Beginner-friendly developer for 8x10 HP5 and Tri-X in 8x10"

Thanks for all the tips folks, I ended up going for Rodinal as it comes in a really small bottle and is cheap. I'm glad I opened this thread because I wasn't thinking of the non-Kodak / non-Ilford options at all until 6x6TLL mentioned it.

This community is great! Over many years I've asked lots of dumb questions but there's always multiple people around who are patient enough to answer them. Thanks and stay safe :)

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Originally Posted by unityofsaints

Thanks for all the tips folks, I ended up going for Rodinal as it comes in a really small bottle and is cheap. I'm glad I opened this thread because I wasn't thinking of the non-Kodak / non-Ilford options at all until 6x6TLL mentioned it.

This community is great! Over many years I've asked lots of dumb questions but there's always multiple people around who are patient enough to answer them. Thanks and stay safe :)

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You aren’t done yet... now you need to pick which dilution!

Just kidding, you’ll figure it out.

My advice however: stick to it for a while until you’ve learned how to get the best of your films, before switching or changing developer.

Consider doing some tests to tune your process (times, exposure index, etc), there’s plenty of other threads on that, or you can get a book such as Beyond the zone system or others.

Above all, shoot film, have fun and stay safe!

you can use hc-110 as a one-shot developer, no worries about dilution a,b, etc.

start with 18ml to 950ml of water, 9 min@ 68f degrees - adjust from there. ( i actually over-develops 20%) - WORKS LIKE A CHARM!

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Originally Posted by Kiwi7475

You aren’t done yet... now you need to pick which dilution!

Just kidding, you’ll figure it out.

My advice however: stick to it for a while until you’ve learned how to get the best of your films, before switching or changing developer.

Consider doing some tests to tune your process (times, exposure index, etc), there’s plenty of other threads on that, or you can get a book such as Beyond the zone system or others.

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I'm thinking 1:50, anything above that is a bit long considering I'm hand-rolling a Cibachrome tube and developing 1 sheet at a time! I'm not much of an experimenter when it comes to chemistry, don't worry, but films I switch around way too much :) That's mostly in colour though. I have Ansel's 3-book series so can refer to that if necessary.

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Originally Posted by jvo

you can use hc-110 as a one-shot developer, no worries about dilution a,b, etc.
start with 18ml to 950ml of water, 9 min@ 68f degrees - adjust from there. ( i actually over-develops 20%) - WORKS LIKE A CHARM!

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Solid tips but I didn't find a decent source of HC-110 in Australia, all the shops selling Kodak chemicals stick to D-76, XTOL and TMax apparently.

First result in 1+25 Rodinal. I was hoping to use 1+50 but the Ilford Color drum I use doesn't have enough capacity for developer as dilute as that. I had 3 negatives but the first 2 were clear because of a shutter malfunction. In hindsight I should've just shot those a second time, I was 90% sure the shutter didn't fire correctly. You live and learn as they say!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cebc869e_c.jpgWires by unityofsaints, on Flickr

Keep at it with Rodinol

As most say, use one developer until you know it VERY well

I am still learning after 7 years of Rodinol