Coupled development / film

[MrAragorn]

Hi ,

sorry for the mistakes in English, my language is Italian.

I have to develop some form roller 120 of:

Superpan 200 used a 100 asa
Fomapan 100
ADOX ortho.

I have these developments:

D-76, Rodinal, Studional, D-23.

Which coupled development / film do you recommend?

[Anscojohn]

For almost forty years, I have used D23 for almost everything. It is a very "forgiving" film developer. My Fomapan 100 looks very nice. I cannot comment on the others; but I am sure they will look just fine.

And most people will tell you, when in doubt: D-76. It is the base line against which all other film developers are compared.

[Mike Wilde]

All will give some results. I would recommend picking ONE developer at ONE dilution to use while you learn how it works, and what the effects of varying development time are. Use the developer as a single use per film then discard the solution used in the tank. Replenished deevloper approaches are avaliable, but dont start with one.

For traditional films i.e not Ilford Delta's, Kodak Tmax'es I am partial to d-76 used diluted 1+1, and used this combination alone for the first 10 years of my photo experiences. The water temperature can be varied of the +1 dilutant to aim for the working solution to be near 20C to minmize the effect of temperature changes. Then for repatability it comes down to measuring total time of developer in the tank, and being consistent with your agitation style.

There are many online references to recommended development times for d-76. It is the gold standard as far as standard developing. Its characteristics do change with age once mixed, so don't mix up a 1 gallon package and expect it to act the same if it takes you 2 years to use it up.

D23 will generally produce a lower contrast negative when developed to the same contrast index when compared to D76. This can hlep when the scene you are capturing has high local contrast.

Rodinal concentrate will last almost forever, and at moderate dilutions will also produce very acceptable negatives. At high concentration dilutions it can be used to achieve deliberately grainy results.

I am not familiar with the properties of Studional.

All the best with your efforts.

For a magical experience, find some rubber gloves, and then in a darkroom under a red safe light, develop the ortho film in a tray. Seeing the image come up for the first time will stay with you a long time, and will also show you that the highlights build density fastest, and that shadows take longer to fill in.

This may lead you to want to calibrate the actual film speed effective with the camera and development style you use. You might be on the right track already with shooting your superpan 200 at ei100.

[sanking]

Would you clarify this?Are the terms contrast and average gradient as applied to developed film not interchangeable?


Sandy

D23 will generally produce a lower contrast negative when developed to the same contrast index when compared to D76. This can hlep when the scene you are capturing has high local contrast.

[MrAragorn]

For a magical experience, find some rubber gloves, and then in a darkroom under a red safe light, develop the ortho film in a tray........

I can develop ortho film under the light of security? It is not light sensitive security?

[PHOTOTONE]

I can develop ortho film under the light of security? It is not light sensitive security?

Yes, a RED safe (security) light, as Ortho film is not sensitive to the color red.

[MrAragorn]

But the long exposure to light for safety, not sailing the ortho film?