The same roll in three developers
One long roll of 400-speed film, the same breakwater from the same spot, bracketed, then cut in three in the changing bag. Each third went into a different developer at the maker's time. The differences are real and smaller than their reputations.
| Developer | Dilution | Time at 20 °C | Grain | Sharpness | Shadow speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General-purpose powder (ID-11, D-76) | 1+1 | 13 min | Fine, even | Good | Full |
| Syrup concentrate (HC-110) | B, 1+31 | 5 min | A little coarser | Good | Slightly less |
| Rodinal type | 1+50 | 11 min | Coarse, crisp | Highest | About ⅓ stop less |
What that means in a print
At the size of a postcard the three cannot be told apart. At 30×40 cm the powder developer gives the smoothest sky, which matters by the sea because sky is most of the frame. The Rodinal strip has edges that look cut with a knife and a sky with texture of its own; on a picture of rock and weed that is a virtue, over open water it is noise.
Convenience is a real property
The powder has to be mixed a litre or more at a time at fifty degrees and keeps for a few months in full bottles. The two liquids keep for years as concentrate and are mixed by the syringe for one tank. For someone who develops twice a month, that settles the question before grain comes into it.
Starting times for the films used here
| Film | Powder, stock | Powder, 1+1 | Syrup, dil. B | Rodinal, 1+50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP5 Plus, 400 | 7 min 30 s | 13 min | 5 min | 11 min |
| FP4 Plus, 125 | 8 min 30 s | 11 min | 9 min | 15 min |
| Tri-X, 400 | 6 min 45 s | 9 min 45 s | 4 min 30 s | 13 min |
All at 20 °C with ten seconds of agitation each minute. They are starting points taken from the makers' sheets and rounded; check the current sheet for the batch in hand, and change one thing at a time. A thermometer that reads a degree high does more to a negative than the choice between any two of these bottles.
What was learned
Pick one developer and stay with it for a year. The strip that looked best here was not the one from the most admired bottle; it was the one whose exposure happened to be right.