Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/07/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In 46 years of photography I have used all kinds of developers and most were good, some better than others at one or more characteristics. Of these, I found D76 to have been overall best in the tonality/sharpness/grain/film speed dance. By the mid 70s, it was D76 in its various dilutions for me, with Acufine for push-processing, when necessary. During all that time I never stopped experimenting with other developers, always looking for that extra bit of something to improve the breed. I gave them all a good run, lasting sometimes years. Many of these soups did nicely, indeed, but none bettered that classic D76 balance. When Xtol was introduced I gave it a try and switched. That's all I have used since. My basis for that was Versatility (works well with just about any film) convenience in mixing, no metol (I'm alergic) and about 1/3 to 1/2 stop film speed increase. Other than that, it looks like D76 results to me. I can't understand comments that Xtol negs make D76 look like dog whiz (or variant commentary thereof). In my experience, D76 grain is as fine, tonality is similar etc. What qualities does anyone find to differentiate between the two? How were they observed? Side by side comparison, or impression over time? I will stare vacantly at my screen until reply. Allen Zak In a message dated 07/13/2001 6:53:49 PM, you wrote: <<Mark Rabiner wrote: > > Kyle Cassidy wrote: > > > > is there any reason i shouldn't be using hc-110 (dillution b) and hp5? i > > admit i have no other reason for using this combo than it provides the > > shortest development time and i'm a very impatient person..... > > > > kc > > It's darn convenient but does not compare well to good old D76 1:1! > > ...which in my opinion does not compare very well to Xtol 1:3. I'm a big XTOL fan, but I find the combo of HP5+/Xtol to be grainy, clumpy, unsharp and just generally skanky. tv>>