What developer do you use? Why?

[Jan Becket]

[QUOTE=Sal Santamaura;454488]Ilford Perceptol 1:3. This permits processing in Jobo Expert drums, using continuous agitation, when the tap water and ambient air temperatures are very high here during July through September, for times long enough to ensure even development.

Sal, I had been using exactly the same combination: Perceptol 1:3, Fuji Acros, JOBO with the same N dev. time (9 minutes). It's a great developer, except that six months ago I cam back from an extended shooting trip and ran into huge problems with the A and B stock solutions losing potency, sometimes after just 24 hours. What worked fine with freshly-mixed solutions one day barely brought up an image the very next day. It reminded me of my experiences using Kodak's Extol in the 1-liter size. I wonder if Perceptol has a similar problem.

Anyway, I now have a lot of unused Perceptol boxes and have moved to Pyrocat HD, which has proved consistent and dependable.

[Arne Croell]

I have used many high acutance film developers over the course of the last 35 years.
Sorry to admit it except I am that old. I ran a photo lab in the early 1970s in the US Army. The finest developer I ever experienced was Tetenal Neofin Blue. It came in amber colored glass vials that had to be broken open and it was used highly diluted as a one shot developer. When I used it with Leitz lenses and viewed it through a magnifier under the enlarging lens I was totally amazed. This Rodinal, and Edwal FG7 were all wonderul but I would give the edge to the Tetenal. Beseler began to import the Tetenal developers into the US but I experienced quality issues. The Beseler versions came in amber colored plastic vials and were oxidated before I could even open them. I finally switched to Kodak KC110 - dilution B and found it worked well for my 120 roll films and 4x5 negatives.
I am just starting to shoot black and white 8x10 negatives and I hope some of the experts can give my suggestions. Is Pyrol still highly regarded?
Good luck and happy shooting,
Mike

Mike, Tetenal still makes and sells Neofin blue in Germany, in the glass bottles you describe. It is not imported to the US anymore, however. Great with Agfa APX 25 when that was available, also with Rolleipan 25. Photographers Formulary makes a product that is supposedly similar to the original Neofin blue, but I have not tried it: http://www.photoformulary.com/Deskto...ion=0&langId=0

[Sal Santamaura]

...I had been using exactly the same combination: Perceptol 1:3...ran into huge problems with the A and B stock solutions losing potency, sometimes after just 24 hours...I wonder if Perceptol has a similar problem...

I'm not sure what you're describing. Perceptol, one of the cleanest and most consistent working developers I've encountered, doesn't consist of A and B stock solutions. The two powder packets are mixed in a specified sequence into 750ml of warm water, then water is added to make 1 liter. I've achieved perfect results processing film using Perceptol mixed as long as six months earlier as long as it was kept in full, properly sealed glass bottles.

[Armin Seeholzer]

I use to 97% XTOL and why it works for almost all films including IR Films very good.
1% Rodinal
1% Dektol
1% D76

[Joseph O'Neil]

HC-110
- because....
- I like how it works;
- You can water it way down; exercise good control over your contrast and get great results;
- the stuff keeps forever in pure syrup forum in a sealed bottle;
and lastly....
I bought out the supply of a local camera store that was sold out and shut down, so now I have about 25 bottles of the stuff in my darkroom. It should last me a little while, eh?

[Ole Tjugen]

HC-110
- because....
- I like how it works;
- You can water it way down; exercise good control over your contrast and get great results;
- the stuff keeps forever in pure syrup forum in a sealed bottle;
and lastly....
I bought out the supply of a local camera store that was sold out and shut down, so now I have about 25 bottles of the stuff in my darkroom. It should last me a little while, eh?

That's pretty much exactly the same reasons I use Ilfotec-HC. A bottle of syrup and a syringe for measuring small quantities, and my 10 liters should last me quite a few years.

[Jehu]

Thanks for all the good advice and discussion. Since starting this thread I've acquired some HC-110 and some Rodinal. I've used the HC-110 a couple of times and I already prefer it over ID-11 and D-76. The Rodinal came in today. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Again, thanks for sharing your knowlege and experience. It's very helpful.

[Kevin Crisp]

If you develop three identically exposed sheets of 4x5 TRI-X in Rodinal 1:50, HC 110 Dil "B" and Xtol 1:3 and enlarge them to 16x20, the differences in grain are so slight you can't reliably pick which is which. I did this as a test to see how much worse the Rodinal grain would be and the results surprised me. The Rodinal on very close examination with a magnifying glass appeared to produce grain with sharper edges but it was not "bigger" or more pronounced.

Everybody has their favorites but when you start testing side by side the differences can be little to none. I've always been happy with D76 and thought it was easy to mix, just use really hot water. And for many years I've used HC110 with almost everything except T grain films.

[Ash]

Suprol.

It's cheap.

[ki6mf]

I shoot HP5 and dilute it 1-3. One part water 3 parts water. Normal dev time is 14 minutes with agitation every minute. For compensation developer I use 1:5 dilution with agitation every 2 minutes. My film test indicated ISO is 300. Development times for compensation is 15 minutes! I use a water bath to control temperature and always use 68%. I don't bother with other compensating developers mainly cause these formulas work for me and the most important is to use the same materials and be consistent. A big mistake is to jump between various types of chemistry.