Educate me on Tri-X in D76?

[buzzardkid]

Hi,

first thread starting there.

I got me some Tri-X last month in Berlin and am planning to 'traditionally' develop it in D76.

It's going to be my maiden voyage with this combo. Until now I shot RolleiRetro100 w/ Rodinal, but a good friend's results with Tri-X inspired me to take a shot at it myself. However, he doesn't home-develop and I thought it best to turn to the fine people here to get educated on the specifics of D76 and Tri-X.

I have three bags of D76 powder developer lying about and would like details on mixing, storing and shelf life.

The Tri-X 400 I shot @800, so will be pushing one stop. Anyone that can recommend a good set of developing times, temps and turns?


Much obliged!

[markbarendt]

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/profe...bs/j78/j78.pdf

Kodak's recommendations are probably the best place to start.

The rest of us add variables that you can't duplicate. For example my water is different than yours, so is my thermometer, my agitation, my metering, my timer, my pouring times...

[Rick A]

If you are concerned for purity, mix with deionized or distilled water. I keep my D-76 stored in one liter, and 250ml bottles filled to the top and tightly capped. I have some that is over one year old stored this way that still works as well as the day after it was mixed. I never use D-76 until at least one day after mixing to insure stability, entrained air settled out and such. Best thing to do after that is experiment.

[rich815]

Does your friend push it to 800 too?

[buzzardkid]

Does your friend push it to 800 too?

yup.

But he has it developed, at Foto Impex in Berlin. Don't know what developer they use, likely something more modern than D76.

Anyway, I have three bags of D76 and it's the better choice over Rodinal, so D76 it's gonna be.



Still interested in storage temp, shelf life etc. Anyone that can educate me? Thanks!

[buzzardkid]

'nother question: Do you guys re-use the developer? Or use it once-only?

If re-using, how many times, on average?

[Rick A]

Years ago I used D-76 replenished, no longer do that, one shot only now. If stored in tightly capped bottles in a cupboard out of direct light it keeps a very long time over what Kodak recommends, never refridgerate. My normal use is 1+1 dilution at 20c.

[Argentum107]

As far as I know Fotoimpex develop all films in Adox ATM49 (aka Calbe A49). Compared to D76 it produces finer grain, gives a higher film speed and is more compensating. But all this comes at the price of lower acutance.

[tkamiya]

I would really encourage you to read the bag itself and the technical note from Kodak. Just about everything you asked is answered there and more.

Storage: 6 months in tightly capped bottle. 2 months half full.
Storage temp: not specified but room temp will work just fine
You can reuse and replenish. It's in the note. (little more to it than I can explain here) I don't suggest it starting out. I use one shot.

[dnjl]

If you are trying to be economical, I find the difference between 1+1 and 1+3 solutions to be very marginal. My bottle of D-76 stock kept well for about six months, I discarded what was left after that date. I used a regular PET soda bottle and did not remove the air.
With regards to mixing, using warm water really helps. Do not shake or stir heavily, as this will introduce air bubbles into the solution. If there are some undissolved flakes left, let it rest for a bit. They're not really harmful though, I once developed some film in freshly mixed D-76 with undissolved crystals because I was in a hurry, and it didn't affect the outcome (then again, maybe I just got lucky).

For pushing, I would recommend using stock solution for best results.