More concentrated stock solution?

To make a more concentrated stock solution of GSD-10 would require only substituting potassium carbonate for sodium carbonate, and reducing the ratio of sodium sulfite to glycin to around 1:1. The more concentrated version would look something like:

Distilled water: 50ml

Sodium sulfite: 12g

Glycin: 10g

Potassium carbonate: 75g

Distilled water to 100ml

This concentrate would be diluted 1:50 for intermittent or rotary processing, and 1:100-1:200 for stand development.

I would expect to see an increase in the appearance of both grain and sharpness. Personally, I like the way GSD-10 balances of grain and sharpness, and so I would consider this concentrated version a compromise, especially for 35mm work.

Another option would be to double the concentration of GSD-10 by retaining the formula as-is, and simply making it up in 1/2 the water. This version would be:

Distilled water: 500ml

Sodium sulfite 100g

Glycin: 20g

Sodium carbonate: 150g

Distilled water to 1 liter

Dilute 1:10 for intermittent or rotary processing, and 1:20-1:40 for stand development.

I like this option better, since it would still be the developer I know and love, but I will try both options and compare them before coming to any conclusions. If anyone decides to experiment with these, or any other variations, I'd love to know about it. Please contact me at:

jdefehr@gmail.com

with any comments, questions or suggestions, and I'm always very happy to see images made with my developers.

Juliet lakeside

Juliet at Lake Lowell

This is my sweet Juliet on a windy day at Lake Lowell. The light was soft and beautiful, and I had my trusty Minolta XD-11 loaded with Ilford Pan F+. Life is good!

Film: Ilford Pan F+

Format: 35mm

Developer: GSD-10

Dilution: 1:7.5

Time: 20:00

Temp: 70F

Agitation: Semi-Stand

TMY-2 and GSD-10

Juliet at Celebration Park

I still grin from ear to ear every time I develop a roll of TMY-2; what a feat of engineering! TMY-2 is, as the package reminds us, the sharpest 400 speed film in the world, and its grain is as fine as many 100 speed films. GSD-10 was formulated with slow, quick-to-build-contrast, fine grained films in mind. The compensating effect of GSD-10 and stand development really tames these films, opening up shadows, and protecting delicate highlight detail, but it's the midtones that matter most to me. The micro contrast produced by this film/developer combination is quite impressive. I'll be experimenting with this combination a lot, and sharing my findings here. Here's the developing information for the above photo:

Film: TMY-2

Format: 120 (6x7)

EI: 400

Developer: GSD-10

Dilution: 1:7.5

Time: 20 min

Temp: 70F

Agitation: 1 minute initial, 10 seconds at 1/2 way point

The light was very flat (SBR 5.5)

Ultrafine + ISO 100, aka Lucky film

Juliet at Curtis Park

This image was made with Ultrafine + 100 film from Photo Warehouse. Many clues suggest it is re-labelled Lucky film from China, but I have no direct evidence it is. The film is wrapped in a black backing paper with no band to secure it once exposed (120 format), just a small and inadequate peel and stick square at the end of the paper backing itself. Don't trust it! I did with my first roll, and it came undone, fogging several frames. The film has a nasty curl to it that makes it difficult to load onto reels for processing, and dries into a tube after processing, complicating printing or scanning. There are no edge markings on the film, nor is there anything on the backing paper to identify the film once removed from the cheap, foil wrapper. These problems are enough to dissuade me from buying more once my current supply runs out, and that's a shame, because the film is actually very nice; it's sharp, fine grained, and true to its box speed, but so is Fuji Acros, which suffers none of the skimpiness of this budget film. I've finally learned my lesson regarding budget films, and will stock Fuji Acros as my slow film, and TMY-2 as my fast film, and I could do without the Acros, in most circumstances, and all formats except 35mm. Those more tolerant of handling quirks might find the following information useful.

Film: Ultrafine + 100

ISO: 100

Format: 120

Developer: GSD-10

Dilution: 1:5

Time: 7:30

Temp: 70F

Agitation: 10 sec/ minute, inversion

New Scan of Old Film

LEAF

Julia scanned this film from 2007 with her new Epson 4490, and I like her scan better than mine using my Plustek 7200 dedicated film scanner. I'm not suggesting these differences are related to the hardware, but highlighting the influence of the operator.

Film: Pan F+
EI: 50
Dilution: 1:5
Time: 6:30
Temp: 70F
Agitation: :10/1:00 (ten seconds every minute)

Scanner: Epson 4490

Scan type: Negative

Juliet in windowlight

Juliet

The above is a "Native"/unedited scan from our new Epson 4490 photo scanner. Julia made the scan at 600x800, I believe, for easy archiving, emailing, etc. We don't intend to print from our scans- we do our printing in the darkroom. The lighting for this image was very harsh/high contrast, with the sun shining directly through the window into an otherwise unlit room, reflecting off of Julia's very fair skin. I am very pleased with this rendition of the scene. My dear Father always kept his pistol next to his bed; I keep my camera there.

Film: Arista EDU 100

Format: 120 (6x7)

EI: 200

Developer: GSD-10

Dilution: 1:10

Time: 1 hour

Temp: 70F

The Darkroom Cookbook, Third Edition

GSD-10 has been published in the third edition of The Darkroom Cookbook, by Steve Anchell, thanks to editor, Mark Booth. I'm honored to have my formula included in this indispensable darkroom reference book.