From December of last year through June of this year, I used Diafine as my prime black-and-white developer. I had some issues with it, so I decided not to use it for a while. Instead, I started using Rodinal and HC-110.
On August 14, Mike Johnston, a blogger I read often, said that Rodinal and HC-110 were not developers he liked. I respect Mr Johnston, and when he says something, I stop and think. He thought that Kodak D-76 could give you some of the features of those developers but with better mid-tones and stability (https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2023/08/the-trouble-with-rodinal.html).
I did not have any D-76, but I did have ID-11, a similar developer, on the shelf. I mixed up the powder and created a litre of the developer. Mr Johnston noted that a 1+3 mixture does a great job, so I mixed up one part of the developer and 3 parts of water and developed a roll of Ilford HP5+ (shot at box speed) that I shot on July 24. At that ratio, the time needed was 20 minutes @20 degrees Celsius. I agitated gently for 10 seconds every minute. These images are the result.
The film was shot with the Nikon N8008s, with the Nikon 35mm 1:2 Lens. The negatives were scanned with the PrimeFilmXEs, using VueScan software.
Steven Lawrence Pictures 