film and developer

[robz]

I have just gathered a second 620 spool for a Kodax Six 20 C .
I have been used to using Ilford FP4 and ID11 developer when I did my own B&W 35mm films years ago.
Does anyone have thoughts about the best combination to test out a box brownie?

? HP5 rather than FP4 and ? developer other than ID11

[jjphoto]

HP5 plus and Ilford LC29, I think at 1+19

I always had brilliant results with that combo.

JJ

[David Woods]

Hi

There are so many b&w films and developers on the market, T-Max 400 and T-Max developer are not bad, are you just wanting to see the results from the camera, or are you going to continue developing your own film. I f you are just wanting to see if the camera works, and you won't be developing your own film, on a regular basis, it would be cheaper to send it to a lab, by the time you but the developer, the stop bath, the fixer, the wash and the wetting agent.

David

[MattC]

The only lab around here that still develops B&W charges about $25 per roll, so DIY is by far the most economical option.
I have been using Tri-X 400 and D76 1+1 which is a straightforward combo

[David Woods]

$25 sounds cheap, considering you get prints with it, quick calculation on buying the chemicals yourself.

Developer $6.57, Stop bath $8.80, Fixer $6.60, Wash $8.80, Wetting agent $5.74, Total cost $36.51

[jjphoto]

...Developer $6.57, Stop bath $8.80, Fixer $6.60, Wash $8.80, Wetting agent $5.74, Total cost $36.51

Which lasts over many rolls of film.

Fixer, stop bath and wash can be re-used, over a very large number of rolls. Wetting agent will last years before you run out. Developer, especially some thing like Rodinal or LC-29 is best diluted and lasts a very long time too. It is quite cheap to process your own.

Using D76 1:1 can be costly, but possibly worth it too.

JJ

[David Woods]

JJ

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against someone developing their own film, I develop all of my b&w film myself, and quite enjoy doing it, but if it is only to test out one camera as he indicated, $25 is the cheaper option, D76 is quite cheap when you compare it to the Tetenal or Rollei brands.

Regards
David

[robz]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I still have my Pentax spotmatic as well and if the brownie works I will be using it regularly. I think I will get intoregular developing again.

I can get ilfosol and HP5 at the local photo store, so i might start with this as the developer is a one shot. I'll look up the specs on your suggestions as well as I get back into more demanding tasks like working finer grain etc.
I'm looking forward to this :)