Which film developer????

[stompyq]

I'am almost ready to process my first b/w negs. I'll be using Tmax 100 for the foreseeable future (just bought a large batch) but might also gravitate towards the cheaper films from freestyle. I'am trying to decide on a film developer and would like suggestions on what to get and times temps as a starting off point for my own testing. My intention is to scan the negs so no wet paper printing/enlarging is planned.

What is a good combination with Tmax that will give decent negs that are scannable on a desktop consumer scanner? Note that i plan to use a 8x10 Unidrum and roller base.

Here are my requirements

1) Prefer to be a liquid concentrate. I'll be doing this in my small apartment so space is at a premium AND i don't want to mess with powders

2)Prefer one shot since i will probably loose track of the age of the developer

3) I'd like good tonal separation and less contrast.

4) relatively non toxic?

I've used D76 (1:1) extensively with 35mm and haven't liked it much. Right now i'am looking at HC110, Rodinal (adox rebranded one?) or Tmax developer. I'll be in NYC this weekend and plan to buy one of these from B&H then.

Would love to hear about any comments or advice

[Mark Sampson]

HC-110 and TMX100 don't play well together; at least they didn't in the late '80s when I tested that combination. In any developer contrast will be controlled by dev time.
Non-toxic = XTOL; a powder, yes, but it mixes easily and works very well with TMX-100, especially at 1:1 dilution.

[Gem Singer]

Photographer's Formulary (www.photoformulary.com) makes and sells a developer that meets all of your requirements.

BW-2 TMAX developer.

B&H lists it on their website. However, they order it from the Formulary.

(FYI: B&H is closed until 10 AM Sun.)

[Brian C. Miller]

Kodak TMAX developer (I think) was developed for Tmax film. It is a liquid developer.

Xtol is easy to use, but you have to mix a large quantity at a time. If you are doing a small quatity of film only once in a while, the developer may expire before it can be used.

Honestly, I recommend that you buy something cheap, and labeled "one-shot." Ilford Ilfosol works, Rodinal works, Pyro-Metol-Kodalk (http://www.freestylephoto.biz/015060-Formulary-PMK-Pyro-Liquid-Film-Developer-makes-50-Liters?cat_id=301) works, weird things like coffee and drain cleaner work, etc. All of it develops film. Use something that works, experiment a little (limit yourself, no magic bullets!) to find something that works well for you, and just go for it.

[Drew Wiley]

Ordinary D-76 does just fine as a beginner developer for TMax. Just be careful not to
overexpose the film and blow out the highlights, and develop to a slightly lower contrast than for darkroom printing so the density range won't be too extreme for
your scanner. For more serious work, I'd recommend TMax RS dev.

[Sirius Glass]

XTOL is a powder but it is not hard to mix. Get a white paint bucket from a paint store or large hardware store. Mark the inside with the 0.5 and 1.0 gallon, 3 liter, 4 liter and 5 liter marks. Add hot water to 3 liters [whatever is recommended]. Add the dry chemical slowly and stir until it is all in solution. Add more and repeat the last sentence. When all the chemical is mixed in add water to the appropriate level. Let cool.

Steve

[Heroique]

For more serious work, I'd recommend TMax RS dev.

Lately, I’ve been shooting a lot of FP4+ and enjoying it, but TMax-100 + TMax RS has been my favorite film/developer combination for a long time.

I get silky smoothness, surreal at times – and when that’s the look I want, the slight cost to acutance is an agreeable price to pay. To be sure, the results have spoiled me into not experimenting more often w/ other fine developers, like I should.

A couple of shots from yester-year:

Mountain creek:
Tachi 4x5
Fuji A 240mm/9
TMax-100 (in TMax RS)
Epson 4990/Epson Scan

Mount Saint Helens:
Tachi 4x5
Fuji A 240mm/9
TMax-100 (in TMax RS)
Epson 4990/Epson Scan

[Oren Grad]

I've used D76 (1:1) extensively with 35mm and haven't liked it much.

What specifically do you not like about it? That might help narrow the field of alternatives.

[Bob McCarthy]

HC-110 and TMX100 don't play well together; at least they didn't in the late '80s when I tested that combination. In any developer contrast will be controlled by dev time.
Non-toxic = XTOL; a powder, yes, but it mixes easily and works very well with TMX-100, especially at 1:1 dilution.

Tmax has gone through some evolutionary changes over the years.

Hc110 dil. b at 6 minutes is VERY nice.

Bob

[A49]

From the overall quality and relatively "healthy" chemicals standpoint, I would recommend Xtol. Solve the powder in 5 liters water and fill it up in five 1 liter bottles. So you have only one open bottle with air in it at a time and you could take the Xtol stock solution from it and dilute it 1:1 or 1:2 as a one shot developer.

Why didn´t you like D-76?

Rodinal will be a good, sharpness oriented developer. You should dilute it higher than 1:50, maybe 1:100 and develop under 22 C to optimize the grain.

There are some other very good liquid developers, but now I don´t have them in mind. Maybe I post these suggestions later.

Best,
Andreas

[Gary L. Quay]

More on this here:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=44795&highlight=tmax+scan+developer
--Gary

[eddie]

t max developer is awesome. i have bneen using it with my tmax 3200 (at 2000) film. great results.

buy the gallon if you will be in NYC.

[BetterSense]

Nothing wrong with either Rodinal or HC110. Both are similarly cheap and easy to use. I imagine the Ilford liquid developer is similar.

[Paul Kierstead]

I know you said you didn't like powders, but ...

XTOL is easy to mix, pleasant to work with and gives excellent results. I mix up a batch and put it in 250ml bottles (filled right to the top about 290 or so). This tends to result in 15 bottles or so. Each bottle is used for 6 sheets; two bottles if I do 12 sheets in a go. This gives me quite a decent run of processing before I have to remix, and since each bottle is completely full it keeps really well (i've used it up to a year later with no evident ill effects). Liquid fix and stop round things out.

Note 'regular' T-Max developer is for roll films only (don't know what happens if you use it for sheets); I have used it for 35mm and it did work fine. T-Max RS is for sheet films as well; I'll admit I'd like to try it sometime, but it isn't nearly as easy to get as XTOL around here.

[Armin Seeholzer]

Take the best soup its called XTOL and never look back!!!

Cheers Armin

[domaz]

FA-1027 is good stuff, cheap, liquid concentrate easy to use. Non-toxic? I haven't checked the MSDS butl your only putting in 20ml or so per development so it's not exactly a hazard to deal with. You can find it at the Photo Formulary.

[A49]

SPUR HRX III could be an interesting liquid developer. This very new, high tech dev promises finest grain and highest resolution, but the film speed is possibly reduced by one f-stop. The producer highly recommends the combination with TMAX 100.

Rollei RLS LOW SPEED is another liquid developer that is often recommended, if finest grain and good sharpness are the goal. It is identical with CG512, which was over years the reference developer for a darkroom magazine in Germany. The film speed is also reduced here.

Both developers are made in Germany.

Best,
Andreas

[Sirius Glass]

Why I choose XTOL:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/chemistry/bwFilmProcessing/selecting.jhtml?pq-path=14053

Grain, Shadow Detail, Sharpness ... Take a look and see if you agree.

Steve