ilford ilfotec lc-29

[andrewch59]

I have my first concentrate on its way..has anyone had experience with this developer?
A friend on another site swears by it, saying it is leaps and bounds better than RO9, which I use now.
I primarily use xray film and would like to hear from the more knowledgeable, I prefer rotary to tray.

[shoshin]

It's basically dilluted Ilfotec HC which is a fast working, economic developer. It was the first developer that I used. After two bottles I switched to Ilfotec DD-X for all my Ilford-Films.

[Neal Chaves]

I find Ilfotec HC to be essentially a clone of Kodak HC110. I use it 1:31, same as dilution B for HC110 and my times for HP5+ have been exactly the same since switching.
N= 7:30 at 68*

[Havoc]

Indeed, like Neal I didn't see any difference between LC29 and HC110. But the shelf life of undiluted HC110 is vastly superior to LC29.

[andrewch59]

Here was me thinking I had found the holy grail! My friend swears by it, but he uses it for stand development, a lot of Steve Sherman influence. I will give it a try at least, then maybe with the recommendations from here try HC110, or open up the pyro hd I have sitting on the shelf. I guess the problem is I am quite comfortable with Ro9 as a one shot rotary developer and have my times fairly well down pat. 1:130 ten minutes rotary, very economical.
Perhaps some simple shots of the back yard and lots of comparison developments, between the three.
Thankyou for the input

[shoshin]

Indeed, like Neal I didn't see any difference between LC29 and HC110. But the shelf life of undiluted HC110 is vastly superior to LC29.

Well Ilfotec HC acutally IS a copy from HC110. And because LC29 is already diluted Ilfotec HC, the shelf life is indeed inferior.

[Havoc]

I tought the most important difference was that HC110 is a glycol based solution while LC29 is water based. But I'm open to corrections.

[interneg]

And because LC29 is already diluted Ilfotec HC, the shelf life is indeed inferior.

Evidence? My understanding is that it is related to Ilfotech-HC in the same way TMAX developer is related to HC-110 by way of using a similar diethanolamine sulfur dioxide adduct - not a dilution.

[Michael W]

I did a little personal test with 3 sheets of 4x5 processed in Rodinal, LC29 and D76. All were good but I definitely preferred the Rodinal over the other two. It had more tonal separation and held details in some highlights that had gone quite dense with the other two. My summary - LC29 & D76 are fine, but Rodinal is amazing.

[andrewch59]

I did a little personal test with 3 sheets of 4x5 processed in Rodinal, LC29 and D76. All were good but I definitely preferred the Rodinal over the other two. It had more tonal separation and held details in some highlights that had gone quite dense with the other two. My summary - LC29 & D76 are fine, but Rodinal is amazing.

Thanks MichaelW, I have always thought it pretty good too! Perhaps I will use lc29 as a dust gatherer, I have been told that mid tone separations were better with lc29 using stand development and with timings of an hour?