Question about 130 paper Developer

[paulr]

i'm not convinced you'd see a dmax difference, but it seems to me the 130 gives you more texture and detail in the deep shadows ... so you can use more of that dmax. at least on the papers that respond well to it.

on fortezo i had a harder time telling the difference between amidol and 130 than between 130 and dektol. the amidol only got mixed when i had a real problem neg ... like an old one that was underexposed and needed all the separation that i could possibly squeeze out of the shadows. otherwise it made no difference.

[Henry Ambrose]

Thanks Paul, I'll have a look at your charts. I'm going from my general impression that if I start with 65 degree 130 developer I know I have to heat it up a bit to make it work right. Maybe extra time will do the same. For that matter maybe it can be hotter and not take as long as I give it now.

So what Bill wrote about time might be important. My Bergger VCCB gets three full minutes in 130 - don't take the bread out of the oven until its done! And his description of the look sounds like what I get but coming from the other direction. As this conversation progresses I'll say the prints are more "open" in addition to what I wrote before.

Brian, how long and at what temperature are you developing your prints in 130? Could that be part of the reason you're not seeing what you want? And I guess I'll ask that of others - how long are y'all soaking 'em and at what temp?

[brian steinberger]

I'm diluting the 130 1:2 and developing Forte NB fiber VC at 2 minutes. I worked today on some more and I'm getting good results, though there is a slight green-blue hue which easily neutralizes once selenium toned at 1:19 for 4 minutes at 70 degrees. Is 1:1 the normal dilution for 130? I've been using 1:2.

[Larry Gebhardt]

I think the glycin stains the paper slightly, especially if it is old. This looks nice to my eye in the highlights, and is, I think, the source of the "glow" people report.

[jnantz]

i think the best thing about ansco 130 is its keeping qualities.

i don't get in the darkroom as much as i used to, and it is nice to know that i don't have to mix new developer up because i haven't used it in a long time. i'm using some now that is about a year old and it prints as well as it did when i first mixed it.
i also like it because i've been using it to process all my film ( 8x10 - 35mm ) and paper negatives.

even though i have some xtol, and d72, that i keep just in case, the 130 is pretty much the only developer i use.

[Colin Graham]

I use it 1:1 at 70 degrees for at least three minutes as well w/ Forte FB. Two minutes never seems long enough to bring out the highlights or round out the blacks... I also like using the dry ingredients because it's easy to tweak 130 for a cooler or warmer tone depending on the image.

[Bill_1856]

Jnanian, I never thought about using it for film. Could you elaborate, please.

[paulr]

I used to use it for 3 to 4 minutes at 68 degrees on fortezo, but after some observation and testing rolled it back to 2 minutes (or, more typically, a total of 2 minutes, divided one way or another between ansco 120 and 130). what I found with the longer developing times is that prints didn't look any different coming out of the developer than with the shorter times ... but they didn't tone as well for me.

this is a phenomenon i'd never heard anyone mention. identical looking prints would react differently to both selenium and nelson gold toner. to get the slightly warm browns i wante, i needed a relatively short developing time. longer times led to very red browns.

of course, when i say 2 minutes, i'm talking about at 68 degrees ... i'd adjust the actual time according the temperature of the solutions in my drafty darkroom.

and also, fortezo reacts really fast to everything ... i have to dilute all toners beyond whats recommended, otherwise they take off too fast to be controllable.

[Merg Ross]

I have been using 130 with Ilford MG, 1:1 at 68-70 degrees F. Development time in the two to three minute range. I control color with the addition of a 10 percent bromide or benzotriazole solution. Toner, 1:64 at 75 degrees F.

[jnantz]

hi bill

for processing film i kind of stumbled upon it by mistake. i used to believe that ansco 130 was
the same thing as gaf universal developer, and processed my film accordingly. now i know it is not the same
as the gaf developer, but use it just the same ...

for sheet film, i work in trays and shuffle the film constantly.
i usually do a water bath @ 73ºish for about 2 mins, then
ansco 130 1:5 73º for about 8 mins ( i dbi so i don't know exactly what it is )
i water bath again for 1 min then fix.

i use it with roll film ( tmax400, fomapan, agfa400)
1:10 ( maybe a little more water - 1/11?)
water bath @ 73º, then the developer let stand for 15 mins,
3 inversions then 10 more mins dump -- i water bath again then fix.

i've been using it on sheet film (tmax 100+400, tri-x ) for about 5 years without any problems.
and i started again with the roll film about 3 months ago (120 and 35mm).

after getting nice, negatives with 130, and then going back to xtol, the xtol netagives look kind of weak .

oh, i've enlarged with cold light, condensors, and done contact prints (not to mention negative scans).

when i use it for paper negatives, i usually mix in a little spent ( brown like coca cola ) to reduce the contrast a little bit.
kind of like when you leave spent developer ( 777, dk50 or ??? ) in a deep tank to "mellow the new stuff"

good luck!
john