Mixing D76

[Greg McCary]

When I use D76 I have always used, straight mix, developing times. One pack for one liter of water. When the chart says 1:1 does that mean that I can mix it with twice as much water and just lenghten the developing time? I ask because it would help with the cost of the D76.

[Xia_Ke]

Greg, most development charts will give times for D-76 full strength and for 1:1. From reading up on it, seems the 1:1 dilution gives an increase in sharpness but, also increases grain. I also found references to 1:3 dilutions used but, couldn't find any specifics. You can always try a weaker dilution and play around with your developing times. You can also CLICK HERE for a couple other mixing variations.

If you're worried about keeping costs down, you might want to check out HC-110. I have about 25 rolls of 120 and 12 rolls of 35mm on this bottle and I still have about 1/3 bottle left. I've used dilution H about 75% of the time, with the other 25% using dilution B.

For cost comparison, at Adorama 1 Liter packets of D76 are $4.79 while a bottle of HC-110 will cost $12.89.

[photophorous]

Greg,

When you mix up the one liter packet with one liter of water, that is called the stock solution. When you see times for 1:1 dilution, it means you mix 1 part stock solution with 1 part water. For a single roll of 35mm film that would be 4 oz of stock solution and 4 oz of water, and you would dilute it at the time of use. This is usually what I do, but a lot of people use it undiluted and a few people dilute it even more than 1:1. Any time you change the dilution, the times will need to change too, but the charts usually tell times for both undiluted and 1:1.

Diluting the stock solution gives you longer times which will usually help you be more consistent. Anything less than about 6 minutes makes it hard to control. That's the biggest reason I do it, but as you mentioned, it also saves money. And, as Aaron mentioned the more you dilute D76, the more grain and sharpness you get. That can be good or bad depending on the film your shooting and how you want it to look. But, the difference between straight stock solution and 1:1 dilution is nothing to worry about. It'll look good either way, so give it a try.

Paul

[Greg McCary]

Thank again Paul. I don't mind longer developing times if it saves money. Aaron thanks for the heads up on the HC-110. I am completly out of developer and need to reorder.