Hi,

I mostly shoot colour in 8x10 and in smaller formats I just get my B&W developed along with my colour to save time but lab doesn't offer this for 8x10. I did some B&W home development years ago but there I just used the T-Max I had lying around from my small format work. I'd like to start doing this again but with a developer matched to my needs and film stock.

I'm looking for a developer:

  • Suited for the film stock in my freezer: 8x10 HP5+ and Tri-X
  • Which either keeps very well or is one-shot
  • Is available and affordable in Australia
  • Is "idiot proof" for someone starting out in home development, i.e. is popular and has tons of info e.g. on the massive dev. chart
  • (optional) has the flexibility of different dilutions so 1 bottle of developer can be used for different results


Anything in particular come to mind? I'd guess something like HC-110 or an Ilford equivalent but that's just from googling around, not from experience.