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  #1  
Old 21st February 2009, 06:14 PM
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Default Processing most film with a universal developer?

Apologies if this question is a little dumb but is it possible to get good results processing different film stock with on type of developer. I mention this as I am experimenting with film at the moment until I standardise. So I have Kodak Tri X 400 asa- Ilford Pan F 50 asa- Ilford FP4 125 asa- Ilford HP5 400 asa but I only have Ilfosol 3. Would that be adequate at this stage
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Old 21st February 2009, 06:53 PM
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Mostly I use ID-11 1+1 with FP4+ and Delta 100 and at stock with HP5+ but mostly that is in MF and LF. I also bring in Rodinal used in stand development if I'm in the mood.

If shooting 35mm you might want to tailor your developers a bit: perhaps choose one sharper and one finer grain developer depending on what you want in the finished print as that is quite a range of film speeds you have there. That said, a general purpose dev like Ilfosol 3 (or ID-11) will do a reasonable job with practically any film.
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Old 21st February 2009, 07:01 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Do you mean a dev that will do all three films well but one at a time as the times will differ? Most devs are good for a whole range of films. I'd be surprised if Ilfosol's list doesn't include the three you mention.

Then there is , as I understand it, Prescysol which has the big advantage of being able to do all three different films at once at the same time.

I don't understand the science that makes it possible for different films to be developed for the same time but I think Dave Miller mentions this as a Prescysol advantage.

For anyone using different films in a matter of days and wanting to develop them together this has got to be a great advantage.

Mike
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Old 21st February 2009, 07:28 PM
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I used Prescysol a couple of days ago and I can honestly say that I don't think I will be using anything else for film in the future.

I'm not sure of the science either but I can tell that it works very well.

But that doesn't answer your question. I used to use Ilfosol S (the version before Ilfosol 3) and I would say it would be fine for all the films you mention (and more).

Before trying Prescysol, I used Ilford DD-X which is also a fine developer for just about any film.



Steve.
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Old 21st February 2009, 08:11 PM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kennethcooke View Post
Apologies if this question is a little dumb but is it possible to get good results processing different film stock with on type of developer. I mention this as I am experimenting with film at the moment until I standardise. So I have Kodak Tri X 400 asa- Ilford Pan F 50 asa- Ilford FP4 125 asa- Ilford HP5 400 asa but I only have Ilfosol 3. Would that be adequate at this stage
It's not a silly question, our problem is simply that we each have a favoured developer, and will swear on our deathbed that it's the best there is; that's until we find another of course.
It seems to me that you may be jumping around a little too much to start with, something I admit I was equally guilty of.
I suggest that you use just one film for a few weeks and see how well you can get it to perform before moving on to the next. That way you will limit the many variables, and stand a chance of making progress. The old technology films like Ilford FP4 or HP5 are the most forgiving I find.
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Old 21st February 2009, 09:16 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Not a stupid quistion, I use rodinal for everything, and over the years I have used and tried many films,tri x hp5plus,fomapan 400 tmax 400 and 100,but I stick to the same dev, I like the results and I know the way it works,I suggest to start you get to know one film and devolper well, then when you know your film/dev combination inside out thenis the time to experiment,Richard
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Old 22nd February 2009, 12:59 PM
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A lot of very different films there Kenneth, and you don't say what format you are using. There are differences in say, Delta 100 in 35mm, 120 and 5x4, they don't all behave the same, though you'd think they would. I use just HP5 and Delta 400, with, occasionally, Delta 100. They give me different effects and I know them inside out. I don't need any others. Best to standardise on just one or two films and get to know them well. Same goes for the dev, really.
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Old 22nd February 2009, 06:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Hogan View Post
A lot of very different films there Kenneth, and you don't say what format you are using. There are differences in say, Delta 100 in 35mm, 120 and 5x4, they don't all behave the same, though you'd think they would. I use just HP5 and Delta 400, with, occasionally, Delta 100. They give me different effects and I know them inside out. I don't need any others. Best to standardise on just one or two films and get to know them well. Same goes for the dev, really.
Sorry Peter- 35 mm
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Old 24th February 2009, 04:35 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Kenneth, Ilfosol 3 is a perfectly adequate developer.

It comes in liquid form, is easy to use, has sensible development times and has a good shelf life.

HP5 and Tri-X are forgiving films - you will get something printable under almost any circumstances.

FP4 is reasonably forgiving

PanF is not at all forgiving.

There is a lot to learn (hence lots to go wrong too) so as the others have suggested pick either HP5 or Tri-X and as you already have Ilfosol3 stick with it for the time being.

Its worth keeping notes of what you do as you go along each time you process - as it helps you learn from your successes and failures.

The strange thing is afterwards its hard to remember what you did if you didn't write it down at the time.

Good luck and have fun

Martin
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Old 24th February 2009, 04:42 PM
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Kodak HC110 (the 1 litre bottles) is also an excellent and very economical developer. Use it at 1:49 dilution from syrup. Development times are short as well. Too short with some films which is why 1:49 is good as it slows dev down somewhat. Particularly good with large film formats.
A 10ml syringe makes measuring this stuff from syrup easy but decanting it into 250ml bottles is a good idea and then a 100ml bottle used to take syrup for developing.
It keeps forever.

N.B. The smaller size (500ml) is a different strength and is not nearly as economical in use and needs to be diluted using different ratios, so get the 1 litre size if you decide to try it.
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