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  #1  
Old 7th April 2014, 06:20 PM
kiteboy kiteboy is offline
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Default D76 Am I being stupid?

I am using more and more D76 and I thought that it would be economical to make my own rather than buy Kodak packs.

I have researched reagent costs and cannot get the cost per litre to below £2.00 (based on Silverprint prices and assuming a 20 litre quantity).

I can buy a 3.8 litre pack of Kodak product for around £4.00 - just over £1.00 per litre!!

Is there a source of reagents (in the UK) that supplies in small quantities at a reasonable price - or should I stay with Kodak branded product?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Andrew
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  #2  
Old 7th April 2014, 06:29 PM
DavidH DavidH is offline
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The last time I looked into this kind of thing (admittedly a long time ago) I found that there would be no cost saving over large packs. The only way to get the cost low would have been to buy large quantities of the chemicals; impractical unless I had intended to sell it on a reasonable scale.
I had no desire to start it as a business, so I just buy the largest ready available packs and use my chemical balance to weigh it out into the quantities I find convenient.
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  #3  
Old 7th April 2014, 06:47 PM
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richardw richardw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kiteboy View Post
I am using more and more D76 and I thought that it would be economical to make my own rather than buy Kodak packs.

I have researched reagent costs and cannot get the cost per litre to below £2.00 (based on Silverprint prices and assuming a 20 litre quantity).

I can buy a 3.8 litre pack of Kodak product for around £4.00 - just over £1.00 per litre!!

Is there a source of reagents (in the UK) that supplies in small quantities at a reasonable price - or should I stay with Kodak branded product?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Andrew
I may get shot for this but there are developers superior to D76 (ID11) that cost less, last indefinitely in stock solution strength, are easy to make up, achieve sharper results with finer grain, wider tonal range and are more versatile.

http://freepdfhosting.com/aa330a94ce.pdf

and page 2 of this http://freepdfhosting.com/3e906fe75d.pdf may be of use to you.

Just a thought, I know D76 well but there are better and less expensive alternatives...

richard
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  #4  
Old 7th April 2014, 07:11 PM
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Argentum Argentum is offline
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to answer the question more directly, the availability of raw chemicals at cheap prices have long gone. The likes of Rayco who specialised in photo chemicals (in the way that photographers formulary in the US do) have long gone. Any checmicals in small amounts are not nearly as cheap as they used to be. The Kodak packaged D76 represents good value these days.

But it really depends how quickly you use your mixed stock. If its slowly then there is a risk it will go off before used in which case the liquid chemicals such as tetenal ultrafin, DDX, HC110 may be a better option because they keep for years even after partially used.

If you particularly like D76 but don't use much then go for the 1 litre packs. If you use a lot then go for the bigger packs. i.e. Buying larger packs for economy can turn out to be anything but if it goes off before you use it.
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  #5  
Old 7th April 2014, 07:47 PM
kiteboy kiteboy is offline
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Thank you all for you advice.

To explain my interest in D76 - I have a lot (45 rolls) of Tri-X 320 in 220. After some experimentation with different developers I like best the results from D76 /Tri-X.

I think you have confirmed my instinct - to buy the large packs of Kodak product - I will be using sufficient for storage/ageing not to be a problem.

Thanks

Andrew
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  #6  
Old 8th April 2014, 11:43 AM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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[QUOTE=richardw;92341]I may get shot for this but there are developers superior to D76 (ID11) that cost less, last indefinitely in stock solution strength, are easy to make up, achieve sharper results with finer grain, wider tonal range and are more versatile.

http://freepdfhosting.com/aa330a94ce.pdf

and page 2 of this http://freepdfhosting.com/3e906fe75d.pdf may be of use to you.

Just a thought, I know D76 well but there are better and less expensive alternatives...

Richard UNQUOTE)

Hi Richard. I'm surprised nobody has taken you up on this. I've done a search on the developer in your link -Obsisian Aqua. It seems to be rather like Pyrocat HD or, more precisely, Pyrocat M but without the metol. How does its performance differ from these developers? I could mix some up and try it myself, but at the weekend I used up the last of my catechol (pyrocatechin) mixing up a fresh batch of Pyrocat M.
You say this developer is "better" than D76. I'd be interested to hear how you define the word better.
And how is the fishing? After yesterday's downpour the rivers are up and coloured round here...

Alan
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  #7  
Old 8th April 2014, 05:30 PM
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richardw richardw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Clark View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by richardw View Post
I may get shot for this but there are developers superior to D76 (ID11) that cost less, last indefinitely in stock solution strength, are easy to make up, achieve sharper results with finer grain, wider tonal range and are more versatile.

http://freepdfhosting.com/aa330a94ce.pdf

and page 2 of this http://freepdfhosting.com/3e906fe75d.pdf may be of use to you.

Just a thought, I know D76 well but there are better and less expensive alternatives...

Richard

Hi Richard. I'm surprised nobody has taken you up on this. I've done a search on the developer in your link -Obsisian Aqua. It seems to be rather like Pyrocat HD or, more precisely, Pyrocat M but without the metol. How does its performance differ from these developers? I could mix some up and try it myself, but at the weekend I used up the last of my catechol (pyrocatechin) mixing up a fresh batch of Pyrocat M.
You say this developer is "better" than D76. I'd be interested to hear how you define the word better.
And how is the fishing? After yesterday's downpour the rivers are up and coloured round here...

Alan
Filthy brown rivers with diesel film thanks to road run-off...

OBSIDIAN AQUA

Better:

Lasts indefinitely
Finer grain (subjective personal opinion)
Sharper definition (subjective personal opinion)
Wider tonal range (subjective personal opinion)
Very easy to use as a compensating developer
Simpler to use as all films are done at the same times and temperatures

Less expensive:

You only use 1ml of the Catechol mix (solution A) to make 500ml of working solution so 500ml of solution A is capable of developing 500 films of 120 format; or 2,000 sheets of 4x5 film...

As you can tell Alan, I like it very much indeed.

richard
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  #8  
Old 8th April 2014, 06:00 PM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Hi Richard. Yes , I did get the impression that you like obsdion aqua! And why not if it is giving you good results. Thanks for your comments.

Alan
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  #9  
Old 8th April 2014, 08:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richardw View Post
I may get shot for this but there are developers superior to D76 (ID11) that cost less, last indefinitely in stock solution strength, are easy to make up, achieve sharper results with finer grain, wider tonal range and are more versatile.

http://freepdfhosting.com/aa330a94ce.pdf

and page 2 of this http://freepdfhosting.com/3e906fe75d.pdf may be of use to you.

Just a thought, I know D76 well but there are better and less expensive alternatives...

richard
Is Obsidian aqua a staining developer ?
Do you have the corresponding 510-Pyro chemicals/mixing instructions. ( I think I have them somewhere but can't locate them right now)
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  #10  
Old 8th April 2014, 09:01 PM
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cliveh cliveh is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richardw View Post
I may get shot for this but there are developers superior to D76 (ID11) that cost less, last indefinitely in stock solution strength, are easy to make up, achieve sharper results with finer grain, wider tonal range and are more versatile.

http://freepdfhosting.com/aa330a94ce.pdf

and page 2 of this http://freepdfhosting.com/3e906fe75d.pdf may be of use to you.

Just a thought, I know D76 well but there are better and less expensive alternatives...

richard
In what way is ID11 superior to D76?
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