# Whats your combo?



## Karalee (Feb 7, 2006)

I have a 5 reel patterson tank that Im finally going to put to work, Im just trying to decide what kind of chemicals I want to go with first.

So it begs the question, what kind of film/chemical combinations are you using? What goes over well, and what would you NOT try again. I have a few rolls from the holga starting to pile up, so I might just use them as a test run to get back into the swing of home developing, then stock up on some hp5 or tri-x.

So let me know all your secrets


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## terri (Feb 7, 2006)

Same old boring me....(and cause I get it cheap)....I use D-76 for virtually ALL my film, with the exception of HIE - then it's TMax, all the way. :thumbup: 

I keep telling myself I'm gonna try Matt Needham's Diafine method, but haven't bought any yet.


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## nealjpage (Feb 7, 2006)

I also use D76, but am going to set up a new darkroom at home and am receptive to using new chem combos.


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## KevinR (Feb 7, 2006)

I use the Arista film developer from Freestyle and Tri-X or the Arista brand B&W film.


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## Alexandra (Feb 7, 2006)

i'm setting my darkroom back this spring too 
so i'm gonna keep track of this thread as well.


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## Fate (Feb 7, 2006)

My combo ususally involves walking down to Jessops after school.... paying a stupid amount of money for b & w processing and then having to wait 2 weeks because they send it somewhere lol. I would love a dark room.... but, unfortunatly, my parents dont agree..... although this puts me in good stead for asking for a DSLR


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## Torus34 (Feb 8, 2006)

I use Plus-X and Tri-X in 35mm and 120 roll.  Developer is Microdol at 20C for the recommended time and agitation schedule.  I've adjusted the other factors [camera/meter calibration] to fit the development.  This can and does result in adjustments in print contrast settings for specific negatives.


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## photoboy15 (Feb 8, 2006)

HP5 in Perceptol is one of my favorites. It also work well for Tri-X and FP4. DD-X is a nice developer for HP5


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## santino (Feb 9, 2006)

terri said:
			
		

> Same old boring me....(and cause I get it cheap)....I use D-76 for virtually ALL my film, with the exception of HIE - then it's TMax, all the way. :thumbup:
> 
> I keep telling myself I'm gonna try Matt Needham's Diafine method, but haven't bought any yet.



I've got some diafine lately and well.. it's easy to use and stuff but I prefer the results of D-76 (sure, Tri-X won't be 1600 but I can live with that )


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## Karalee (Feb 9, 2006)

Well, I bit the bullet and went with HC-110 & HP5. Hopefully it will get here this weekend so I can go play in the basement!


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## theinvisiblecity (Feb 22, 2006)

almost always D-76 dilluted 1:1, when I want fast film I often use Fomapan 400 and rate it iso 320.....for slow film I use the Arista iso 50 bulk rolled stuff and rate it iso 32 or 40...


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## ksmattfish (Feb 22, 2006)

For film I use Ilford Pan F, FP4, and HP5, and Kodak Tri-X 400.

I use Arista brand phenidone liquid developer.  It's mixed 1:9, and gives similar results as D-76 or ID-11.  

I also use Diafine developer for some situations.  It deals with high contrast scenes nicely, usually gives a 1 stop ISO boost, isn't affected much by time or temp changes so you can develop different films in the same batch, it's cheap as dirt, and lasts a long, long time.  I developed 400+ rolls with my first  batch of Diafine.  It can be handy stuff, and it sits on the shelf without complaining.  I get pretty good results with Tri-X at ISO 1250 in Diafine.

I use TF-4 fixer.  This guy explains it better than I can:

http://www.jackspcs.com/tf4.htm

The Diafine and TF-4 instructions reccomend using a water bath instead of an acid stop.  Also TF-4 doesn't need Hypo-clear.  

Follow the wash with Photo Flo.


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## Karalee (Feb 23, 2006)

I see both adorama and bhphoto wont ship diafine, I ordered some from freestyle, just for a play. I saw some great results from arista.edu ultra (Formapan) souped in diafine.


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