Amazing couple of days running dozens of different developer tests all with 400TX… love the look of the grain and depth of this film! In the end I came back to an old friend but with a new twist. Diafine is back in my life in a big way! Diluted 1:1 and used as a one shot developer it is spot on in my JOBO with very nice grain, great tonality, no processing issues and best of all a usable EI from about 100-1250 (the chart shows 200-1600… I think 1600 is a bit on the edge for my works but is totally usable in a pinch. So again, in a JOBO speed is 4, temp does not really matter but I ran at 75F, Dilute part A and B 1:1… I did 3.5 minutes in each followed by a 2 min wash with water then fix (box time), clear (box time) and hang to dry…. easy as pie!
Of course an advantage of Diafine that I have written about here before is that many different films can be souped at the same time which is a huge time saver. Diafine negs are a bit flat and do requiere an “S” curve in PS to make me happy but I am now quite happy indeed. I will post links to Diafine articles I have written and a great one from a friend Sandy King from View Camera.
My suggest EI…. 800.
Viva la Revolution– Stephen
All images shot with a Leica MP with a 35MM Summicron ASPH… on Film!
LINKS:
Sandy King Article Diafine…. a must read!
as for articles here… there are a lot!!!! Just type in Diafine in the search box and enjoy!
Also please note these were just quick scans (first set) as I am leaving tomorrow for a week of shooting but the final scan (last image) is quite nice and shows the real potential for this amazing combo.
Why use diafine as one shot? Doesn’t that go against one of the biggest values of diafine? Also, are you suggesting that you shoot an EI of 100 to 1250 ? Have you ever mixed EI speeds on same roll?
No as in the Jobo with continuous agitation the 1:1 is the solution for processing errors the agitation would cause… And it is sooo cheap and only using 150 ml of developer mixed with 150 ml of h20 a gallon is very inexpensive.
I have shot hundreds/ thousands of rolls using the variable EI technique… Several articles here on FR outline my thoughts. With all other developers that are not a divided developer doing a variable EI is crazy… With Diafine it is spot on!
Thanks for the info. I will give it a try as well. I am curious if you’ve tried to reuse your 1:1 diafine or not? I can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t work so I was curious. If you haven’t I will try and let you know about my results. Thanks again.
Would not reuse the 1:1 … Just not worth it as the cost is sooo low…. Works out to about .60 cents per roll of 35mm
Stephen, thanks for the reply. I was just looking at the current pricing of Diafine. It has gone up substantially over the last couple of years. I remember buying it for less than $15 in 2010. The only place that I can find online that will ship it is Freestyle. They currently have it for $42 plus shipping, which works out to be about $50 for a gallon (3.78 liters). Using your Jobo example of 300ml per development, that would be 150ml per dev. 1 gal/3.78L converted to ml = 3780ml. Dividing 3780 by 150ml per dev works out to about 25. Dividing $50 by the 25 uses is about $2 per development. I am guessing you have a source that is about 1/3 of the price that Freestyle has it for? If so, please pass along so I can get it at a better price. Thanks for your work here. Really good stuff. I am glad to see you active again and contributing. Thanks!
But two rolls of 35 in the 300ml so a dollar per roll… I should never do math before a cup of coffee😉
No worries. Good stuff. $1 per roll for 135 or 120 is still very reasonable. I do 5 sheets of 4×5 so that’s only 20 cents per sheet. 🙂
Hi there… came across your article as I’m trying to find an affordable source for Diafine. I’m confused by how you’re saying you’re doing two 35mm rolls? If that is the case, why not dilute the solution 1:2 instead? I have a Patterson tank and don’t know how I would even put two rolls in there with only 300ml of solution? So maybe I’m confused by something here. If I can even get to $1.50 per roll, that’s still pretty affordable to me.
Actually now in the jobo I only run stock… Perhaps a tad bit more contrast BUT better shadows and I can use again and agin for well over a year.
Interesting article- I’ll give it a shot! Thanks.
Hey Stephen, Thanks for all the info you have provided on this site. Really wonderful! There are some TX/Diafine related posts that have YouTube videos. When I attempt to play those videos it tells me that “This video is private”. Would you consider making those available again?! This post for instance –
https://figitalrevolution.com/2008/03/20/processing-black-and-white-film-for-scanning-diafine-and-tx/
Does anyone else have this problem?
Thanks!
As far as I can see I deleted them over a year ago when I shut down FR.