I back Rodinal! HC110 always seems too smooth and clean for me, ideally I reckon ID11 is tha one, but Rodinal also suits me nicely.

Like most people from your poll I use HC-110. It’s the only one I ever used. Highly concentrated, cost effective. Btw. I love that format of short engaging video. Great work 👍

My choice would be Xtol because it is a good combination of sharpness, tonality and fine grain. I think its a major advantage that Xtol is less toxic than other developers. I am actually using Bellini Ecofilm at the moment, which is said to be a liquid Xtol and I am getting very good results with it diluting the stock solution 1+3, so its quite economical as well - I get 32 rolls from 1 litre of concentrate.

To be honest with you there is two parts to your question: 1. What look and grain structure are you after? 2. Are you after a developer that fits as many films as possible and has many available development times? If so I recommend d76! However you need to find the one that works for you and your frames! So the best way is to test out the four developers with a test roll of film! That is probably not the answer you are looking for but to be honest I can't read your mind and also we have different expectations of how we want our negatives to look like! One last tip regarding d76: D76 stock at 9-10 minutes works great for odd rolls with no official or hard to find dev times, I find that 9-10 minutes works great for iso 50-400 range!

I was recently given a bottle of Rodinal which is at least 40 years old. Still works as new. For me Rodinal, or R09 which is the same formula, works most economical in combination with Fomapan 100 bulk film doing stand development at 1:100.

I started with D76 and really loved the results I got from it but then I switched to HC110 which I’m currently using but I’m really thinking of switching back to D76 even though its really hard working with it especially when mixing. Great video keep em coming brother

Just to say a big thanks, I've just started listening to your podcast, crackin stuff, loved it. Thanks for your hard work.

I use all of those developers. Xtol yields great results on every film I have used. Rodinal is my next choice but for only 120 and 4x5. I don't like it on 35mm regardless of the emulsion. I also have a recipe that I use Xtol and 5ml of Rodinal together! :)

X-tol is a good all rounder but you do need a 5ltr container and keep it air tight. I used it one to one started last February and have just finished it( feb 2021). I didn’t have enough for two 35mm films so found that I could use it 3:1, turned out fine, as I was using it every so often I changed down to smaller bootlegs and used marbles to bring it up to get rid of air also I squeezed the bottle. Bear in mine I’m only little and it never got exhausted even with my handling. I am going to buy more. Watch out the price some places are dear don’t pay more than £15, some are charging @£30!

Rodinal is perfect if you shoot a lot of different film stocks and ISOs. You can even to an extent mix the ISO you shoot on a roll of film and stand develop in Rodinal and get useable results! Lasts forever and is very cheap. I always stand develop at 1:100 dilution, only takes 5-7mls per roll. It will not get you the finest grain results, but personally I like the grain.

I used d76 for most of college its super flexible with all the film stocks. Hc110 has been my fave lately.

Try them all and see which one YOU like. I like Rodinal, HC-110 and Ilfosol 3

XTOL. You need to have five liters sitting around but it works awesome with all film stocks, has a nice mellow grain in most films, and looks really good. I have all the developers in your list and this is the one I use 90% of the time.

Pyrocat HD or HDC is my goto. If I had to pick one from your list, D76 because of plentiful good experience with it.

My rodinal bottle (Rollei R09) is about 15yrs old. Still good. Lots of crystals rattling around in the bottom. Id only recommend rodinal if you like grain, shoot slow films, or shoot larger than 35mm.

XTOL is my favorite, I use it for everything. Rodinal would be my second choice. I've used the others quite a bit too, but the versatility of XTOL wins me over. And I am like you, I like to shoot a lot of different films.

Xtol is one of my favourite developers, but after I have played a bit with Adox Atomal 49 lately, and especially with Fomapan and Tri-X, I find that one to be my absolute favourite. If you want grain and accutance, Rodinal is your pick. Developers are very different, and playing with them is fun. 😊

mmh... well, it very much depends on the speed of your film. Then it depends on whether you wish to push or pull. But most of all it really depends if you want a particular look. Each developer has own characteristics. I would recommend controlling your temperature. Try 20, 21,22 even 24. Then agitating plays a part too, Semi stand or stand, these things affect the grain. Rodinal is cheap and good start to learn these things. HC110, XTOL, DDX, etc are all great film developers but every tool needs to be mastered. Polls and opinions are just that. Making a decision is part chemistry and part art... just to mix things up I'm using Spur N Acurol (couple of videos on my channel about pushing film too)

XTOL can be super economical because it can be used in a replenishment system. But be careful there is an on going recall for certain production dates.

I use EcoPro Legacy ... basically an off brand Xtol. Same over the top 5L batch size but I've yet to run into an exhausted developer, even when I was 1yr+ into my first batch. Have seen some comments that the spontaneous exhaustion was more to do with their 1L kits and that's why they pulled them, or maybe the EcoPro is slightly reformulated to not have those issues.

Of all developers out there, X-Tol is what I'm the most excited to try. It's the last developer to be developed with all the funding power and knowledge Kodak used to have, and it's supposedly the greatest developer based on over 100 years of film developing science - at least, according to Anchell and Troop (The guys who wrote the Film Developing Cookbook). DD-X is by far my favourite right now, but it's expensive. X-Tol is supposed to be even better and more environmentally friendly being based on Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) rather than metol, hydroquinone, or phenidone. I just wish it were a liquid concentrate or at least in powders to make 1L solutions instead of just the 5L.

I have a biased opinion as I always used HC1-ten with the classic B dilution (1+31). Never used, but Rodinal seems to be sharper and grainy than HC110, so the answer is more: "it depends". Meaning, it depends on the results you want to get to your photos. Sometimes you may feel to want fine grain; other times you may want to have coarser grain; or more contrast; less contrast. Of course, you can always change the contrast while doing digital post-production or using multigrade filters while enlarging a print, but grain is key and the developer is where you can control it. I'm currently changing some variables in the developer, although keeping the same B dilution and development time (6 minutes), namely temperature and check the outcome of it. It's not just the developer which matters, but temperature and develop time also have a word about it.

I use mostly HC-110. Also Rodinal once in a while.

Xtol is superb…..I use it at 1+1 dilution…..less toxic as well….I also have Rodinal and D76 currently…….don’t forget acutance and grain are topics in themselves

I used Rodinal, HC-110 and Iltec DD-X so far. I used DD-X together with Ilfords Delta-Films for a while because it is recommended by Ilford. Besides that I stick to HC-110 now, because it is liquid already (I don't have to mix a powder with water at a specific temperature), it is a concentrate and has a long shelflife. (Sorry if you say the same things in the video, I paused when you asked us to ;-) If anyone has experience: How are the results of Delta-Films developed with HC-110 compared to DD-X?

Xtol for box speed exposures and 1 stop pull. HC110 for 1 stop push. Diafine for 2 stop push. I can type hundreds of words explaining the whys, wherefores, and chemistries - - - but I wont.

Hc110 is a fantastic developer but unfortunately a lot of film shooters these days don’t test and go deep to find their proper exposures and development for their equipment, which varies extremely. Simply just developing blind without calculating tests, is futile. Now the key to achieving consistently good negatives is the correct placement of your shadows when exposing the film and ascertaining the correct development time for achieving good separation without losing the highlights. A simple and relatively quick way to way to pin all this down for the future is to do the following (WARNING: reading these instructions is more time consuming and a lot more laborious than actually doing it!!): 1. Find a scene with with a good range of tones 2. Using the box speed, meter the darkest area in which you wish to retain shadow detail 3. Move the camera so that you are only photographing this shadow area 4. From the meter's reading close down the aperture by 2 stops or increase the shutter speed by two stops and then expose 6 frames at: the given exposure then +1 stop, +2 stops, -1 stop, -2 stops and -3 stops less than the meter has indicated 5. Process the film 6. Using the frame that was exposed at -3 stops less than the meter indicated (which should be practically clear but will have received lens flair and fogging - i.e a real world maximum black rather than an exposed piece of film that has processing fog)and do a test strip to find out what is the minimum exposure to achieve maximum black - Print must be fully dry before assessing this 7. Do another test strip with the first exposure being what you have selected for achieving maximum black minus your dry-down compensation then plus 1 second, 2 seconds, etc 8. The time that achieves full black inclusive of compensation for dry-down is you minimum exposure to achieve maximum black for all future printing sessions - print must be fully dry before assessing 9 You now know the minimum time to achieve full black inclusive of exposure reduction to accommodate dry-down 10. Using this minimum exposure to achieve maximum black exposure time, expose all of the other test frames. 11. The test print that has good shadow detail indicates which exposure will render good shadow detail and achieve maximum black and provides you with your personal EI for the tested film/developer combination 12 If the negative exposed at the meter reading gives good shadows, your EI is (when metering shadows where you wish to retain good detail) the box speed (i.e. for 400 film you need to set your meter at 400) 13. If the negative exposed at +1 stop more than the meter reading gives good shadows, your EI is (when metering shadows where you wish to retain good detail) 1/2 the box speed (i.e. for 400 film you need to set your meter at 200) 14. If the negative exposed at +2 stops more than the meter reading gives good shadows, you EI is (when metering shadows where you wish to retain good detail) 1/4 box speed (i.e. for 400 film you need to set your meter at 100) 15. If the negative exposed at -1 stop less than the meter reading gives good shadows, you EI is (when metering shadows where you wish to retain good detail) double the box speed (i.e. for 400 film you need to set your meter at 800) 16. If the negative exposed at -2 stop less than the meter reading gives good shadows, you EI is (when metering shadows where you wish to retain good detail) 4x the box speed (i.e. for 400 film you need to set your meter at 1600) You have now fixed your personal EI but there is one more testing stage to go. 1. Find a scene with with a good range of tones 2. Using your EI, meter the brightest area in which you wish to retain highlight detail (but not the sky) 3. Move the camera so that you are only photographing this highlight area 4. From the meter's reading open up the aperture by 3 stops or decrease the shutter speed by three stops 5. Expose the whole roll at this setting 6. In the darkroom, process one third of the film for recommended development time 7. When dry put negative in the enlarger and make a three section test strip exposing for half the minimum black time established earlier, for the established minimum black time and for double the minimum black time. 8. Process print and dry it. 9. If the section of the test strip exposed for 1/2 the minimum black time gives bright highlights with a trace of detail then the film requires 20% more development 10. If the section of the test strip exposed for the minimum black time gives bright highlights with a trace of detail then the film is correctly developed 11. If the section of the test strip exposed for double the minimum black time gives bright highlights with a trace of detail then the film requires 20% less development 12. You can use the rest of the exposed highlight test film to fine tune the development time. YES - it is VERY boring but . . .for the investment of minimal materials and a few of hours you will have pinned down so many variables that it is really worth doing. Now back in the real world, all you ever need to do in future is meter the shadows that you wish to retain good detail with meter set at your EI and then stop down the aperture 2 stops or increase the shutter speed by 2 stops. In the darkroom start your first test print with the minimum exposure to achieve maximum black (inclusive of dry-down compensation) and go from there.

Great video! I just started developing again and this video was very informative.

Hc110, it has a long shelf life and is very economical. It can be used for a lot of films with good results. Xtol comes over here in 5 litre packages and is hard to mix ans store for me. Rodinal can be done but use it for stand development, grain is all the way with high speed film > iso 200 and normal processing. Stand development can give pleasant results and also very economical. Downside is it takes a hour to develop it.

Rodinal and HC110, Both are goto depending on what you are doing. If you shoot expired films : Go for HC110, it contains Benzotriazole which help to remove the fog effect. If you need lower grain than Rodinal : Go for HC110 also If you want to develop anything with the ability to fix exposure errors : Rodinal at 1:100 If you want a cheap way of developing, Rodinal Also Plus for Rodinal and HC110 : They are both impossible to kill. You can let them on a shelf for years and still get great results.

I always used HC-110. It has great shelf life as a concentrate. It was Ansel Adam’s’ workhorse developer.

I would like to say that you can't go wrong with any of these developers, they're all some of the best of the past 150 years. I'd argue that Rodinal is also very environmentally safe, and it can be made from 3 ingredients that are all food safe. Sodium metabisulphite, used in wine making and can be found at brewing stores, acetaminophen/paracetamol, and lye, which isn't exactly safe in concentrated form, but extra diluted or mixed with something that reduces it's pH, is safe too. Used in soapmaking or as a drain clearer in concentrated form. You could probably take a very unpleasant, but non-toxic sip of rodinal in 1:100 diluted form, same goes with caffenol.

Yo thanks a ton for this! I knew I wanted to stick with Kodak as a first-time developer but thanks for sharing all this info help me narrow down my decision to D76 as my first chemical to tryout

After 2 years, I’m curious about two things; 1. What developer were you using most often before the poll was taken?, and 2. What developer(s) do you use most often now? Basically, did any of them change your attitude and make you a big fan? Thanks for your channel and all of your content! It’s all great. Oh, and thanks for making your New Classic EZ400 film available at a very decent price!

I found a bottle of rodinal from 40 years ago and it is completely crystallized, even though there's barely any air in the container. First I have to melt it I guess. Hope it still works :P

I recommend rodinal if you like the grain, and in case you love shoot different film stock, you could make a stand development and develop two (or more) different stocks. As you said, rodinal never "dies". By other hand, the hc 1-10 😉 its the most versatile developer... But you need save it in glass bottles with vacuvin caps airtight. I recommend you to watch the Herman Thothroot's channel (in Spanish, but after the ifwefilm interview I know you speak Spanish to). Cheers

People need to understand that “fine grain” developers like D76 are solvents that literally dissolve the silver grains making them appear smaller, and also randomly redeposit it elsewhere on your negatives. This has the effect of reducing overall resolution. Non-solvent developers like Rodinal do not remove silver, so people say the result is “grainier”, but the grain size and amount is inherent in the film, and has nothing to do with the developer. I’ve used all of the above, and to me the tonality Rodinal produces is unmatched, and I like grain... otherwise why wouldn’t I just shoot digital?

I prefer D-76 1:1 over HC-110 1:31 because I like finer grain. I use Rodinal either 1:50 or 1:100 stand development for use with very expired or unknown films.

Hey Ribs, I've been using Ilfosol 3 since mid-2020 based on feedback from a few friends. They said it's better to start out with a liquid developer rather than mix one up from a powder kit. But I'm guessing that should be no trouble at all for you. Last weekend, I got the ingredients for Rodinal and made a batch. Waiting for the solution to settle and test it out before I can test it out. I've heard great things about Rodinal and how it's best suited for stand developing. I'd love to try HC-110 someday though.

Do you have any experience or opinions on the CineStill Df96 Monobath developer? thanks, FW

Audio's sounding nice and clear bro!

The only developer I have experience with, at least in this Millennium, is HC110. I got it on Jamie Madonado's suggestion and it has worked very well for me shooting HP5 mostly.

If you have important work, like landscapes, headshots and fashion work, use xtol. Full stop. It has fine but very sharp grain, so you can actually make large prints of your work. Pretyy much, pro work, xtol. Street photography, HC110 so you can just burn through the rolls on the cheap. Artistic work, xtol or D76.

Xtol all the way if you’ve got time and patience to find what you like with 1-2 emulsions and you can go through 5 litres in a couple months. HC110 is the backup when Xtol doesn’t work for you due to the limited shelf life of Xtol. Rodinal is the catch all. Medium and larg format complex exposure? Rodinal. 35mm varying exposures/ iso’s/ screwed something up? Rodinal stand. Bottom line, unless you’re consistent, fastidious and religious, having a few options on the shelf can save you from some outright disappointment.

Xtol for anything faster than 100 iso in 35mm and rodinal for slower speed films. In medium format I use rodinal for up to 400 speed but for Ilford delta 3200 or if I’m pushing hp5 or delta 400, I’ll use xtol. Horses for courses type scenario. Ps HC one ten

Rodinal, HC110 and D76 are conceptually different developers. Rodinal is a high accutance developer (more grain, but sharper images). HC110 is a strong developer (contrast images, but very flexible to push and pull). D76 is a compensator developer (it catch detail in highlights and shadows). I'm using D76, but diluted 1+3. It converts D76 in a high accutance developer, better than Rodinal. As I read, XTOL was designed to replace D76.

one more comment.... Xtol is great but you have to mix 5 Liters and use it within 4-6 weeks. HC110 has relatively short dev times and harder to be exact when pouring. 10 seconds is a big deal when you only have 5minutes total time. It's also not as sharp as I prefer. So for a beginner in developing, I suggest Rodinal (when it becomes available again). It's fool proof, lasts for ever, dilution and agitation can be done many different ways to yield a variety of looks. You can do "Stand" development with great results and lastly there is a HUGE community of people with many ways to use it. It is very versatile! On 120 and 4x5 it's amazing. If you shoot 35mm film, anything above ASA100 can result in more grain than you may like in Rodinal. There are some Flickr groups you can view for each developer and find a look you like. :)

Just used up a pouch of R09 I bought in 2009 the other week, still worked great!

Take this suggestion with a grain of salt since I've only been getting into film photography in the past 5 months, and I've only used Rodinal. I really like Rodinol not only for it's economy and shelf life, but also for it's qualities as a compensating developer. I often do stand or semi stand developing with a very dilute solution and get good contrast with a lot of shadow detail. The biggest downside is it tends to be very grainy. I found that adding sodium ascorbate, which is sold as a form of vitamin c, at 4g/L to mixed solution can tone down some of the grain. I've tried it on T-Max 100, and I did notice a difference. It smooths the grain out, but doesn't reduce it, so it doesn't have as much of a difference on higher speeds like 400. I'm waiting on some Xtol to try something new, but overall I like the Rodinal and have grown to like its look and feel.

If you can't get excellent results with D-76, forget film. As a BW lab technician in the 80ties we used large tanks, and threw Tri-X, Plus-X, HP4, you name it, all in the same soup of D-76. 8 min, and if the film was exposed right, it printed pretty well on grade 2 or 3. D-76, ID11, or Agfas no longer produced Refinal are all based on the same recipe.

Only used Ilford HC to date at home. Tried caffenol once as well but not exactly a mainsteam means of developing 😅 Have you tried pyro 510? New developer on the market

When I first started, I went with D-76 and liked the results. When I got back into it more recently, I went with HC-110 because it seems far more practical for sporadic use (concentrate lasts forever, can mix just what I need on-demand, etc). But I'm not sure I liked the results as much. More recently I've used DD-X, especially for T-grain films, and I think I like it better than HC-110. (But when I finally develop some B&W film again, I'm not sure if my existing bottle of DD-X concentrate will still be usable.) (And the next thing I want to develop is BwXX/5222 in D-96, which I suppose is similar to D-76.)

Rodinal is cheap and universal. And give great results in semi stand developing. But I want to try hc-110. Is it still possible to buy it? I can't find it in any shop. They was stopped production?

Most labs use D-76 or X-tol because it can be bought in large quantities, that's pretty much the standard look for b&w film. Both are versitile and will always give you at least decent results. HC-110 (my personal choice) is good for pushing and is a little more contrasty than the others. Rodinal can be very economical and has lots of sharpness (it accentuates every single grian particle), but is really bad for the envoirement; unlike other developers, you can't flush rodinal down the drain, even when dialuted. It also isn't reccomended for pushing, but if you want to do something with it there's someone somewhere who's already written a blog about it because it's so widely used. If you're testing out different films I'd suggest using Xtol or D-76, except for T-grain films like Ilford's Delta series and Kodak's T-max. Normal black and white film has a 'cubic' grain structure while those films have a 'tubular' structure which develop better with specialised developers like Ilfotec DD-X and Kodak T-max developer (big surprise). those developers also work with cubic grains, but those will come out more clumped and less sharp than with other developers. If you're really going to be adventurous and develop C-41 in black and white developer (which don't have any standardised times, unlike the regular C-41 process) you must know that most (professional) colour negative films like portra and ektar have a T-grain structure as well. In that scenario it won't matter as much, since the dye clouds develop differently and things get all complicated, blah blah blah, you grain will still look a little clumpy so the developer doesn't affect the look too much. Another thing to consider when you're really experimental is when you want to make slides out of your C-41 film you have to develop them first with a black and white developer as mask, for which HC-100 is basically the only thing that works in my experience. I have tried it with ilfotec DD-X, but that doesn't develop C-41 film the same way HC-110 does. I've done a lot of talking here, but hopefully it helps you out.

I have only developed 2 rolls of film and a 500ml bottle of rodinal with 1+100 stand development can easily last for more than 100 rolls so it is the only thing I have tried. It does however seem very simple to use with stand development. While I have never tried it I have also heard that rodinal stand development helps compensate for under exposure. To quote Technology Connections *"prodcing an end result which sort of allows you to push process individual frames within a roll."* The reasons I bought it were however how simple it seemed to be to use and also it was the cheapest developer the place I ordered from had in stock.

HC-110 and D76 all the way!! Been using them for years

Xtol for me, got into it last year. Have HC-110 got to have as back up as it last for years, used D-76. Say it HC-hundred and ten

The legendary shelf life of Rodinal counts only for the old versions, the modern Rodinal you can't keep that long anymore. Some of the old ingredients aren't available or allowed anymore (carcinogenic). And it's less suited for faster films; big grain. Personally I use ID-11 (it's said that's the same recipe as D76) in the 1+3 dillution (one shot). I mainly use HP5+, FP4+ and Delta 100 and these all have a development time of 20 minutes at 20° C in ID-11 1+3. That means I can put them together in the developement tank. Also the 5 litre package of ID-11 costs the same as 2 x the 1 litre package, so that makes it cheaper.

Rodinal! Because I remember my dad using it many years ago, so I bought a bottle of Rodinal when I started developing my own film last year. Want to try HC-110 (“one ten”) as well, sometime later this year, see what the difference is. So far, I like the contrasty, grainy results of Kodak Tri-X and Rodinal. Used both 35mm and 120 film, rated at 400, 1600 and once even at 3200. I want to get to know this combination of film & dev really well before moving on.

I’ve been using and have really liked the results I’ve gotten from Ilford Ilfotec DD-X with all sorts of film stocks, but plan to give HC-110 a try mainly for the shelf life.

d-76--USED THAT FOR MY NEWSPAPER WORK--HC-110 WHEN THERE WAS A RUSH AND QUALITY WAS SECONDARY

I've recently been using Adox XT-3 and I find it very much like Xtol although perhaps even slightly 'better'. I like that you can get it in smaller packs to make up 1l of solution.

Long time D76 user and it works well with just about any film. But I am going to try xtol soon. I shoot enough film i will quickly go through 5 liters quickly.

I first encountered HC110 In my college photo lab, around 1966. We used it for 4x5 negatives, but found it too grainy for 35mm, for which we used D76. I've never heard it called anything but HC one-ten.

i used Rodinal with HP5 at 400, at 800, for delta 400, trix. Delta 400 and Rodinal for me is bad combination, other pretty good, especialy for tri x.. with trix has a gritty look but i like it..Last week i tried delta 3200 shot at 3200 but for that reason i bought Ilford Michrophen. Came out good, abit grainier then normal but i really liked that delta 3200 film. I could control contrast well with printing. My new favourite film.

HC-110 is very versatile can work well with many film stocks. You can experiment with different dilutions which will give you different results. The compensating nature of HC-110 makes it easier to work with.

"HC One-ten." For me, HC-110 is the jack of all trades. D76 was my go-to, but HC-110 lasts longer in terms of use and storage, which overall is the main reason I don't use it as much anymore. Rodinal is my favorite overall, except I don't use it for the most part above 200 ISO because it really brings out grain. HC-110 is sometimes a bit too contrasty to me, but I can always trust I'll get something acceptable from it. I haven't used X-Tol, but I keep hearing things that make me want to try.

I use Ilfotec HC which is apparently identical to HC-110. Could be cheaper for you in the UK!

Love your content. I'm currently building my own darkroom and asking myself the same question as you're facing. I'm tempted by HC110 (convention), Rodinal (shelf life is attractive for hobbyist), but also Cinestill DF97 (single step is attractive). Curious to know how you come out.

Recently, my go to is XTOL-r. Otherwise ddx or rodinal.

Kodak D-76/ Ilford ID11. The classic developer used for rating film speeds for years and an industry standard until the late 80ies when Kodak pushed XTol. D-76 uses 2 components for developing i. e. Metol and Hydroquinone and was an upgrade to the discontinued Kodak D-23 which uses only Metol as a developing agent. You can have the D-76/ID11 in 1 liter packages and 1 US Gallon. I am of the opinion this is the developer for starters and still a very viable option for general use. Mostly used in dilutions 1+1. the stock dilution keeps about 3 months. Kodak Xtol same preparation as the D-76 (mixing powders). The stock solution has the reputation of disintegrating without warning but should be more environmental friendly. HC-110 concentrated liquid developer introduced in the early 60ies a myriad of dilutions available and also different stock dilutions (US vs Europe) has somehow been cleared out as this added extra confusion regarding dilutions/developing times. Rodinal One of the oldest formulas around can be used virtually at any dilution to have different looks. I used it mostly for stand developing 1+100 as it has a compensating effect on the highlights Works fine on MF and lower speed emulsion (100ASA and lower), on higher speed more grainy. Base solution keeps virtually forever. As with film, stick to one and once you get consistent results you can start experimenting...

What’s the best developer for T grain film?

I started developing my B&W film in ID-11 (powder), which the dark web says is basically D75. After my 5 liter batch died it's slow painful death I decided to try something different. For the sake of longevity, I picked up both Rodinal and Legacy Pro L110 (basically HC110) which I mix as needed as a one shot.. I shot Tri-X at 250 and developed in Rodinal at box speed but find it a bit too contrasty and way too grainy. I pushed HP5 to 800 and develop at 800 in L110 and it looks very good! It has great tonality, and the grain isn't bad. Either way I miss Ilford ID-11. It's a great all around developer IMO. Tri-X and HP5 both look good developed in it. But it only comes in 1L or 5L powder batches. Once mixed, it starts going bad. I wish it came in liquid form though. Based on my personal experience I'd rate them in this order- ID-11/D76, L110/HC110, Rodinal. I've never used anything else so I can't comment on anything else.

Rodinal and HC110 have the advantage of crazy shelf life. These are great if you want long term storage and only develop film occasionally. D76 is the developer that others are judged by, but its shelf life isn’t great (slightly better than XTOL’s). It’s very versatile and can do just about everything fairly well. XTOL is unquestionably the safest and best for the environment (it uses vitamin C rather than hydroquinone), and it gives the finest grain (whether that’s good depends on what you want). It is the last developed and was the pinnacle of achievement for Kodak imo. Personally, I use XTOL because I have no concerns dumping it into a septic system. If I had a sewer, any of those 4 would be fine in the small quantities I use. The only really dangerous developers out there are pyro based - very toxic.

Have used Rodinal since the 1970's with 35mm and 120. Always good to me.

I haven’t gotten into black and white developing because there are too many options with different results lol. I’m in the same boat as you. I have a bit of a back log too.

My go to is HC110, but I'm still on my first bottle. Seems to work pretty well with just about any film you throw at it, for regular and stand development.

So a comment after your question on 1:11 For many different films Rodinal might not be the best option, with higher iso films the results might get quite grainy. That leaves us with HC110, D76 and X-tol... All three are good for your use and for many different films you can find times on the massive dev chart. HC110: long shelf life, hight dilutions so economical in use. Thanks to some ingredient (I think potassium bromide?) it works good with very old film, you'll see less base fog. But based on what I have seen I don't always the results. X-tol I think the most recent Kodak developer, good developer but shot shelf life. The last period there have quite some batches with problems, so I would never buy X-tol, but the Foma equivalent: Fomadon Excel D76: second oldest after Rodinal but still the benchmark where many other developers are compared to. I use it a lot and am happy with the results. Also here Kodak had some issues, that's why I always get ID-11. ID-11 also is available in 5L packages which can make it cheaper than D76 Anyhow, with my own opinion included I would recommend ID-11/D76

In my opinion XTOL delivers great results and is also environmental friendly. For me it's no issue to store it in 10 bottles of 500ml each. Pyro510 might be the very best developer, but in my opinion it's just too poisonous.

Rodinal for me but HC110 is probably the most popular

Rodinal if ISO 200 or below, HC110 if above, but considering your love for Delta 3200, you should try it on some 400-speed film (but be aware, it will be grainy). Also, *I wouldn't* use Rodinol for T-Grain Emulsions. Both are imo more convenient to work with than X-Tol or D-76, and more economical. Get both they'll last forever and complete eachother.

XTOL. Hugely flexible. Temp requirements are easiest by far. Straightshot, dilutions, replenishment. Will last nearly a year well-sealed. And most of all you can feel NO GUILT pouring it down the drain (environmental). XTOL is the way. (edit oh yeah, and its the cheapest - what more is there?)

Rah I’m surprised about hc (1 10) but in a away makes sense as it’s a liquid where as id11/d76 is a powder where you need to mix

Perceptol is beautiful with Ilford films like pan f, fp4, etc.

Hc110 is most economical and works well with most films, but my fav in is ilford ddx it seems to give me the best results and smooth grain looks lovey when printing negs in the darkroom

I use both rodinal and hc110 mainly because of them being liquid. I tend to use hc110 for faster films and pushing, and rodinal for slower film and expired film.

Great video. I love your work as its hugely informative and thought provoking :). I use HC110 (pronounced (by me) HC one ten), D76 (in ID11 form), Rodinal and Caffenol. I find it depends on the film. HC110 and D76 produce lovely crisp negatives and Rodinal gives the extra punch. I use XP2 with mono devs and D76 gives the best results with HC110 a close second, fomapan200 is similar but also does extremely well in Rodinal. Rollei Retro 400s is fabulous in D76 but when it comes to expired film, HC110 is king. I have some 30yo Orwo NP27 and HC110 gives excellent, characterful results. When it comes to stand development, Rodinal is superb. I will be testing HC110 stand soon. Other than the results, Rodinal and HC110 are great to keep in as they last forever. D76(ID11) has a short shelf life so I feel pressurised to use it up. I use it stock, adding 10% dev time per roll so get ten rolls out of a litre. Its not as economical as Rodinal but you can hardly call it expensive. Caffenol is just there for fun. That is after all what its all about :) keep up the excellent work

___ for pushing DD-X... D76 for universal look... Adox FX 39 for all films and sharper than Rodinal which i have used for over 30 years (the original from Agfa) :)

Thanks! Great fun. I use Ilfotex DD-X. Why? I still have some left.

HC-110 may not be the best developer for any film, but it is perfectly acceptable for every film. If you don't like the results, try using a different dilution.

Yeap, HC110 (HC ONE TEN) Had to be the winner. I use it to develop 100-400 speed films, love the contrast. For pushing, I prefer to use a developer designed for that matter, my go to is Ilford ddx. I do have 2 bags of D76 and a bottle of Rodinal in my arsenal, which I'm planning to use for comparisons with other developers sometime before summer.

I voted d-76 in the poll, but hc-110 is better because the syrup lasts longer. BUT I did use some stock d76 the other day that I mixed up jan 2020, and it worked out fine. Negs a little thin, but I think I could’ve fixed that but developing a little longer.

Pyro will always be my BW developer KING.

Xtol 1:1 for TMY2. This is the height of B&W film tech. Can't be beat.

The top four you named are all great. Rodinal and hc-110 are both great if you go a period of time between developing sessions as they both keep in concentrate form for a long time and don’t require a lot of storage space. D-76 is basically the gold standard developer that’s been around for a very long time, so if you want reliable dev times with a lot of films, pretty much every film made will come with a recommended dev time for d-76. Ilford’s ID-11 is functionally the same as D-76. All that being said, XTOL is the newest developer and is pretty state of the art in terms of performance, especially if you’re using it in a replenished regime. You’ll be pretty hard pressed to find a developer the delivers more film speed with finer grain and buttery smooth tonality than replenished xtol. It basically takes the awesome level and cranks it up to 11 when you use it replenished. That doesn’t mean the other developers are bad, and XTOL used normally (non-replenished) isn’t bad, but man... replenish it, and it is on a whole other level. The downside is, because it’s relatively new (compared to other developers), it doesn’t have quite the following, and even fewer people replenish it, so that dark magic is relatively obscure, but it’s real. Replenished xtol is it. I’ve processed thousands of rolls in replenished xtol (side effect of owning a film processing lab in the states), and can attest to its performance. It’s just a bummer that Kodak has recently been having production problems with it..

After decades of developing with all these developers, I settled on Pyrocat-HD. Forgiving if the temps rise/fall a few degrees in the baths and worked exceptionally well with the films that are and were my staples. Nothing worse than needing a specific developer for a film.

I really like ID-11/D76 as it's very flexible and produces great results no matter what film you use with it. However, I'm trying Ilford's clone of HC110 Ilfotec HC, which seems to better value for money than ID-11/D76 and has a longer shelf life.

3 of the top 4 recommendations are from Kodak. Ilford makes great stuff. Odd that it's not represented in the top 4. I like DD-x but it costs too much.

FYI - HC-110 is commonly pronounced - "HC-one ten." I hear you with trying to decipher among different developers. In reality , no developer offers the best of everything. I'm surprised at your results, but perhaps things have changed in recent years. I started developing my own film in 1970, and D-76 was, by far, the most common developer at the time. However, there is one important point you did not cover with D-76 - it can be used undiluted or diluted 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3. The most common developer dilution is 1:1, which seems to provide the "best" balance among sharpness, contrast, and grain. The more diluted the D-76, the more acuteness you'll have, but also the more grain. In a nutshell - the less diluted, the less grain & sharpness, the more diluted, the more grain & sharpness. Trade-offs like this are common in photography!! D-76 is a powder that is mixed all at one time, and can be reused with replenishment, but has a fairly short shelf life. HC-110 is a liquid concentrate with a longer shelf life. You mix a little bit with water for each roll of film. It is a one-time use, and is then discarded. If memory serves me, I believe that HC-110 can be a bit more contrasty than D-76.

rodinal