"I shoot HP5 and dilute it 1-3."
I tried diluting my film once but it just got my camera all wet.
"One part water 3 parts water."
I've never tried diluting my water though
Seriously though Ive been shooting TMY at night and using XTOL 1:3 with excellent shadow detail and good highlight control.
Since leaving D76 for the newer developers like TMAX and XTOL I've missed the "chalk and soot" (an expression used by an old photography teacher) tonality of the developers like D76 and Rodinol. XTOL seems to produce a great smooth tonal range and excellent shadow detail but looses the deep richness of dark tones.
Last week, having run out of XTOL I broke out my emergency pack of D76. Mixed 1:1 at standard development produced excellent mid tones but shadows seriously lacking in detail.
After a bit of experimentation I found development regime that mimicks the shadow detail of XTOL but with the richer tonality of D76:
D76 1:1 20 degress C
2 min gentle continuous agitation.
Then agitate 5 sec every 5 minutes for 30 minutes.
Worked a treat
Steve
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