Developers for school lab

[Valerie]

Looking for some ideas here.....I'd like my Photo II students to experiment with using film developers other than our standard D76. I want them see that different developers can effect their film in different ways (grain, tonality, etc). So, if I were to provide 2 additional film developers, what would you suggest?

BTW, most use Arista EDU ultra or Ilford films.

[Vaughn]

If the toxicity is not an issue, I would suggest one of the pyro developers to have them experience a very different developer. Then perhaps X-tol as another different one.

I would think that hc-110 may not be different enough to be worthwhile.

Vaughn

[MattKing]

Rodinal - so they can see what it is like.

Perceptol, so they can see what a "fine grain" developer does.

[jnanian]

hi valerie

you could have them experiment with dektol, which is often used as a film developer.
it gives a different look than d76 .. they say 1:7 7mins as a starting point.
mad scientist thing with coffee ( caffenol C ) might be fun too easy to mix with teaspoons and no scales ( or exact measures! ) needed
it can give a look anywhere from just like d76 to grainy and foggy any pyroesque without the worry of chemistry used.
you can also add 1oz/32 of print developer into the caffenol .. it takes the edge off. i use ansco130 ...

good luck !
john

[AgCl4ever]

Rodinal for sure.... and then maybe go the other way with a fine grain low acutance developer like Microdol-X.

[markbarendt]

A staining developer, WD2D+, PMK, whatever...

Then maybe Rodinal or HC-110

[zsas]

Caffenol-C might be a great one to add to the mix?

[MattKing]

Rodinal for sure.... and then maybe go the other way with a fine grain low acutance developer like Microdol-X.

I don't know whether an experiment with a discontinued developer (Microdol-X) is the best learning experiment for students - thus the recommendation for Perceptol from this long time Kodak user.

[brofkand]

Microdol-X is available from Freestyle as a LegacyPro branded product.

I think Caffenol-C is a good choice. It's easy to make and can produce some pretty interesting results, and it's cheap. I'd also vote for Rodinal, also cheap.

[vfalendysh]

+1 for Rodinal and similar ones (like R09 or Adolux, etc).. Really classic developer. Very flexible. Easy to work with. Long storage times.
+0.5 for Caffenol-C - interesting process