What is wrong with D-76?

[Paul Kierstead]

Reading yet another thread where the most common response to "Which developer to use" seems to always come down to "The more exotic the better", I have a simple question: What is wrong with D-76? I will admit to being no developer connoisseur and have very limited B&W experience, but sometimes I am missing out on some secret.

So, what is so bad about D-76?

[steve simmons]

Any developer with a high content of sodium sulfite (which softens the edges of grain, will not give as sharp a result as a developer with less sodium sulfite. D-23 is another example of a developer with a lot of sodium sulfite that does not produce terribly sharp results.

steve simmons

[tim atherton]

But of course plenty of photographers use D23 for the results it gives.

I know Geoffrey James and Hiroshi Sugimoto are both fond of it. (and while Geoffrey's Tri-X landscapes/cityscapes certainly look sharp enough to me, I don't think Sugimoto is too worried about sharpness in a lot of his work....! more likely contrast).

I think Nick Nixon might be another D23 user if I remember correctly

[John Kasaian]

FWIW, I don't think anything is wrong with D-76---its great stuff. I have found that I prefer other developers with certain emulsions over D-76, but I doubt that the developer alone will make or break any photograph(at least mine.) Since the "new" Tri-X dosen't seem to want to behave with HC-110 in dilution B like the "old" Tri-X, I went back to D-76 and I'm pleased with the results. FWIW, I started using NACCO Super76 which is a liquid concentrate, so I have all the convenience of HC-110. -----------Cheers!

[jnantz]

sprint photographic systems has been making a "metol free" d76 / ilford ID-11 replacement. liquid concentrate 1:9 film developer. they've been making this for years ... http://sprintsystems.com/products.html

[Andre Noble]

My amatuer assesment is that the large host of traditional developers such as D-76 work well for indoors,studio portraiture, or moderate/low contrast outdoors situations.

However, the Pyro developer I have triedWimberly WD2D+ (similar to Pyrocat HD) reigns supreme in outdoor photography under sunlight conditions because of superior highlight contol and superior highlight gradation.

[Chad Jarvis]

I've been using D-76 for years, and I probably will continure to do so. I find it easy to work with and flexible with Plus-X, Tri-X, HP-5+ and FP-4, and my negatives are used for everything from silver to platinum to albumen.

Kenro Izu, one of the finest photographers alive today, swears by the Plus-X/D-76 combination. If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is.

[Nick_3536]

D-76,D-23 etc are high sodium sulfite only if used at stock dilutions. I use D-23 at 1:3. It stops being a high sulfite developer that way.

[Michael Jones]

The short answer is "nothing." When all else fails, fresh D-76 always works.

Mike

[Bruce Watson]

D-76 undiluted or 1:1 is still the standard by which all other developers are judged.

Anchell and Troop, The Film Developing Cookbook, 1998, Focal Press.