Colleagues, There are a number of versions of this formula but I haven't found references to them on the www so maybe this will be useful. If you process a lot of B/W film this is wonderful soup. It has finer grain and latitude than regular D-76. It costs almost nothing and is very forgiving of processing errors. I use it for panorama work because of the extreme lighting of this type of scene. The negatives stay relatively thin with increased shadow detail. ************** DIVIDED D-76 DEVELOPER MIXING THE SOLUTIONS (1 liter) Use two dark brown 1 liter storage bottles and a mixing bowl. In addition you need a temporary 100—mi container to mix the potassium bromide solution needed for the preparation of Solution A. 1% Potassium Bromide Solution: Before mixing Solution A, you will need a potassium bromide solution. Only a portion will be used in mixing Solution A. The remainder is discarded. Place the potasium bromide in the temporary container and add 100 ml of water - 20 C/68 F. Be sure the solution is stirred and homogeneous before use. Solution A: filtered water (52 C/125F) 750 ml Metol 4g Sodium Sulfite 100 g Hydroquinone 7.5 g Potassium Bromide 1%* 30 ml Cold water to make 1000 ml *A 1% stock solution is 1 gm per 100 ml To prepare Solution A, place the warm water in a mixing bowl and ad a pinch of sodium sulfite. This minimizes the initial oxidation of the metol - however if more is added at this point the metol will not dissolve. Add the metol and stir the solution until dissolved. It is important that all of the metol is dissolved before proceeding. Then add the sulfite and, again stir until the solid has dissolved. Next add the hydroquinone and stir till dissolved. Measure the proper volume of potassium bromide solution and add it. It is important that only the specified amount of the 1% solution is added. (Do not add all of the solution that was mixed) Add water to bring the total volume to one liter. Pour into storage container. Solution B: Plain water (52C/125F) 750 ml Borax 60 g Cold water to make 1000 ml. Thoroughly dissolve the borax in the warm water then top-off with cold water. USING THE DEVELOPER Solution A is re-used and continues to work even when brown and nasty looking. It is a pre-soak and is used at room temperature for any time from three to five minutes. Solution B is used once at room temperature and discarded. The Borax is a common household laundry product available in five pound boxes. The time in solution B controls the development and contrast. A plus or minus thirty second difference will not change much. Suggested time for T-MAX or HP5 is 3.5 - 5 minutes. Use a minute less for slower films. Rinse to stop development - no acid stop-bath required. Fix and wash normally. **END** AZ Maker of Lookaround panoramic camera. http://www.panoramacamera.us or keyword.com lookaround
