Anybody know of a good listing of developers and their specific characteristics? I've taken the advice of many and stuck with a film and developer (tri-x and HC110) until I got consistent results (10 years) but am thinking of widening my horizons! I don't, however, see myself as one of those guys who posts things like "I use FP4 with XTOL for this and microdol with t-max for that, except when there's a full moon in which case I yada, yada, yada ..." I just don't have time for all that testing and comparing. Therefore, I'm trying to take a considered approach to my next film and/or developer choice. Thanks.

-- J.L. Kennedy (jlkennedy@qnet.com), September 20, 1999

Answers

I have three recommendations: Rodinal, X-tol, and PMK. I have information on Rodinal and PMK on my site at http://unblinkingeye.com. I've bought a package of X-tol, but haven't tried it yet--there is a great deal of information regarding it on the net (Kodak's site has mucho info), and it is supposed to have some very nice qualities. PMK is the current rage among fine-art photographers, and well worth the effort to learn how to use.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edbuffaloe@unblinkingeye.com), September 20, 1999.

Get yourself a copy of the Darkroom Cookbook by Steve Anchell and a copy of the Film Developer Cookbook by Anchel and Bill Troop. They will explain the various componants of developers and their effects on development. They also have recipes for various developers and discuss what the advantages and disadvantages of each are. Even if you never intend to mix your own processing solutions, they are a good reference for the technical information to make the decisions that you are wanting to make.

-- Fritz M. Brown (brownf@idhw.state.id.us), September 20, 1999.

Strongly recommend Tri-X and Pyro, there are several versions, the one I use is Kodak SD-1. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), September 22, 1999.