Switching HP5+ from Rodinal to HC-110: what to expect?

[Philippe Gauthier]

I never experimented much with films and developpers in search of a "magic bullet" and, in 35 mm, I finally setttled on FP4+ and Rodinal for purely practical reasons: FP4+ was cheap nd so was Rodinal; also, Rodinal had a long shelf life, which is important because I'm an irregular B&W shooter (I've been doing mostly slides in the last two years). The results of this combo satisfied me.

After buying my LF gear, at the end of summer, I had to change film for HP5+, which was more widely available in 4x5 format, still cheap and offered some desireable extra speed. I continued using Rodinal (at 1+25 rather than 1+50 to cut processing time a bit), but initially got rather thin negatives. Exposing for EI 200-250 improved this, but the low speed sort of defeats the pupose and I'm not too confident that the grain structure would withstand much enlargement.

Based on several recomendations (Scott Eaton, on Photo.net, is specially vocal about this ) I decided to give a trial run to HC-110, said to give true 400 speed for HP5+, to have less grain and more mid tones, while still being cheap, having a good shelf life, and being relatively forgiving of small time/temperature variations.

Now my questions. Is there a real difference between dilution B and H (1+63)? The relatively short 5 minutes processing time at dilution B looks attractive, because I currently can tray process only two sheets at a time, but are there some traps and pitfalls I should be aware of? Some people swear by the compensating effect of dilution H, but does it produce a consistently noticeable effect on most negatives? Is it really worth the extra time?

What difference should I expect with my current 1+25 Rodinal negatives? Also, I make cyanotypes from many of my negs - the same I use for silver printing; will the new, HC-110 negatives be better suited for alt processes or just the same?

There is no point suggesting other film - for price/availability reasons I intend to keep shooting with HP5+ in the foreseeable future - or other developper - I already bought some HC-110 and I intend to give it a serious trial before I move to somthing else - IF I feel the urge to move to something else later. Thank you all in advance for the answers.

[Philippe Gauthier]

Forgot to ask: what about agitation? I found very little data on agitation and tray processing.

[Bruce Watson]

HC-110 H is sometimes called "half B" because that's what it is - half B. Dilution B is 1:7 with stock, and H is 1:15 with stock. The time differnce between the two is not 2x like you would think, but H is B*sqrt2. That is, if your time in B is 5 minutes, your time in H should be about 7 minutes.

Basically, what I think you'll see is that using H lowers your EI about a third of a stop. You might think the grain is a little nicer, but you won't really see it until you get to about a 12x enlargement (48x60 inch prints). HC-110 is not usually thought of as an acutance developer either, so you'll probably have to look pretty hard to find evidence of edge effects.

HC-110 not being an acutance developer, it is also not a speed enhancing developer. You most likely won't get an EI of 400 out of your HP5+ and HC-110. Don't be surprised if you end up with 200 or 250. Do the EI tests and find out.

Even though you don't want to hear it, I can tell you that I switched from HC-110H to XTOL 1:3 (4x5 Tri-X, not HP5+), and the XTOL does give me an EI of 400, where HC-110H gave me an EI of 200. But... the whole point of doing the EI test is that YMMV.

BTW, I don't want you to think I'm down in HC-110. It's a hell of a developer and has well stood the test of time. It delivers outstanding tonality and has a "look" that many, many people love. Also, I used it for 20 years, and would probably still be using it except that I changed my processing from trays to a Jobo CPP-2. With the Jobo's continuous agitation, I couldn't control it. In trays however, you should be fine.

[David R Munson]

I had the best results with HP5+/HC-110 rating it at an EI of 200. I don't remember what the developing time was for sure, but I think it was around six minutes.

[Eric Rose]

I use both HC110 dil B and Rodinal 1:50. Each has it's own flavour to be used for certain looks. The HC110 certainly in my setup gives better mid tones than the Rodinal.

As mentioned before do some testing and see where it takes you. If you can get your hands on some APX 100 or Tri-X 320 rather than HP5. HP5 is great as a low contrast film but IMHO does not have the snap of the other two.

ciao,

Eric

[Andrew O'Neill]

"HP5 is great as a low contrast film but IMHO does not have the snap of the other two".

In the words of the late Fred Picker, "Snap is for turtles". I can obtain "snap" with HP5+ depending on how I expose and what developer I use. Even "snap" is subjective.

[tim atherton]

You might want to try HP5 in Ilford DD-X

[Jon_2416]

I use HP5+ in HC110 at 1:45 in my unicolor drum--gorgeous negs. Let me know if you want more specifics.

[Bruce Schultz]

Jon, I'd like specifics. I'm about to start fotografing again after a 2-year hiatus and I need some base of information.

[Jon_2416]

Hi Bruce,

You might want to read this:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/unicolor/

That is how I'm doing my HP5+. I got my last Unicolor drum and motor for $15 on ePay.

I do a 5 minute prewash with distilled water, mix my HC110 single shot 1:45 from the concentrate. I use that ratio so my N-1 isn't too short as it would be with higher concentrations of HC110. And, I use 450ml in the tank regardless of how many sheets I'm doing--probably overkill, but I was getting streaking when I was using less. My times are as follows:

5:00 N-1
6:15
7:30 N
8:45
10:00 N+1

Here is a great resource:

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/index.html

You will have to figure your own film speed & dev times of course. I have been rating the film at 320.

Let me know if you have any more questions!