HC110 B with HP5+ @ 100

[RodinalDuchamp]

Hello everyone. I can't find a development time for HP5 shot at 100 in HC110 dilution B. I am seeking first hand experience with this combination and film speed. Any help is appreciated. I am switching from Pyrocat mostly because HC110 promises excellent results with a much reduced development time at least in my case.

Going off of available materials it seems that HP5 shot at 400 in HC110 B requires a 5 minute development at 68*
That means that going by the old rule of thumb -20% per stop I am ending up with a development time of about 192 seconds or 3.2 minutes for ASA 100.

That seems awfully short but maybe that's normal for this developer.

[Pere Casals]

Neal Chaves recomended 5 min at EI100 dil B, which is the standard time for EI400, but I find it good for EI100.

https://www.largeformatphotography.i...=1#post1482309

[Tracy Storer]

Hello everyone. I can't find a development time for HP5 shot at 100 in HC110 dilution B. I am seeking first hand experience with this combination and film speed. Any help is appreciated. I am switching from Pyrocat mostly because HC110 promises excellent results with a much reduced development time at least in my case.

Going off of available materials it seems that HP5 shot at 400 in HC110 B requires a 5 minute development at 68*
That means that going by the old rule of thumb -20% per stop I am ending up with a development time of about 192 seconds or 3.2 minutes for ASA 100.

That seems awfully short but maybe that's normal for this developer.

For "too short" development times with Dil B, I make up Dil E. (which is the weakest solution that is replenishable if you happen to still have a stock of the long discontinued replenisher.)

[Luis-F-S]

You're going to have to figure this one out on your own. No one else's time will prove accurate for your specific situation.

[jim_jm]

I usually shoot HP5 at 200 and develop normally, at 100 I would reduce development time by 10-15%, but that's just me. You'll have to determine your own adjustment based on the results you like.
Less than 5 min development times are not recommended as any variation in timing could have a more noticeable effect on your film. For HC110, I commonly use dilution H, which is mixed at 1:14 (from stock, not concentrate) and double the development time of dilution B.

[Jerry Bodine]

Time and dilution are only two of the significant variables involved. The agitation method/technique is also important. Only you can know exactly how you agitate, so you're own testing will provide your answer.

[RodinalDuchamp]

Time and dilution are only two of the significant variables involved. The agitation method/technique is also important. Only you can know exactly how you agitate, so you're own testing will provide your answer.

sometimes I think this forum is too smart for its own sake, obviously taking into consideration all other variables being the same. i'm looking for a baseline and ideally an aggregate across multiple people.

[RodinalDuchamp]

You have given me the most informative answer yet. I appreciate it. I'll look at dil H and times. Cheers!!

[Neal Chaves]

Neal Chaves recomended 5 min at EI100 dil B, which is the standard time for EI400, but I find it good for EI100.

https://www.largeformatphotography.i...=1#post1482309

Thank you Pere, I know you have made an intensive study of sensitometry .

Years ago I learned an excellent method to find the correct developing time and EI for any film. The source was an article by William Mortensen. Mortensen wrote some excellent books and articles about basic sensitometry. The last time I did this test was when I abandoned Tri-X in HC100 and switched to HP5+ in Ilfotec HC due to cost about five years ago. I proceed as follows.

I set up my trays with my favorite developer HC110B (1:31), now Ilfotec HC (1:31). I pull out a sheet from the package in the dark. and then when the package is sealed again I turn on the room lights. This part of the test is done under the lights. I cut the sheet into five strips and mark them 1-5 by punching holes with a paper punch. Lets say the recommended time is 5:00. I want to see 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00, so I throw all the strips into the developer and agitate as usual until 3:00 when I move the No.1 strip over to the stop bath. Then I pull No.2 at 4:00, No.3 at 5:00, etc. I fix, wash and dry the strips as usual. What we are looking for is the best usable film DMax value. Obviously the film has been fully exposed! When strips dry lay down a page of news print on a table in good light. Find the strip through which the news print is barely visible. That's your developing time. Now to find the film speed.

Go outside in unchanging light conditions and expose five sheets and expose one at the manufacturers rating and then the other four at one half a stop and one stop less and one half a stop and one stop more. In the dark, develop them all together for your newly derived time. Contact print them together exposing and developing the paper for maximum usable paper DMax value through the film base plus fog negative rebate area. Pick out the best-looking contact print and you have your film speed.

Because my 7:00 negative looked the best on the first test, I did the test again with 7:00 as the central developing time and found that 8:00 was indeed too dense. This HP5+ time was the same as the as the developing time I had been using for Tri-X and film speed was also the same, EI400. I have also switched to Ilfotec HC developer due to cost and availability and find it to be a clone of HC110.

Many of the last generation of B&W gurus favored a development time of 5:00 for Tri-X and suggested an EI of 64-100. You can do the above test backwards, developing for 5:00 minutes and finding the film speed. I like 100. The difference between negatives exposed at 100 and developed for 5:00 and those exposed at 400 and developed for 7:00 is quite subtle. Both could be considered "normal" or N negatives. The 100 negative has slightly greater shadow and highlight detail that only a careful, knowledgeable viewer could detect. This slight improvement might not be worthwhile trading for two stops in the field. I do routinely rate HP5+ at 100 under powerful strobe light in the studio and it produces beautiful skin tones.

From here, if you are still with me, you can derive expansion and contraction schemes for both the 100 and 400 "normal negs". I do this by changing dilution rather than time. Make sure you have at least 1 oz. of the concentrated sauce for each 8X10 sheet or equivalent. For contractions I found that 3/4 oz. concentrate to 31 1/4 ozs. H20 yields an N-1 neg at a one stop loss in film speed and 1/2 oz. concentrate to 31 1/2 ozs. H20 yields an N-2 neg at a two stop loss in film speed. For expansions, 1 1/4 oz. of concentrate to 30 3/4 ozs. H20 yields an N+1 neg at a one stop gain in speed and 1 1/2 ozs. concentrate to 30 1/2 ozs. H20 produces an N+2 negative with a two stop gain in speed.

If you look at the chart of Tri-X film speed in Phil Davis' BTZS book you can easily pick out the film speed in HC110B 5:00 as EI 64.

Don't apply reciprocity exposure and development corrections for long exposures (1/2 sec. +) based on published data. Test for yourself and you may be surprised. I wasted a lot of time and effort producing long exposure negatives that were thick and flat. When I finally tested, I found no compensation was required for TXP or now HP5+ out to one minute.

[esearing]

I'm always curious why people want to take a 400 speed film and over expose it 2-stops rather than just use a 100-125 speed film. Maybe instead change your metering technique and/or developer and use the film at box speed which gives you better overall control and decision making. HC110 actually worked more consistently for me at higher dilution because fill and dump time were less critical to the overall development time.