Classic D-76 formula : is there a way to improve it? (2024)

Hello,

I've been making my own D-76 for several months now, following the ancient/classic recipe (Metol 2 g. Hydroquinone 5 g. Borax 2 g. SS 100 g.) and I was wondering if there was a way to improve it by slightly altering the formula : for example replacing the borax with boric acid for more stability in time, or increasing the amount of SS to get a gentler grain?

I noticed that with the homemade brew I got a shadow loss I didn't have when I used the Kodak stuff.

Thx for all the suggestions you might make... and I want to keep my dev as a one-bath thing.

You could use a boric acid/borax homebrew to hold the pH more constant but one of the alternative published formula may be better.

The massive development chart site has lots of formula

Eg ID-68 - but you would need phenodine or one of the derivatives... and a scale resolution of 0.01 gm

1/3 stop gain same contrast normally

Classic D-76 formula : is there a way to improve it?

No.

Well, the Formulary thinks so:

http://stores.photoformulary.com/td-16-improved-d-76/

cliveh said:

Classic D-76 formula : is there a way to improve it?

No.

Click to expand...

Pat has already detected the packets are different from the original formula... they are more stable...

Yup they don't have the contrast increase the homemade brew has. And I get a tad more shadow detail with the Kodak stuff.

RE grain it's hard to assess because I only use TRI-X which is fairly grainy. Shall I raise the amount of SS to 105 g. per liter to accentuate the solvent effect?

Hi Pat

you seem to be able to detect the limitations.

If you want to stay with MQ then increasing the sulphite will reduce the grain but still leave you with a pH drift and will slow the speed though not detectably, you probably need to try more than 5%.

You could try other formula...

http://www.digitaltruth.com/data.php

lots available..

I get asthma and skin problems so I went to PQ but I like grain.

Noel

Is there a way to improve D76? Yes, they could throw in a free roll of Tri-X w/ each order :]

I've been using the TD-16 myself, and love it. It is a teeny, tiny bit different on tonality than D76 (fresh D76 that is), but on prints there is zero difference. So I'm happy. It does exactly what they said it would do. Haven't used it long enough to confirm the 6 month stability claim, but will report back if there's any issues, which I doubt. Great developer, especially if you shoot Tri-X. The stability over time has been my only complaint about D76, and this switch to TD-16 looks to have resolved that issue.

Here is my home-brewed D-76 variant. Been making and using this for years. My normal dilution is one-shot 1+1, also using distilled water for the diluting.

In full, sealed brown glass bottles the undiluted stock solution will keep for over a year when unopened. Not even a change in color. I don't know how far over a year, as that's my self-imposed limit to dump it if still around. Partially full bottles are gas-blanketed as they are used.

My darkroom ambient temperatures range from upper-50sF/mid-14sC in winter to mid-70sF/low-20sC in summer. The formula is buffered, so there is no significant change in its activity over the course of the year. At least that I've been able to see.

Ken

(Sorry, tried to make the following table without the grid lines, but that option doesn't seem to work? Anyone know how to do that?)

[table="width: 350, align: left"]

[/table]

That's very true...

Ken

Heck I'll use up a liter, almost, in one session if I use my 4x5 deep tanks, 1/2 gallon at 1+1.

Yeah, I know deep tanks are meant to be used with replinished developer but D76 is pretty cheap by the gallon.

I seemed to remember reading a quote from Geoffrey Crawley in the Darkroom Cookbook that where he stated that he tried for years to tweak/improve D-76 to no avail. Getting 'better' results required starting anew with other developing agents.

If you're looking for something along the lines of a "better D-76", FX-15 is a good starting point. Its awesome. and one of the few popular developers with three developer agents (MPQ).

jnanian said:

making it metol free like sprint did ? has some benefits too

Click to expand...

The hydroquinone is inactive in D-76 (except for regenerative effect, perhaps) so if there's no metol in it, it's not D-76 anymore.

I have tried a few variants of D-76 (ID-11) from raw components, but I decided that there is very little benefit over buying Kodak's own packed D-76.

I do like DK-76 though.

RattyMouse said:

Anyone who can't use up a liter of D-76 in 1 year is simply not shooting enough film!

Click to expand...

I used 3 (1 gal.) packs of Kodak D-76 per month so mixing my own brew makes a lot of $ense to me...

Ken Nadvornick said:

Here is my home-brewed D-76 variant. Been making and using this for years. My normal dilution is one-shot 1+1, also using distilled water for the diluting.

In full, sealed brown glass bottles the undiluted stock solution will keep for over a year when unopened. Not even a change in color. I don't know how far over a year, as that's my self-imposed limit to dump it if still around. Partially full bottles are gas-blanketed as they are used.

My darkroom ambient temperatures range from upper-50sF/mid-14sC in winter to mid-70sF/low-20sC in summer. The formula is buffered, so there is no significant change in its activity over the course of the year. At least that I've been able to see.

Ken

(Sorry, tried to make the following table without the grid lines, but that option doesn't seem to work? Anyone know how to do that?)

[table="width: 350, align: left"]

Kodak D-76d Stock Solution


Water (distilled) at 125F/52C
[td="align: right"]750.0[/td]
[td="align: left"]ml[/td]


Metol
[td="align: right"]2.0[/td]
[td="align: left"]g[/td]


Sodium sulfite (anhydrous)
[td="align: right"]100.0[/td]
[td="align: left"]g[/td]


Hydroquinone
[td="align: right"]5.0[/td]
[td="align: left"]g[/td]


Borax (decahydrate)
[td="align: right"]8.0[/td]
[td="align: left"]g[/td]


Boric acid (crystalline)
[td="align: right"]8.0[/td]
[td="align: left"]g[/td]


Water to make
[td="align: right"]1000.0[/td]
[td="align: left"]ml[/td]

[/table]

Click to expand...

@Pat
You could use this formula as is or reduce the boric acid by 50%.
Either may need more time than D76, be finer grained and slow the film, but might not be detectably so.
But should not alter in performance until exhaustion.

D76 was a cheap dev for commerce...

Gerald C Koch said:

The maximum solvency of sulfite for silver halide occurs at about 75 g/l. If you use D-76 FS then I would decrease the amount of sodium sulfite to 75 g/l.

Click to expand...

Sorry, but this is a total myth.

Bottom is 100g/L. Top is approx 85g/L.

There is a small but visible difference between these two values, which are both above the myth of the 75g/L limit.

Athiril said:

Sorry, but this is a total myth.

Bottom is 100g/L. Top is approx 85g/L.

There is a small but visible difference between these two values, which are both above the myth of the 75g/L limit.

Click to expand...

Sorry, not a myth, go read Haist's book for more on the subject.