Hoping to tap the experience of the list here... For over a decade I've been shooting T-max 400 film for work and T-max 100 film for personal use. I like the fine grain and tonality of the T-max 100. Well, work went digital 6 months ago and the darkroom went away. I'm still shooting T-max 400 when I want high speed, because I like it's performance characteristics at high speed and I am VERY familiar with it.
For T-max 100, though, the cost of the T-max developer (and I recall testing in college and finding that it really preferred T-max developer) is burdensome, and there are other films that will do the job. I've started to work with Ilford Pan F, developed in Ilford ID-11+ (which I like just a bit better than the almost identical Kodak D-76). I like this combo, despite supply issues with the developer here in the U.S. The problem I am having with ID-11+ is one of shelf life. Less than half a gallon of developer in a gallon bottle oxidized to the color of coca-cola in a month or two in my basement. Since I run small batches, and infrequently, this is going to continue to be a problem. I don't think a smaller bottle (which I have) will help all that much. So, I'm looking for a developer that 1) is cheap 2) keeps in "normal" form 3) gives good results with Ilford Pan F I've been thinking that maybe a liquid concentrate is the way to go. That's the way I keep my T-max developer now (unmixed) and it is holding up fine. Unfortunately many of them are not cheap, and I have no experience with them at all. Developer shelf life never used to be an issue for me! The first thing that springs to mind is Rodinal. I know it doesn't keep well mixed, but I'd assume it keeps fine in the bottle? Is the high-acutance nature of Rodinal likely to mess up the fine-grain, "traditional"-tonality look of Pan F? Recommendations? DJE
