Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>After about a 20 year photography hiatus I got back into it last year. > >I love to hear about the film/developer combinations that work for other. . >Bob Bedwell With all the postings on darkroom setups, etc, I want to recommend again the absolutely simplest developer I have ever used - Cachet's AB55. I have used it with Tri-X, Delta 100, and Agfa25. In fact, I once souped all three films at the same time in a four reel Nikkor tank. Temperature requirements are pretty much whatever is currently reasonably comfortable in your darkroom. Time is somewhere around five minutes in part A followed by another five minutes in part B. If you don't have a watch or timer, you could probably estimate the five minutes, too! So if anyone is getting started or getting lazy, it's hard to beat AB55. The results have been as good as any other developer I have tried. I have used is successfully for medium format, 4x5, and in a Jobo rotary processor, too. I also used it with Kodak HC (high contrast) film, making negative to negative, positive B&W slides for projection, using a Honeywell Repronar slide duplicator. The HC film and AB55 developer captured all the midtones of the original Leica neg, projecting a sparkling slide that you could never get by taking a picture of a B&W print. The two working solutions also keep well for many weeks without changing characteristics AB55 is like the Swiss army knife of developers - I keep thinking I need a more specific developer tool for different situations, but the AB55 just does the job like an old workhorse. It's a great asset in the darkroom. Regards, Gary Todoroff Tree LUGger