D-23 or D-76

[Sal Santamaura]

Kodak D76h is just a variation of the buffering of D76 plus the Metol is increased to 2.5g and there's 15 g of Boric acid. The Hydroquinone remains at 5g...

Incorrect.

D-76H:

750 ml water at 125 degrees F
2.5 g Metol
100 g Sodium Sulfite
2 g Borax
cold water to make 1 liter.

[Bruce Osgood]

I've been a fan of D-76 for a few years and am considering trying D-23 if only to gain a better control over blank skys'. Additionally I've been using an acid free processing of Stop and TF-4 Fixing which I am pleased with.

My hesitation in trying D-23 is a potential scum left on the neg without the acid Stop/Fix routine. Do you who use D-23 work in an acid free process?

Thanks,

[Ken Lee]

Do you who use D-23 work in an acid free process?

Yes. Plain water for stop bath, and TF-3 Alkaline Fixer.

With an alkaline fixer, there is no need for Hypo Clear. There is less washing, less water used.

[Bob McCarthy]

Tablet films = Pyrocat

Standard films = D23

Long scale = D23 two bath

D23 loses a little film speed to D76, but I sure like the highlights better.

bob

[Drew Wiley]

I'd agree that Perceptol slows the film speed, but it gave me better results with modern films like FP4. What D-23 was nice for was divided dev, going between a tray
of dev and one with just a Kodalk solution. With somewhat thicker emulsion films you
could get something analogous to water-bath dev, but much more reliable. For general
shooting I gave up on all the above (including 76) once I started using pyro - just so
much easier to print.

[Renato Tonelli]

I have read that D23 is not recommended rotary processors like Jobo - fact or fiction?

[John Dey]

I use D-23 for night time photography. Scenes were there is huge dynamic range and the light source might be in the image like a street light or store sign. D-23 holds the high values very well while having great shadow detail. My experience is that the developer has more grain than D-76. I am indifference about the loss of speed since my exposures are already measured in seconds and dealing with reciprocity failure. But only D-23 gives me a printable negative with night scenes. D-23 is a good tool to have in your dark room. But my favorite developer for daily use is D76 1:1.

[IanG]

Incorrect.

D-76H:

750 ml water at 125 degrees F
2.5 g Metol
100 g Sodium Sulfite
2 g Borax
cold water to make 1 liter.

This isn't a Kodak formula and it's not D76h it is however mistakenly called D76H but is not one of the variations of D76 published by Kodak themselves.

Ian

[Sal Santamaura]

This isn't a Kodak formula and it's not D76h it is however mistakenly called D76H but is not one of the variations of D76 published by Kodak themselves...

Certainly not published by Kodak. Proposed by Grant Haist, for whom it's named. When someone on a forum refers to D-76H, one can count on it being the formula I posted.

See here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=EGQ...0d-76h&f=false

[Greg Blank]

I am not sure why that would be, I've processed in the Jobo using D-23 and D76. D23 produces less contrast than D76, YMMV. I've gotten good results with D23.

I have read that D23 is not recommended rotary processors like Jobo - fact or fiction?