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I have a question for anyone who develops black and white film. I have notices that you can change the dilution of any developer using the same ASA rating. The only thing that changes is the time of development. I can see that the more diluted the developer is, the more time it take to develop the film. That's understandable because the developer is weaker. As in the following example.

Massive Dev Chart Search Results
Film Developer Dilution ASA/ISO Min. Temp.
HP5+ D-76 stock 400 7.5 20C
HP5+ D-76 1+1 400 13 20C
HP5+ D-76 1+3 400 20 20C

My question is. What is the final out come on the negative and print by doing this. What should i expect to see.

Peter,

There are a number of reasons why you would dilute the developer instead of using it full strength. The first is that it allows you more time to complete the development stage. The timing is less critical to the second with greater development times as each second becomes less of a total percentage of time. The prolonged development time allows the emulsion to become totally wet and soft again for a more even development. Another reason for dilute development is to control contrast and grain. A rapid developer will typically give you a higher contrast and larger grain structure as compared to a slower acting developer. This will keep the highlights from blockig up too fast. Although beware, there is a happy medium, as excessively long development times will cause grain clumping and actually accentuate the visible grain structure. So there is a point where too much dilution is no good depending on your desired rusults.

I am sure there are other reasons, but those are a few that come to mind.

Phil

Thank you Mr. Cohen: As usual you are a wealth of information. This is the information i was hoping for. I am having trouble getting my mid tones from getting burned out. Am getting way too much contrast, even by using very limited agitation. I love to experiment, so back to the lab for me. Again Thank You Sir.

Robert C.	Michael F.	David R.	Jan S.	margaret w.	a. S.	Jose K.	Jan S.

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