Developer dilution?

I'm relatively new to the darkroom, and last night I screwed up and forgot to dilute the D-76 developer 1:1, for film. I just used straight developer, mixed per instructions on the bag, but not diluted. As far as I can tell, everything looks fine. What effect, if any, does this have on the negatives? How might they look different, if I had diluted the developer? I appreciate any comments you may have.

Thanks,
Paul

I've heard of D76 used as a stock solution, but haven't done it that way myself. Have you seen the Massive Developing Chart? Here's a link to what they say about D-76. Judging by what they say, the film's probably over-developed but it's still probably useable.

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Originally Posted by another view

I've heard of D76 used as a stock solution, but haven't done it that way myself. Have you seen the Massive Developing Chart? Here's a link to what they say about D-76. Judging by what they say, the film's probably over-developed but it's still probably useable.

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Hi AV,

Thanks for posting that link. I haven't seen it before, but I've been looking for something like that.

What effects does overdeveloping have on the film? Will it have more contrast?

I don't know if you know the answer to this, but when I use the Massive Developing Chart for TMAX100 and D-76, there are two lines for "Stock" dilution, with the only difference being the developing time (6.5 vs 9min). Do you know what that means? Is it upper and lower time limits?

Thanks!

Paul

The 6.5 minutes is the time you should leave the film in the developer when using the stock solution. The 9 minutes is the time you should leave your film in the diluted solution. It takes longer to develope the film in the diluted solution because, well, it's diluted. I don't know how over developing film affects the film because I have never done it. One really nice thing about traditional b&w films is that they have great latitude. Like AV said, your film is prop. over developed, but I'm sure you can still get some decent prints out of them.

Developer dilution affects film contrast. The more diluted your solution, the lower the contrast will be. And vice versa...

Just wanted to follow up.

I made some prints last night, and Steve, you're absolutely correct. The contrast is too much. They are not completely ruined though. Most are usable, but deffinitely not show quality. I'll post some when I find a way to scan them, so we can all learn from this lesson.

Thanks to everyone for commenting. I still have a lot to learn about developing (...and all the rest of this photography stuff).

Paul

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Originally Posted by photophorous

I made some prints last night, and Steve, you're absolutely correct. The contrast is too much.

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It's fairly easy to adjust contrast in the printing, I mean depnding on how bad the negs are, and of course, your darkroom setup.

If you've never tried multi-grade paper, now might be a good time...

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Originally Posted by photophorous

Just wanted to follow up.

I made some prints last night, and Steve, you're absolutely correct. The contrast is too much. They are not completely ruined though. Most are usable, but deffinitely not show quality. I'll post some when I find a way to scan them, so we can all learn from this lesson.

Thanks to everyone for commenting. I still have a lot to learn about developing (...and all the rest of this photography stuff).

Paul

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Your negatives will have excessive contrast, density and grain and may show blocked highlights. You need to use a low contrast grade of paper and increase the exposure.

Diluting the developer gives you more acutance (apparent sharpness around edges) and increases shadow detail. This is because the developer exhausts itself locally around dense areas (highlights) while shadow areas keep on developing.

Charles

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Originally Posted by Franglais

Diluting the developer gives you more acutance (apparent sharpness around edges) and increases shadow detail...

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Exactly. The preferred method of film processing for photographic artists (at least fine art b&w) is to use high dilution developer, lower solution temperatures, and longer developing times.

This gives the most detailed (albeit somewhat flat) negative. You then use paper grade and print developer to adjust contrast to a more acceptable level.

I haven't done a lot of b&w developing, but isn't that kind of the deal behind Kodak's HC110 with different dilutions (think they're called "A" and "B")?

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Originally Posted by another view

I haven't done a lot of b&w developing, but isn't that kind of the deal behind Kodak's HC110 with different dilutions (think they're called "A" and "B")?

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Steve, if you're asking me, I stopped using Kodak chemistry sometime around, oh, 1980... ;)