I imagine a lot of us have that pattern of darkroom use!
I used to buy paper developer concentrate in 1 litre bottles, and drop in glass marbles to keep them neck-full as I progressively removed liquid. Nevertheless, there were occasions when I found the contents had turned brown with oxidation, and I had to abandon my planned darkroom day. But as already suggested above, you don't necessarily need to abandon the developer you prefer in favour of a Long Life formula.
Following excellent ideas from members of the FADU forum, I now buy paper developer (Ilford Multigrade Developer in my case) in a 5 litre container, which works out much cheaper than buying 5 x 1 litre bottles. On opening, I split it into 4 x 1 litre brown glass bottles, and the remainder into 1 x 500ml bottle and 5 x 100ml bottles. Ilford Multigrade Developer is used 1+9, so each of these 100ml bottles makes 1 litre of working solution, which is what I use for 16 x 12 paper. Each bottle is topped with a brief squirt of butane lighter gas. I bought the bottles from a laboratory glassware supplier, via eBay. When I have used all 5 small bottles, I break down the 500ml bottle, and when that's gone, I split down the next 1 litre bottle. This system has worked amazingly well for me.
If I want to keep working strength developer from one day to the next, I pour it into a glass bottle and give it a squirt of butane. Again, that works well, although generally I prefer to make up a fresh solution if the break is longer than a day or two.
I must have been living under a rock, I've never heard of LPD. I'm going to give it a try.
I must have been living under a rock, I've never heard of LPD. I'm going to give it a try.
sometimes like an obsessed mad man for a few days then maybe not again for a month or more.
You just described me to a tee.
LPD was very hard to obtain for quite a while. I believe it is easier to find now.
The replenishment instructions can also be hard to find.
This might work:
View attachment 322437
I imagine a lot of us have that pattern of darkroom use!
I used to buy paper developer concentrate in 1 litre bottles, and drop in glass marbles to keep them neck-full as I progressively removed liquid. Nevertheless, there were occasions when I found the contents had turned brown with oxidation, and I had to abandon my planned darkroom day. But as already suggested above, you don't necessarily need to abandon the developer you prefer in favour of a Long Life formula.
Following excellent ideas from members of the FADU forum, I now buy paper developer (Ilford Multigrade Developer in my case) in a 5 litre container, which works out much cheaper than buying 5 x 1 litre bottles. On opening, I split it into 4 x 1 litre brown glass bottles, and the remainder into 1 x 500ml bottle and 5 x 100ml bottles. Ilford Multigrade Developer is used 1+9, so each of these 100ml bottles makes 1 litre of working solution, which is what I use for 16 x 12 paper. Each bottle is topped with a brief squirt of butane lighter gas. I bought the bottles from a laboratory glassware supplier, via eBay. When I have used all 5 small bottles, I break down the 500ml bottle, and when that's gone, I split down the next 1 litre bottle. This system has worked amazingly well for me.
If I want to keep working strength developer from one day to the next, I pour it into a glass bottle and give it a squirt of butane. Again, that works well, although generally I prefer to make up a fresh solution if the break is longer than a day or two.
Hello
Can you recommend a B&W paper developer with long shelf life ? I usually like to print for two or three consecutive days, with intervals of several weeks.
Which developer would you recommend ?
The developer will be kept in dark air-tight bottles at room temperature.
Thank you
Joao
While that is of course true, and brown glass is surprisingly no cheaper than clear glass, I still like to use brown glass because it immediately looks 'chemical' and isn't going to be confused with mother's gooseberry wine. At least, that's just what I tell myself. At the same time, my chemicals stay in the darkroom, are properly labelled and no-one in our family is daft. So maybe it's just that I have an aesthetic for my darkroom.do no worry about having brown glass or plastic storage, light does no bother this stuff
While that is of course true, and brown glass is surprisingly no cheaper than clear glass, I still like to use brown glass because it immediately looks 'chemical' and isn't going to be confused with mother's gooseberry wine. At least, that's just what I tell myself. At the same time, my chemicals stay in the darkroom, are properly labelled and no-one in our family is daft. So maybe it's just that I have an aesthetic for my darkroom.
I never had issues with either Neutol or Ilford MG developer......without decanting them. They're not my favourites but i use them at times because i can buy them locally (well not Neutol anymore). I prefer Ansco 130 and LPD. I'm with the folks who consider the price of paper, rather than squeezing every possible print out of a few 100mls of print developer
I am very enthusiastic about Moersch’s ECO 4812, long shelf life and high predictability. https://www.moersch-photochemie.de/content/shop/positiv/110/eco_4812
I have had very good experiences with that, too. Really good stuff.
And even a bit better in my experience is ADOX MCC developer. It uses the original Agfa MCC developer formula, and that formula was the latest, most modern and sophisticated paper developer formula Agfa introduced to the market, with all their R&D knowledge.
That about the AGFA developer is only too true, but when 'it' happend in 2005, I had to find a replacement, that's how I ended up with Patton's E-72, and it stayed...
In E-72, have you had any trouble with precipitate forming due to its absence of sequestering agents? Or do you use distilled water?
Any trouble with sudden death from the Fenton reaction?
I have had very good experiences with that, too. Really good stuff.
And even a bit better in my experience is ADOX MCC developer. It uses the original Agfa MCC developer formula, and that formula was the latest, most modern and sophisticated paper developer formula Agfa introduced to the market, with all their R&D knowledge.
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