011 Share #1 Posted July 8, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) It's a little too quiet in this forum! Just wanted to share with everyone; I wrote a more informational, introductory piece on Choosing a B&W Film developer. "Choosing a black and white film developer is often a deeply personal decision, but not necessarily. Certain films and developers are meant to work together as designed by their manufacturers and if you stick to the formula, you can expect specific, consistent results. The fun really begins though, when you start to mix and match for various reasons. It's these combinations that attract an almost religious following. Certainly if you're just starting out you might want to stick with a flexible, trusted combination until you get more experience and start to not only experiment - but learn to appreciate the differences..." Since the site is actually for everyone (including the article) I welcome any suggestions, corrections, whatever. It will continue to um, "develop" as I have more time to add to it... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 Hi Double Negative, Take a look here Choosing a B&W Film Developer. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Michael Hiles Posted July 8, 2011 Share #2 Posted July 8, 2011 Not much to argue with - sorry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 9, 2011 Share #3 Posted July 9, 2011 IMHO - Agfa 100 is the best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Negative Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share #4 Posted July 10, 2011 Thanks for the feedback! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maurometallo Posted July 10, 2011 Share #5 Posted July 10, 2011 Very good article, well written, informative and fun. Interesting site also. I subscribed... Keep up the good work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mono Posted July 10, 2011 Share #6 Posted July 10, 2011 Rodinal dates from 1891, not 1851! Just for correct information. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobYIL Posted July 10, 2011 Share #7 Posted July 10, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Rodinal is one of the highest acutance developers, true, however not a fine grained one. With high speed films like the HP5, Tri-X for example the grains are coarser than with the D-76 or HC-110. Regards, Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomasis7 Posted July 11, 2011 Share #8 Posted July 11, 2011 It'd be interesting to add iso 1600-3200 Trix for discussion which developer suits. i developed with only d76 before, I have not tried SS rodinal yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
christer Posted July 11, 2011 Share #9 Posted July 11, 2011 Rodinal is one of the highest acutance developers, true, however not a fine grained one. With high speed films like the HP5, Tri-X for example the grains are coarser than with the D-76 or HC-110. Regards, Bob Ok, but the grain is nicer, at least with HP5. Yes, it makes the image look super sharp. To be honest, I have not tried the other combos for a very, very long time, but the developers should be the same. With Tri-X it is another matter; I don't know the current emulsion. To answer the original question: Two-bath developers (like Emofin, which I use) are very good alternatives for pushing high iso films. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesop Posted July 11, 2011 Share #10 Posted July 11, 2011 ...great site, Double Negative - have bookmarked it for future visits/reference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Negative Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share #11 Posted July 11, 2011 The article is far from exhaustive, and indeed - I plan to add a lot more in the near future, including using Rodinal to emphasize grain, push/pull processing, specialty developers such as Pyro and even Caffeinol, etc. The site, as mentioned on the "About" page will have continuously-updated content to provide ever more complete information and remain up-to-date. That's the plan, anyway... Very good article, well written, informative and fun. Interesting site also. I subscribed...Keep up the good work. Thanks, Mauro - on all counts. Welcome to the site. Rodinal dates from 1891, not 1851! Just for correct information. Indeed! A typo; and corrected. Thank you! Rodinal is one of the highest acutance developers, true, however not a fine grained one. With high speed films like the HP5, Tri-X for example the grains are coarser than with the D-76 or HC-110. Absolutely! And why I like to use Rodinal with Tri-X - especially pushed, or with a red filter and even in 120. ...great site, Double Negative - have bookmarked it for future visits/reference. Thank you! It's coming along - quickly! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Negative Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share #12 Posted July 11, 2011 Rodinal is one of the highest acutance developers, true, however not a fine grained one. With high speed films like the HP5, Tri-X for example the grains are coarser than with the D-76 or HC-110. I made note of this in the "Getting Started" section, just to make it more clear - as compared to say, HC-110. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastgreenlander Posted July 12, 2011 Share #13 Posted July 12, 2011 IMHO - Agfa 100 is the best. Can you tell us why you like this film and how you develope it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted July 12, 2011 Share #14 Posted July 12, 2011 APX100 in Rodinal 1:100 @20C 120 mins no agitation, pour in and leave... Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randle P. McMurphy Posted July 12, 2011 Share #15 Posted July 12, 2011 Kodak T-Max 100 in CG 512 just far better than in original Kodak Soup. Wolfgang Moersch Fine-Art-Printing & Photo-Chemie | CG 512 100 ml CG 512 + 400 ml Water at 24 °C Kodak 100T-Max 50/18º 12:00 min 15/30/1x Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Negative Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share #16 Posted July 12, 2011 I mostly have experience with the developers listed on the page, so I'll have to rely on others to provide information on stuff from Moersch, other exotic stuff, etc. I'm all for expanding the article! I just don't want to get caught up in a hundred "special recipes" and end up recreating the Massive Dev Chart though... If anyone would like to add a paragraph or two on say, "Stand Developing" or "Pyro Developers" or "Using Caffeinol" - that sort of thing, I'd be more than happy to include them! Likewise, if anyone wants to be an editor on the site to write articles, etc., feel free to contact me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 12, 2011 Share #17 Posted July 12, 2011 Can you tell us why you like this film and how you develope it? I like how it performs in Rodinal 1:50 for low contrast subjects and 1:100 for typical bright sunny days. The 1:100 is semi-stand developed. There is grain with Rodinal and I use a condenser enlarger (Focomat IIa w/Nikor lens) but it is of the type of grain that adds acutance (IMHO). I apologize for the poor JPEG, but here's an example (done for a simple assignment). http://www.digoliardi.net/no-wake.jpg You can see into the shadows on the bottom side of the bridge and actually see a bird in flight in two places, in particular the upper left. (View full-size). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
christer Posted July 12, 2011 Share #18 Posted July 12, 2011 Kodak T-Max 100 in CG 512 just far better than in original Kodak Soup. Wolfgang Moersch Fine-Art-Printing & Photo-Chemie | CG 512 100 ml CG 512 + 400 ml Water at 24 °C Kodak 100T-Max 50/18º 12:00 min 15/30/1x There is so little difference, if any, between TMX and TMY in this developer, that the gain of two stops (ei 200 vs 50) speaks clearly and loudly for using TMY. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randle P. McMurphy Posted July 13, 2011 Share #19 Posted July 13, 2011 There is so little difference, if any, between TMX and TMY in this developer, that the gain of two stops (ei 200 vs 50) speaks clearly and loudly for using TMY. I used this combination T-MAX (50 ASA) & CG 512 on my 2nd travel across Ireland without any problems. Good enought for all landscapes and some well made Portraits shoot in the streets. Sunny Day with LW 14 = 1/125 - Bl. 8 Open Shadow with LW 12 = 1/60 - Bl. 5,6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
christer Posted July 13, 2011 Share #20 Posted July 13, 2011 Sunny Day with LW 14 = 1/125 - Bl. 8 Open Shadow with LW 12 = 1/60 - Bl. 5,6 My Gossen meter equals LW 11 with 1/60 at 5.6 and LW 12 with 1/125 at 5.6 and so does Wikipedia. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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