Ilfotec HC is similar to Kodak HC-110, but not identical.
www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110
www.covingtoninnovations.com/xtol

In general, avoid *unusual* developers if you want good results.  HC-110 is
very reliable and gives fine grain if you don't overdevelop.

Ilford Perceptol and Kodak Microdol-X are speed-reducing developers.
They'll give you fine grain at the expense of maybe 30% of the film speed.

Take a look at this article:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/chasing-magic-bullet.html

Jorge

If you want to have _endless_ hours of fun, buy several makes of
film and developers and "test" variations.

Don't confuse wimpy testing (that is trying combinations of
film/developer/times with slight variations and recording
and evaluating the results) with "fun"-testing. Just take a
random combination of film/developer/developing-time/film-speed,
expose one roll and develop it. Print a few frames, say "these
combination is bad, the highlights don't 'glow'" or someting like
that, and use the next random combination for the next roll of film.
It is possible to do this for years without stumbling over the
same combination again.

You can add to the fun using exotic developer ingredients.
Dig old recipes out of dusty books and mix developers
with stuff like distilled camel p**s or dried frog innards.
The more exotic the stuff, the better. Don't think about
differences between contact printed LF glass plates from 1900
and modern 135 films, this would only disturb you. If one
recipe doesn't work as intended, search for a more
exotic one.

Under _no_ circumstances use tried and true developer/film
combinations. After all, what does someone like AA or
Richard Avedon know about good B&W-photography?
Just because they used the same combination for years
and _knew_ what a variation of their tested recipes
will bring, don't try to emulate them. This would be
boring and lead to better technique. It is much more
interesting to say things like "this is a good picture,
but unfortunately the Xtol died prematurely" or something
like that. Don't try to keep your processing conditions
like temperature and agitation constant. After all, there
is no fun in identical developed films all the time.

I hope you will be able to find the best combination
for you in the shortest possible time.

Martin

There are reasons to believe that the main faillure mechanism of
ascorbate devs are due to metal contamination.
See (if you have not done already):

http://silvergrain.org/Photo-Tech/ascorbate-dev.html

I had a sudden death faillure with a clone (not Xtol) to which I've added
a lot of boric acid to lower the pH (so it would keep longer) and add
alkali at dev time.
It did not last a week, in agreement with Ryuji's considerations.
The same formula, E76, without the boric acid, was OK for a few months
before I discarded what was left in the bottle (moved to Pat Gainer's
Pglicol/TEA formulas).

Jorge

<ericm1600@yahoo.com> wrote

Yes.  Twice.  The first time I thought it was me.  Then I read it
is a 'feature' of the developer.

Them too.

Tossed it.  Never bought more.  I'm now a 'Microdol Man' - just like
I was in High School.

Quotes: "I decant it into oodles of tiny bottles", "I get 6 months",
       "I get _over_ a year [isn't that remarkable]"

My camera store has dated price stickers on it's stuff:

I have a 25 year old bottle of HC-110 concentrate, works just
[as badly] as when I bought it.  To tell the truth the last time
I used it was ~4[?] years ago when I gave my neighbor's son a
Smegma 8 and a roll of outdated TMX.  The concentrate still looks
good.

My Rodinal, 12 years.  Ditto.

I found an old partial bottle of M-X stock in a moving box.  Passes the
black tongue test.  No sticker, but I moved 10 years ago.

Sounds typical.  Some get more, some get less, some get a lot less.

It always goes, it goes fast, you don't know when it goes (+/- a year),
and there is no easy way to tell it went.  Many post of developing
the film tongue to verify it still works.

Not a good choice at all. Too mushy. The poster requires 'excellent
acutance' and D-23 will not provide anywhere near that. Too much
solvent. The answer IS Acutol.

Wich differences between Microdol-X and Xtol?
.....................................
Marco Baldovin
www.whitewave.it

Does Ornano sell its product in USA?

I didn't talk about it because I thought you never heard that name.
They have a good variety of developer for all the needs.
Probably the best for me are:
Fino ST33
Gradual St20

Do you know them?
.....................................
Marco Baldovin
www.whitewave.it

Il Thu, 10 Jun 2004 12:34:08 -0400, "Michael A. Covington"
<look@www.covingtoninnovations.com.for.address> ha scritto:

No, that's Micropen.
Someone told me to use it because it doesn't give more grain than
ID11, but a bit less.

Than I read the Ilford Product Guide where Microphen is declared to
be a developer for medium/fast films (my Tri-x and Neopan).
And its main feature is the possibility to increase speed, and to
give finer grain.

Don't you agree with these sentences?
.....................................
Marco Baldovin
www.whitewave.it