Ryan's Photo Blog: Black & White Development In One Shot D76

Mamiya C220; Film Tmax 400; shot at ISO 400; 12 minutes in the developer

I have been doing all my B&W developing with Kodak D76.

I keep my d76 in a mason jar in powder form and mix each batch fresh one shot use. Conventional wisdom is that the powder might settle into it's components but it doesn't (don't use the last table spoon). Unconventional wisdom from people that have been doing it for years. I also develop in 1:3 dilution so development time isn't so critical and I get good shadow detail without blowing highlights. Just beware of chemical dust when measuring out the powder.

First time you empty the package into the mason jar stir and shake and roll the powder in the jar then put it on the shelf, no need to shake each time you use .

Disclaimer: I am not an expert and I scan my film rather then print in the darkroom.

Recipe

See massive development table for times don't forget to adjust for temperature.

I use 1.5 level teaspoons (7.5ml) d76 fill to 420ml with water (distilled if you want to be fussy) Stir well let sit for a few minutes and stir again until all powder is completely dissolved. This makes up an 1:3 dilution stock solution. Be careful not to breath the dust from the powder. Only use it for one roll of film.

2 minute water presoak
xx minute development {shake well for the first 30 seconds (instead of shaking invert if possible) tap once on a hard surface to remove bubbles, thereafter every 3 minutes gently shake for a few seconds}
rinse with water stop 4 times
yy minute fix
rinse with water 4 times and soak in clear water for 3 minutes
dip in water a bit of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of hypo clear
hang to dry for at least 2 hours (the leader should feel dry and not tacky) I find weighting the bottom of the film keeps from coming out curled

My 2 favourite general purpose films are Kodak TMAX 100/400 and Fuji Neopan. So far this method has given consistent results with all films I have used.

Kodak TMAX needs loads of fixing time. You can drop a small piece of film that hasn't been in the developer and watch the fixer clear the film, Multiply the time to clear by 2 and that should be safe.