# liquid vs. powder



## blackdoglab (Jun 4, 2007)

I've been using d-76 powder for a few months now and, after developing a roll today, discovered that it had become tired.  Today's roll was really under developed and I had the same problem with my last two rolls as well.  I should've known when I saw that it had the color of cat pee when I poured out of the bottle.  Fixer, I'll continue to use the powder, but for film, I think I'll make friends with liquid.  You only have to mix small quantities at a time and they fit into a smaller space.  With that said, I've been using tri-x and fomapan.  I've looked at t-max developer as well as arista (freestyle) and am thinking of going with the arista.  What do you folks think?


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## mysteryscribe (Jun 4, 2007)

I use all liquids.


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## blackdoglab (Jun 4, 2007)

Yeah, I'm definetly going with liquid.  I hate mixing d-76 and the results I get are a wee bit dissatisfying.  Now i'm thinkin' about gettin' a kodacraft tank and lasanga.


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## mysteryscribe (Jun 4, 2007)

Look on freestyle before you do too much buying i like them a lot from tanks to chemicals


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## deanimator (Jun 5, 2007)

D-76 and Tri-X was my favourite combination, but for convenience and stability I switched to T-Max developer. It works extremely well.


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## Don Simon (Jun 5, 2007)

Liquids here too. For convenience more than anything.


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## terri (Jun 5, 2007)

Love them both. 

TMax is certainly very easy to use - pay attention to those agitation instructions on the back, and follow them.  (Except when using for HIE of course.)


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## RacePhoto (Jun 5, 2007)

blackdoglab said:


> I've been using d-76 powder for a few months now and, after developing a roll today, discovered that it had become tired.  Today's roll was really under developed and I had the same problem with my last two rolls as well.  I should've known when I saw that it had the color of cat pee when I poured out of the bottle.  Fixer, I'll continue to use the powder, but for film, I think I'll make friends with liquid.  You only have to mix small quantities at a time and they fit into a smaller space.  With that said, I've been using tri-x and fomapan.  I've looked at t-max developer as well as arista (freestyle) and am thinking of going with the arista.  What do you folks think?



A couple of months on the same batch? I'd say, that's a Looooooong time. 

I think I used to mix new developer based on two primary factors. How many rolls of film and how old it was. Of course how you stored it and at what temperature makes a difference.

I don't think I went over a couple of weeks on a batch, without mixing new. I was using HC100 liquid, otherwise Acufine powder. (which I don't even know if they still make any of those or if it's been gone for 30 years) HC100 was very forgiving, Acufine was for pushing film and hot developing. I also liked higher contrast negatives and papers.

But when I did mix anything, it was important to make sure the bottle it was stored in was air tight and filled to the top, so no air got to it.

Since they didn't have those nifty collapsing bottles or I didn't have the money to buy them, I just dropped glass marbles into the bottle to take up the gap for any loss, then capped them. When you mix a new batch, you can re-use the marbles.

You don't say how many rolls of film, or how old the developer was, or whether it was stored in a cool and dark place, it's hard to tell, but all of those factors will make a difference on how long the developer lasts and how "fresh" it will act.

Hope something that I wrote helped a little?


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## blackdoglab (Jun 7, 2007)

The stuff was maybe three months old.  What can I say, I'm self taught and generally fly by the seat of my pants.  In any case, I'm going to go with some liquid for now.  By the way RacePhoto, what's a good camera store near you.  The closest I have is lloyd's in manitowoc.


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## ksmattfish (Jun 12, 2007)

I use liquid, phenidone based developers.  Phenidone is easier on the skin than metol.  I find the standard, commonly available, mix 1:9 phenidone developers very similar to D-76 1:1.

If you bought a good digital scale you could measure out powders for mixing up smaller batches.


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## deanimator (Jul 13, 2007)

I just noticed that we didn´t mention another very good developer. 

XTOL made by Kodak.

It´s a two part powder mix, but with very good results. Supposed to be similar to D-76 but actually noticeably better. Great keeping properties too.

Check it out here http://canid.com/xtol_faq.html


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