Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/03/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In a message dated 3/5/01 8:05:56 AM, Douglas writes: << I bought D-76, because every manual I've ever seen seems to discuss this stuff. Now, here on the LUG, X-tol seems to be the drug of choice, and I'm wondering if I'm just buying into the system that once pushed everybody towards Kodak film >> There is an old burlesque routine where one comic says to the other, "How's your wife?" The other replies, "Compared to whom?" D76, a 70 year old metol, hydroquinine developer is the comparison standard against which all developer manufacturers rate their products and which most B&W film manufacturers use to establish film speeds and graininess. Every film manufacturer from 1940 through the 1980s either produced a developer comparable with D76 or published a formula which was almost identical to that of D76. D76 by itself produces maximum emulsion speed consistent with moderate grain. I have been involved in photography since 1950 and it was an old product when I started out. There are a number of different ways to use D76 developer. It can be used full strength for maximum film speed or diluted 1:1 and used as a one shot for best grain. In my newspaper days we used to use replenished D76. After filling the tank, we added a shot glass full of D76R replenisher to the developer bottle. When development was completed we poured the used developer back in the bottle and discarded what was left over. Some photographers claimed that the aged, many time replenished developer gave a unique quality to the negatives that could not be achieved by the virgin stuff. D76 is a wonderful developer and you can't go wrong by using it. It is a perfect match for TriX and the older thick emulsion films and works well on TMX type film too. Besides, its a lot cheaper than most other brands of horse piss on the market. Larry Zeitlin