Anyone using Diafine?

Usually for classic two bath developer you have to exposed for regular speed. But, saying that, how many rolls did you do in this batch of Diafine ? Some developers need so called ripening, they start to work well after a few rolls. Some people add used D76 to freshly made one, classic example is panthermic 777 or Edwal 10, also glycin based developer.
 
I've probably developed 10 rolls in this batch so far.

The directions on the box say to rate the film 2/3 to 1 stop higher than normal. On some films, I have found that to work fine. On others, it just results in underexposure. Pan F Plus is an example of one where it worked well - I can't tell the difference between shots exposed at 50 ISO and those exposed at 80 ISO. T-Grain films just don't look right in it, lol.

There just doesn't seem to be anything that Diafine does better than other developers... Except maybe ease/simplicity of use. It's almost like C-41, in that you can develop different films exposed at different ISO in the same tank at the same time. That is nice, but it seems like the price you pay for that convenience is an overall mediocrity. There just isn't anything that Diafine is the best at, from what I've seen so far...

I really tried to like it, lol, as much as I paid for it. I'm not going to dump it out - but I need to develop a few rolls in something else just to make sure I'm not losing my mind, lol!
 
I can taste your frustration. No idea what is in the diafine mix, but T-grain films need a bit different formulation, than films with cubic grain. Maybe for starters you should try to prolong bath A, but that may result in "mashed potato" grain and lose of sharpness. For T-grain bath A should have less sodium sulfite as too much will lower effective speed. And for bath B is should have stronger activator. Barry Thornton has good explanation for that:
barrythornton.com
Look into "2 Bath" article.
 
Cool site - thanks.



That's from the latest roll (Rollei Retro 400S) I developed in Diafine. Not bad, I guess, but it was basically the only frame on that roll that I liked. I believe that one was exposed at 800. The density of the neg looks normal - the whole roll looked fine, actually, as far as density goes, it just did not want to scan well, lol!

I don't know... I think I just like the way it looks in Rodinal better.



That's in Rodinal.
 
:) With Diafine you may have trouble to control contrast, Rodinal is more contrasty. But, the advantage of two bath is clear in high contrast situations. Two bath system is my primary developing system, but bath A is a regular HC110 or Tmax Dev., the second bath is borax for cubical grain or sodium metaborate for T-grain. A system, which let chose ISO. DXN I shoot at ISO between 125 and 500 and I can't tell the difference from the negative. In high contrast situations the amount of compensation film gets in 3 min is probably worth 1 hour in Rodinal and local contrast is controlled by duration of the bath A. System simple, cheap and flexible, without a commitment to one, expensive brew.
 
My opinion:
Diafine is a specialty developer. Its wide temperature range and ease of use are its main attractions for me. There are very few commercially produced panthermic developers and Diafine is the easiest to find and use. I like to use it in the Summer months here in Southern California when I don't feel like messing with temp control. I also like it with Pan F and that is the only film I have had good results with Diafine but I've only tried a few films with it. I suspect there are probably other films that would also work well with it.

Some developers work well with most any film and some have more specialized qualities that work best with only certain films. T-grain films are especially finicky about developers. These films are formulated especially for sharpness with little or no grain but at the expense of tonal range (my opinion). They work best with general purpose developers or developers made specially for them.
 
Its wide temperature range and ease of use are its main attractions for me. There are very few commercially produced panthermic developers and Diafine is the easiest to find and use. I like to use it in the Summer months here in Southern California when I don't feel like messing with temp control.
Yeah, that's a good point. Indoor summer temps here are nowhere near 'room temperature' - I probably will use it more in the summer.

It does seem to work well enough with Kentmere 400 too - I can expose that anywhere between 400 and 3200 and get usable negs.
 

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