Exploring Metol Developing Agent and The Historic D-23 Developer Formula
The goal of film developer is to convert the latent image on the film made at the time of exposure. Developing agents achieve this conversion by reducing the silver halides into silver metal. The developer only acts on those particles of silver halides that have been exposed to light. Black and white film developers typically consist of three main components: developing agent (e.g., Metol), alkaline agent (e.g., borax) and a means to delay oxidation of the developing agent (e.g., sodium sulfite).
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Metol along with phenidone (newer agent) and hydroquinone are common black and white developing agents. Metol is an organic compound and a colorless salt. Metol is known to be a good choice for continuous tone and has been widely used in commercial formulas for many years before Kodak discontinued it. Metol is a highly versatile developing agent and a standard that I keep in my darkroom. I use Metol in my D76-E and D-23 formulas. Part of Metol’s magic is that it slows down the development process, which in turn can result in lower contrast negatives. Lower contrast negatives are thought to be easier to print. Metol developing agent can create very sharp or fine grain images, but not both at the same time. There are special cases, for example, when I know I am making platinum prints, I want a higher contrast negative so I use my D-76-Eco formula or Pyrocat HD. If I am going to make a silver gelatin contact print, then D-23 is my personal choice for a lot of my negatives. The famous photograph by Ansel Adams "Winter Sunrise from Lone Pine" was exposed on Isopan film and developed in D-23. "I used my 8x10 Ansco view camera with the 23-inch component of my Cooke Series XV lens with a Wratten No. 15 (G) filter. The film was Isopan, developed in Kodak D-23" - Ansel Adams D-23-ECO FORMULA & REASONS WHY I LIKE IT The formula to make D23 black and white developer is about as easy as it can get for photographers. D-23 is very similar to D-76 minus the Hydroquinone, whose presence speeds up development and Metol is a better choice for the environment and people too. I like Borax as an accelerant versus Hydroquinone because Hydroquinone is a known carcinogen. Hydroquinonel has been identified as both a potential clastogen and mutagen. A clastogen is a toxin that has the capability of cause breaks in chromosomes, cause sections of them to be destroyed, and to rearrange the sections and thus cause mutations which can lead to various types of cancer. A mutagen is a material that causes mutations and damage in DNA. When the DNA is altered, it can cause any number of chain reactions that can negatively impact the health, including cancerous growth of cells and cell division. I call this formula D-23-Eco, mainly because the Hydroquinone has been removed from the formula. The key takeaway for me about this D-23 formula is its eco-friendly nature and the lower contrast nature of the negative it creates along with the ability to create brilliant highlights with open shadows. D-23 hasn't been offered as a commercial product for decades, but that doesn't matter because it is super easy to make and in the section below, I share all of the reasons why I like the formula.
D-23-Eco-Friendly Formula & Process Formula
The process to Make D-23-Eco-Friendly Developer
Usage Notes Use D-23-Eco at 20C/68F if you can and if not, make sure you adjust your development time accordingly based on your local temperature. I have found development times for D-23 to be very close to Kodak D-76. As a starting point, you could refer to the D-76 data sheet or I highly recommend that you properly test your film/developer combinations so that you can establish a repeatable workflow that yields reliable high-quality results. I have found that Ilford HP5+ and FP4+ develops to my satisfaction for contacting printing at 9 minutes with the 1:1 dilution at 21C. I use HP5+ sheet film on a regular basis in my 8x10 and 11x14 large format view cameras and FP4+ in my 4x5 and 8x10 cameras. I really like that I can mix the amount of developer that I need on demand from the raw materials. Alternatives to Standard D-23 Formula Denise Ross hosts "The Light Farm" website where she writes about her amazing work and adventures with classic darkroom processes. I wanted to share this specific page with my readers because Denise uses less Metol in her formula and she shares a tip on how to use Borax as an accelerant in a different formula. I like the Borax option when developing my dry plates and know that I am going to be making platinum prints. Borax acts as the accelerant and by modifying the amount of Metol and adding Borax, this is effectively my D-76-Eco formula. I have created a short list of why I like D23:
Quotes from Stephen Anchell (Darkroom Cookbook, 1st Ed.) "A developer of the semi-compensating type using either Metol or Pyro alone in a solution of relatively low pH is capable of producing brilliant high values, full-scale mid-tones and shadows (e.g. Kodak D-23 and Kodak D-1, ABC Pyro, especially Edward Weston's variation)." - pp. 42 "Kodak D-23 is a semi-compensating developer that produces fine shadow values while retaining a high emulsion speed... Note: This developer produces negatives of speed and graininess comparable to Kodak D-76, without D-76's tendency to block highlights. " - pp. 150 ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY TRAINING LIBRARY Read Testimonials from photographers and collectors from around the world. Buy Your Photography, Video, & Technology Gear at No Additional Cost To You From B&H Photo
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Keywords:
black and white photography,
darkroom,
darkroom digest,
dry plate,
large format,
large format photography,
metering,
silver gelatin
Comments
Paul Rentz(non-registered)
Oscar White, the last owner of the famous Pach Brothers Studio in Manhattan, and portrait photographer to Presidents, famous actors and other well known persons, introduced me to using Elon (metol) to paper developers, basically extending the range of tones without causing low contrast looking images. His theory was fairly simple- if the developer wasn't 'slippery' you added to much- go back and add more developer! Oscar passed away this year at age 98, teaching and sharing and serving others until near the end of his life.
A little late to this discussion but I think it was this article that caused me to explore other Metol developers. I have ultimately switched from Pyrocat HD to Pyrocat M which uses Metol instead of Phenidone. I have had too many short lived batches of HD due to phenidone failure that led to under processed negatives. My first batch of Pyrcat M seems to be going strong after 8 months and has about the same processing characteristics as HD, especially when using diluted and semi-stand methods.
Pyrocat M may not be as eco friendly but in use I only use 7ml -10ml of developer per liter of working solution so the cachetol and metol are both very dilute and are used to exhaustion with my agitation scheme. Formula for PART A (Part B is same as HD part B) Stock A 1 liter Distilled Water at 120F 750 ml Metol 2.5g Sodium Metabisulfite 10g Pyrocatechin 50g Water to make 1000ml Use 10:10:980, so only 0.05g Pyrocatechin per liter of working dilution.
Hi Jim, I am in the process on a daily basis of writing those articles, so your question is very timely. Just check back every day because I will be posting my formulas for fixers and stop baths too in addition to some in-depth articles on the reasons I make specific choices. Stay in touch. Tim.
Jim(non-registered)
Perhaps you've done this and could point me to the article, but if not, could you describe your process and the other specific formulations (fixer etc.) you use in development?. I have been using R5 monobath with 120 and 4x5 film because it's so easy, but the tonal range seems a bit limited.
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