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Author Topic: Film vs. Developer, Etc?  (Read 15574 times)

kers

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    • Pieter Kers
Re: Film vs. Developer, Etc?
« Reply #20 on: September 18, 2019, 12:35:53 pm »

HP5+ and DD-X are what I use nowadays when I go for b&w film. (Got some Acros 100 too when rumors started popping up that Fuji planned to discontinue it.) Shot loads of XP-2 Super in the '90s but haven't used it since. In the '80s & '90s I used mainly one developer: Rodinal. Love the grain!

-Dave-

+1 for the grain of Rodinal- have used it a lot.
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Pieter Kers
www.beeld.nu/la

Rob C

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Re: Film vs. Developer, Etc?
« Reply #21 on: September 21, 2019, 06:36:20 am »

After I moved to Spain, I was shooting nothing (professionally) but Kodachrome; however, for a year or two I did attempt to keep up with my black/white work if only for my own interest and enjoyment.

I was not using 120 film for that 'private' stuff, only 135 format. As I knew that I wasn't going to be doing very much of it, I decided against using D76 and keeping a gallon flask of stock solution in the cupboard because it was going to rot well before it got used. So, I turned my attention to the two Neofin developers, red and blue, which came as one-shot vials. This answered the problem well, but did nothing to help with the real bitch, which was the bad water supply. I had fitted filters to the supply, but they were incapable of preventing tiny grains of sediment getting through and from sticking to the film, despite using wetting agent after the wash as normal. In the end, it simply stoppd being a pleasure, so I closed the darkroom part of the office. I never made another black/white print that way.

How fortunate we were in that regard living in the Clyde area of Scotland; you could even use tap water to top up your car batteries.

Shiftworker

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Re: Film vs. Developer, Etc?
« Reply #22 on: October 18, 2019, 03:22:46 pm »

This takes me back but when I was shooting T-max 100, 400 and 3200 (and Tri-X for that matter) the best developer I ever found was Ilfotec HC - no other dev gave such smooth and fine grain. Tricky to use as you needed a syringe to measure out the highly concentrated 'syrup' but well worth it.
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BobDavid

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Re: Film vs. Developer, Etc?
« Reply #23 on: January 30, 2020, 10:33:06 am »

Cinestill Df96 is a general purpsose b&w monobath developer. I like it because it only takes about 15 minutes to develop and wash a roll of film. It does not require stop bath or fixer, and it is archival.
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