Ilford DDX life

[ramin]

I have a bottle of DDX that has been open since last fall and I have 4 rolls of Delta 3200 to develop. Ilford mentions a shelf life of 6 months for half full bottles. Could any one tell me from experience if this solution will be more active or week by now? Thanks

[Ralph Barker]

I've used DD-X that was around 8 months past opening, and it seemed to be of normal strength. Now that I've said that, though, your's will probably be dead. I'd suggest a test with a short roll of another film with which you're familiar.

[Philippe Bedfert]

Ilford DDX is a liquid fine grain developer. Basically his formula is very near from Ilford ID 68. It's a Phenidone-Hydroquinone-Borax type developer. But Phenidone has probably been remplaced by Dimezone, a Phenidone form with extented shelf life. It also use ethylenglycol as a solvent instead of water to minimize oxydation. IMHO it is the best modern developer. His shelf life is not as long as Rodinal or HC-110 but it lasts more than 2 years if you put one liter in 4 little 250ml bottles.

[ramin]

merci for the answers