Homebrewed Film Developer Formulas

[Richard Wasserman]

After reading the current discussion about the issues Koak/Alaris is having I thought it might be useful to gather together some recipes for easy to mix developers.

The simplest is probably D-23:

500ml water
Metol 7.5 g
Sodium Sulphite (anhydrous) 100 g
Water to 1 Litre

One step up in complexity is D-76. I like this variant:

500ml water
Metol 2.5g
Sodium Sulfite 100g
Borax 2.0g
water to 1 liter

What do you like?

[revdoc]

PC-TEA is pretty simple: phenidone, vitamin C and TEA. I've also made Parodinal several times: paracetamol, sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfite and water.

In general, though, I prefer Pyrocat HD in glycol. It's more complex to make, but the long shelf life means the complexity only happens every now and then. I find that tradeoff worth it for the results.

[jnantz]

8 oz. of water
4 tsp of instant coffee (cheapest gut rot is the best )
2 tsp of Washing soda
1/4 tsp of vit c powder

[Jim Noel]

Too many additives here. If you want to develop in coffee just use what has been sitting around in the pot for a few hours. I tried it - it works.

[Ironage]

I’ve been brewing my own for years. I think I started after finding the formulas in Ansel Adams books.

Richard, your D-76 recipe seems to be missing the hydroquinine. I think you should give it a new name. Something sexy like “Metol with a kick”.

Here is one for large format deep tank developing:

DK50

500 ml water
2.5 gr Metol
30 grams Sodium Sulfite
2.5 gr Hydroquinone
10 gr. Sodium Metaborate
.5 gr Potassium Bromide.

Last a long time and can be replenished.

[jp]

Pyrocat HDC is easier to make (fewer and easier to find ingredients) than Pyrocat HD
https://www.pyrocathd.5x4.co.uk/mixing-pyrocat-hd/

It's mostly what I use. I use blue glycol and if it gets oxidized, the concentrate turns green (blue + amber = green). I keep 125ml bottles topped off and they last practically forever.

211140

Mixed with part B the working solution quickly changes good blueish green to a rich beer color with a hint of green in seconds.

[jnantz]

Too many additives here. If you want to develop in coffee just use what has been sitting around in the pot for a few hours. I tried it - it works.

yea. that works but it doesn't give me the bulletproof negatives I enjoy. :)

[Robert Bowring]

I used Cachet AB 55 divided developer for a long time and when it was discontinued I tried to find the formula but was never successful. I did stumble upon the following formula that has worked well for me. I don't know if it is the actual formula of AB 55 but it does work. I use it just like I did with AB 55. 5 minutes in Part A and 5 minutes in Part B with a couple of inversions of the tank every 30 seconds. I use stop bath for 30 seconds after Part B and then fixer. This stuff lasts a long time as long as you don't mix the Part A and Part B together. I have used it up to a year and it was still working. Part A: 1 liter of water at 120 degrees F, 50 gram of sodium sulfite, 5 grams of hydroquinone, 0.5 grams of phenidone. Part B: 1 liter of water at 120 degrees F, 5 grams of borax, 10 grams of sodium sulfite.

[esearing]

I like Jay Defehr's Obsidian Aqua.

Part A
Distilled water 750ml
Sodium or potassium metabisulfite 20g
Catechol 250g
Distilled water to 1 liter

Part B - mix before use
0.666% solution of potassium carbonate (6.66g/ liter), OR a 0.5% solution of sodium carbonate (5g/liter)
{can also use Pyrocat HD part B but dilute it 1:100 before use}

USE: 1ml A to 500ml B for 8x10. I generally use it as 0.7A ot 500ml B for a single 4x5 sheet in a SP445 tank . 70 degrees for 12:30 minutes on FP4+ @EI 100. Note 0.5ml A is close to failure point but can be used to tame extreme contrast scene.
Looks identical to Pyrocat HD and no phenidone problems.
Part A can also be made in small batch down to 200ML. @100ML it is hard to mix.

[Tin Can]

I guess 1 ml part A requires a pipette

and cleaning the pipette every time as usual

or is there a reliable dropper?

1/500 is one heck of a precise formula

[paulbarden]

I like Jay Defehr's Obsidian Aqua.

Part A
Distilled water 750ml
Sodium or potassium metabisulfite 20g
Catechol 250g
Distilled water to 1 liter

Part B - mix before use
0.666% solution of potassium carbonate (6.66g/ liter), OR a 0.5% solution of sodium carbonate (5g/liter)
{can also use Pyrocat HD part B but dilute it 1:100 before use}

USE: 1ml A to 500ml B for 8x10. I generally use it as 0.7A ot 500ml B for a single 4x5 sheet in a SP445 tank . 70 degrees for 12:30 minutes on FP4+ @EI 100. Note 0.5ml A is close to failure point but can be used to tame extreme contrast scene.
Looks identical to Pyrocat HD and no phenidone problems.
Part A can also be made in small batch down to 200ML. @100ML it is hard to mix.

"Phenidone problems"?

[Tin Can]

Bought some cheap instant coffee with my last grocery pickup

have vit c

washing soda Amazon soon


8 oz. of water
4 tsp of instant coffee (cheapest gut rot is the best )
2 tsp of Washing soda
1/4 tsp of vit c powder

[NHE]

I like PC-TEA: 3-4 ingredients, less toxic than most, long lasting, and you can vary the dilution if necessary.

500ml - Triethanolamine (TEA)
45g - Ascorbic Acid
1.25g - Phenidone
1g - Potassium Bromide(optional helps reduce base fog for alt processes)

Heat TEA to around 200F and dissolve Ascorbic Acid, then add Phenidone and KBr. Requires lots and lots of stirring.

Typical use at 1+50 for Xtol 1:2 times. I also use 1+25.

[LabRat]

For an interesting (updated from older) list of older formulas, search used bookstores for a copy of the "British Journal of Photography" yearbooks... Inside is a (dated) collection of photos, but in the back is the tech section with color & B/W chem formulas (including the Crawley FX B/W film series)...

Cost a few bucks when you find then, and common...

Steve K

[esearing]

"Phenidone problems"?

Well documented in several Pyrocat HD problem threads. Photographers Formulary admitted they had some batches of Phenidone that were bad. They were also selling kits that were 3-5 years old in which phenidone will go bad before the catechin will. If you dilute HD too much for stand development, the catechol exhausts but there is not enough second developer to continue the processing. Pyrocat with Metol overcomes this problem because the Metol acts as the second developer and works extremely diluted. For example HD used at 3A+2B+500 will work great when developer is new for a single 4x5 sheet in a tank with minimal agitation. But after 6 months you will need to bump it up to 3.5+2.5+500 , after a year even 5+5+500 may be iffy. When negatives turn pinkish instead of the pyrocat brown, you have failure on the horizon.

My OA/2 (half stock strength) has been working for 16 months with no discernible failures that I can see. I divided the recipe by 10 but had a hard time getting it to mix at 100ml so I added water to make 200ml (half stock strength) and use 1.5:500 or 2:500 instead of 1:500 that the formula suggests. Pyrocat Metol lasted about a year before it turned blue.

For those that use diluted formulas remember that water quality will have an impact on shelf life and performance. But I would encourage anyone to make your own developers from scratch and experiment with it.

[jnantz]

Bought some cheap instant coffee with my last grocery pickup

have vit c

washing soda Amazon soon

sorry I missed this until just now
no need for expensive unless you can't find it where you live
cheep arm and hammer super washing soda is fine, and converting baking soda
by heating it in a toast R oven works too.. good luck ( and have fun ! )
John

[paulbarden]

Well documented in several Pyrocat HD problem threads. Photographers Formulary admitted they had some batches of Phenidone that were bad. They were also selling kits that were 3-5 years old in which phenidone will go bad before the catechin will. If you dilute HD too much for stand development, the catechol exhausts but there is not enough second developer to continue the processing. Pyrocat with Metol overcomes this problem because the Metol acts as the second developer and works extremely diluted. For example HD used at 3A+2B+500 will work great when developer is new for a single 4x5 sheet in a tank with minimal agitation. But after 6 months you will need to bump it up to 3.5+2.5+500 , after a year even 5+5+500 may be iffy. When negatives turn pinkish instead of the pyrocat brown, you have failure on the horizon.

My OA/2 (half stock strength) has been working for 16 months with no discernible failures that I can see. I divided the recipe by 10 but had a hard time getting it to mix at 100ml so I added water to make 200ml (half stock strength) and use 1.5:500 or 2:500 instead of 1:500 that the formula suggests. Pyrocat Metol lasted about a year before it turned blue.

For those that use diluted formulas remember that water quality will have an impact on shelf life and performance. But I would encourage anyone to make your own developers from scratch and experiment with it.

Thanks for that information.

I've been using PMK for the past few years, and it seems to last forever without change, so I'm going to stick with that, I think.

[Tin Can]

Good point

I forgot about conversion by oven

Thx


sorry I missed this until just now
no need for expensive unless you can't find it where you live
cheep arm and hammer super washing soda is fine, and converting baking soda
by heating it in a toast R oven works too.. good luck ( and have fun ! )
John