Was trying to figure out why your name sounded familiar. A year ago I started looking into film processing and wanted to see what diafine was all about … nowwwww it all makes sense . Small world!
Hey Steve! Diafine had been my main developer for 5+ years. Your website has been an extremely useful resource for me. You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear Diafine is not discontinued!! I mixed my current Diafine chemistry 2+ years ago and it's still working, but I really want fresh chemistry hahaha.
My batch is going strong after 4 years. Just keep using it. You can always test it with a small piece of film leader before use. Since the the film leader is exposed to light, it will turn black if your developer is good. I do not use a pre wet. That could dilute bath A over time. I don’t use inversions, my tanks tend to leak, I just slosh it back and forth a little.
I've developed about 12 rolls in my diafine and it's about 1 year old. Your one year dump suggestion has me wondering if I already need new Diafine. I definitely won't be dumping it until there's more to buy, ha! ... One of my absolute favorite shots in the past year was with Tri-X and Diafine. I've got 600 feet of XX still to shoot, so maybe I'll try it with Diafine soon. .... One internet rumor that I've read about Diafine is that it gets better the more you use it, up to a point. I sort of believe this because I was underwhelmed with my first few rolls, and then all of the sudden I was stunned. I suspect that this was just my photos and exposures, etc. .. but it's left me curious is Diafine needs a jump start before something magical happens. ... I've recommended Diafine to lots of people, and they always tell me it's not available; or, if it is, only in the largest quantity. Hopefully you're right and that changes soon. I've stopped recommending it for that reason.
It is definitely coming back- hard part about Diafine is people use it for years upon years and the manufacture does not see any new sales so they consider cutting it… it’s the developers fault but I can see why it causes confusion on the part of the producers. Sometimes a seasoned developer is better but I don’t have an option on that with Diafine. With the number of rolls you have processed YES just keep using it. I process a lot of film and find 1-2 years ideal but again it has a very long life.
Just don’t mix the two solutions or you’ll contaminate one of them, and both of them if you’re careless. Use distilled water to make the solutions and use glass marbles to remove any air space in your containers that could cause the solutions to oxidize or otherwise deteriorate. Brown glass containers, such as medicine containers some drug stores still receive will throw them out, unless you ask politely to buy two or more - brown glass containers are less prone to oxidation or contamination, or damage from light. The solutions will last for years if you’re careful. Refrigerate both solutions if you are going out of town for any extended period of time and won’t be using them soon.
It used to be my bread & butter developer for roll film in a JOBO, too, what a miracle developer but its been years since I saw any for sale. I just checked B&H, Adorama and Freestyle and still, no one has it. A couple of years ago, I switched to divided D-23 and Stoeckler's divided developer. They are very economical and I mix them myself; doubt that I could be lured back to Diafine.
Greetings from faraway Grafton. Thank you for all your great guidance. A question regarding Diafine: I tried a roll of 120 Tr-X at 1250 in Diafine with great results. Truthfully, I was shocked at how well it turned out. A roll of 35mm Double-X, however, shot at 640, yielded very heavy grain. All temps (74°), agitation and times were the same and as per your discussion. I’ve never shot XX before, so all I have to compare it with are the many photos online, and my results look like nothing I’ve seen grainwise. Any thoughts? Thanks again for sharing your deep knowledge on this, the best of the film channels.
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION I guess it’s time to mix the packet of D-76 in the closet. I was hoping for the speed boost. I have a roll hanging up to dry now shot at 200-6400 for the hell of it (6400 just because there was a shot left on the roll). I’ll do the same with the D-76. Thanks again!
I have some delta 3200 in the freezer and would like to do a night shoot downtown. I typically use Diafine for my B&W processing. I do have some Ilford developer as well. Any recommendations on what speed I should use with Diafine or should I use the Ilford DDX? Many thanks. I love your channel. You have provided great information and advice that has really helped me a great deal.
Diafine will give you 1250 max BUT it will also give you EI 100 all on the same roll with huge beautiful grain. DDX is safe to 6400 with finer grain- glad to help!
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Thank you Steve for the great advice and information you always provide. You have been very helpful and always answered my questions. I have followed your advice and I haven’t been disappointed! Thanks again.
Excellent instructions and insights. I’m mixing up my first batch and I have spent considerable time stirring part A in 85 degree distilled water but there are tiny little pieces that don’t seem to get absorbed. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks.
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Thank you very much. I managed to get almost all of the little bits dissolved in A. I’m now on B and it’s dissolving a little faster. I’m excited to try this developer out. Many thanks for your videos. They are much appreciated. And with my hybrid workflow, I think Diafine will be awesome.
Thank you for bringing this developer to our attention. I just developed and scanned my first test roll of Kentmere 100. What gorgeous negatives! Beautiful and so clean. I could easily use any of the 3 speeds I shot. Since there was no Diafine recommended EI, I started with doubling the box speed which actually turned out to be the sweet spot for my tastes. I love this developer!
Do you measure the pH of the new solutions you make, and at the end of 6 or 12 month periods(before you dump them out), do you check them to see if there has been a change in the pH of these solutions over time?
Hi, and thank you for all the information you provide! I am using the Bellini Duostep as my main developer, which is supposed to be just like Diafine. As you have made alot of videos on stand development since this one, I am wondering if you prefer diafine or stand for your processing nowadays, and why? And what are your favorite films for 35mm in diafine?
I use a lot of different film developer combos based on what look I want and what technical considerations I need to worry about but Diafine and HC110 and Rodinal are used a lot.
I'm eager to try Diafine for my B&W film development. Did you say that you do not use an acid fixer, just distilled water? BTW, I like my B&W images to have high contrast with detailed highlights & shadows so it looks like the second image from the left is about right for me. Is that TriX 400 shot at 800 ISO?
You have to use a fixer just not a stop bath- water is fine as a stop after part B- I use a TF4 fixer most of the time mainly because I use PYRO as well and it is ideal for stain creation- yes 800- but know that Diafine will not give you a high contrast negative but rather a long tone negative with controlled highlights and open shadows- from this idea tone for scanning just apply the needed “S” curve in PS and you can get all the controlled contrast you want with controlled highlights and shadows.
I have a lot of rolls to develop and this looks like a much simpler way of mass devloping a variety of rolls. Should I only stick with rolls I pushed and maybe go with xtol for the ones shot at box speed, though I'd rather go with the simpler usage of diafine?
Definitely don’t do that- part A is activated by part B- there is no issue with A contaminating B but B can never come in contact with A as it will spoil A.
I have a question regarding a potential exposure issue. I shot some Kentmere 100 film today at 200 (thinking I was going to process with Diafine). It was in a redwood forest and I really think I placed the shadows somewhere between zone 3 and 4. In fact I’m not sure you could call them shadows because to my eye they were close to black. But my question is should I go ahead and develop in Diafine (which I love) or should I maybe develop in something like the Ilford DDX I have on hand and adjust the processing slightly? I’m concerned any highlights I have might get blown.
Diafine is a compensating developer and as such it is quite difficult to blow out the highlights-- DDX is also a wonderful developer but when I have extremes I go for Diafine or one of the Stand Developer combos I have written about.
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Thank you for that great advice. I ended up using Diafine and the negatives were beautiful with great density. I was having problems with my Epson V600 rendering the tones as it was making way too much contrast and found it was resetting to “automatic” settings. I had to switch everything off again and select “monochrome”. I ended up with a low contrast scan that contrast in Lightroom and Photoshop. I get so much information from your videos and make sure I give a thumbs up to hopefully get your channel out to others. I so appreciate that you respond to questions with thoughtful advice. Please know that the time and effort you put into your channel is much appreciated.
If you are going to use Diafine, or any other two-bath B&W developer like it (Divided D-76, for example) you must accept the bad with the good. Part of the bad is that it is a one-stop-shop. There are no speed or contrast range adjustments. You will not need to struggle with the Zone System. It is "highly compensating", which is code for "all of your highlight details will be mushed together without separation into one or two slightly separated tones". You won't have to worry about blowing out those clouds in your landscapes. Like the Model T which came in any color you'd like, so long as it was black, your clouds will come in one tone, white. When I started mixing my developers from bulk chemicals and carrying around "Dignan's Newsletter"(*) for casual reading, I fell hard for Divided D-23, later graduating to Divided D-76. They have some virtues. (1) They are easy to use. One size fits all, in that all films process for the same times in each bath, more or less. You can process different types of film, all in the same batch, with the same chemicals. You literally cannot over develop. (2)They last forever, because the chemical components of developing agent and process activator are always in separate solutions, except when developing. This also makes them cheap as dirt to use. (Except for the gross over-pricing of Diafine, of course.) (3) They are highly reliable as to results. They take no skill to use, and there is almost nothing you can screw up. So, it is automatic B&W film processing, like Polaroid without the instant results, or "B&W Processing for Dumbies". (*) Dignan's Newletter was a roughly printed 20-30 page assembly of articles on all aspects of film processing, focussing on cutting edge ideas, testing results, and DIY formulas for all types of B&W and color processes. Some worked better than others, but it was a bible for photo processing nerds in the 1970s. It eventually morphed into Darkroom Photography magazine, a high quality commercial publication with a very narrow market, which died in the digital transition. A full set of this magazine contains the collective working knowledge of film photochemistry in one source.
As I write this, Diafine is in stock at B&H. So are you saying you reuse Diafine much like fixer? I’m relatively new or should I say back to film developing and with my other developers I am use them only once.
Yes Diafine can be used for an extended period of time as long as you keep your process clean and never mix the a/b solutions-- I generally keep a gallon of the developer for a few years and process a lot of BW film in that time--
Was trying to figure out why your name sounded familiar. A year ago I started looking into film processing and wanted to see what diafine was all about … nowwwww it all makes sense . Small world!
Welcome to the Revolution!
Hey Steve!
Diafine had been my main developer for 5+ years. Your website has been an extremely useful resource for me.
You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear Diafine is not discontinued!!
I mixed my current Diafine chemistry 2+ years ago and it's still working, but I really want fresh chemistry hahaha.
I have some on order as well!!
My batch is going strong after 4 years. Just keep using it. You can always test it with a small piece of film leader before use. Since the the film leader is exposed to light, it will turn black if your developer is good. I do not use a pre wet. That could dilute bath A over time. I don’t use inversions, my tanks tend to leak, I just slosh it back and forth a little.
Thanks for sharing your results Stephen. I've been curious about this developer and it's compensation effects.
Diafine is a really unique developer; I've been using it for years for some of my work.
I've developed about 12 rolls in my diafine and it's about 1 year old. Your one year dump suggestion has me wondering if I already need new Diafine. I definitely won't be dumping it until there's more to buy, ha! ... One of my absolute favorite shots in the past year was with Tri-X and Diafine. I've got 600 feet of XX still to shoot, so maybe I'll try it with Diafine soon. .... One internet rumor that I've read about Diafine is that it gets better the more you use it, up to a point. I sort of believe this because I was underwhelmed with my first few rolls, and then all of the sudden I was stunned. I suspect that this was just my photos and exposures, etc. .. but it's left me curious is Diafine needs a jump start before something magical happens. ... I've recommended Diafine to lots of people, and they always tell me it's not available; or, if it is, only in the largest quantity. Hopefully you're right and that changes soon. I've stopped recommending it for that reason.
It is definitely coming back- hard part about Diafine is people use it for years upon years and the manufacture does not see any new sales so they consider cutting it… it’s the developers fault but I can see why it causes confusion on the part of the producers. Sometimes a seasoned developer is better but I don’t have an option on that with Diafine. With the number of rolls you have processed YES just keep using it. I process a lot of film and find 1-2 years ideal but again it has a very long life.
Just don’t mix the two solutions or you’ll contaminate one of them, and both of them if you’re careless. Use distilled water to make the solutions and use glass marbles to remove any air space in your containers that could cause the solutions to oxidize or otherwise deteriorate. Brown glass containers, such as medicine containers some drug stores still receive will throw them out, unless you ask politely to buy two or more - brown glass containers are less prone to oxidation or contamination, or damage from light. The solutions will last for years if you’re careful. Refrigerate both solutions if you are going out of town for any extended period of time and won’t be using them soon.
Welta my favorite! After many type of Zeiss Ikon! It’s fantastic quality!
It used to be my bread & butter developer for roll film in a JOBO, too, what a miracle developer but its been years since I saw any for sale. I just checked B&H, Adorama and Freestyle and still, no one has it.
A couple of years ago, I switched to divided D-23 and Stoeckler's divided developer. They are very economical and I mix them myself; doubt that I could be lured back to Diafine.
It is now at the distribution as I order some Friday- I suspect stores will have in stock very soon-
Greetings from faraway Grafton. Thank you for all your great guidance. A question regarding Diafine: I tried a roll of 120 Tr-X at 1250 in Diafine with great results. Truthfully, I was shocked at how well it turned out. A roll of 35mm Double-X, however, shot at 640, yielded very heavy grain. All temps (74°), agitation and times were the same and as per your discussion. I’ve never shot XX before, so all I have to compare it with are the many photos online, and my results look like nothing I’ve seen grainwise. Any thoughts? Thanks again for sharing your deep knowledge on this, the best of the film channels.
Thank you! I like XX more in D96 or D76-just a better match.
Love Grafton-- have not been there is some years….
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION I guess it’s time to mix the packet of D-76 in the closet. I was hoping for the speed boost. I have a roll hanging up to dry now shot at 200-6400 for the hell of it (6400 just because there was a shot left on the roll). I’ll do the same with the D-76. Thanks again!
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Give us some warning if you visit so I can try to talk the town into giving you a parade.
You bet!
I have some delta 3200 in the freezer and would like to do a night shoot downtown. I typically use Diafine for my B&W processing. I do have some Ilford developer as well. Any recommendations on what speed I should use with Diafine or should I use the Ilford DDX? Many thanks. I love your channel. You have provided great information and advice that has really helped me a great deal.
Diafine will give you 1250 max BUT it will also give you EI 100 all on the same roll with huge beautiful grain. DDX is safe to 6400 with finer grain-
glad to help!
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Thank you Steve for the great advice and information you always provide. You have been very helpful and always answered my questions. I have followed your advice and I haven’t been disappointed! Thanks again.
Excellent instructions and insights. I’m mixing up my first batch and I have spent considerable time stirring part A in 85 degree distilled water but there are tiny little pieces that don’t seem to get absorbed. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks.
Small bits in A are fine if you have been mixing a lot
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Thank you very much. I managed to get almost all of the little bits dissolved in A. I’m now on B and it’s dissolving a little faster. I’m excited to try this developer out. Many thanks for your videos. They are much appreciated. And with my hybrid workflow, I think Diafine will be awesome.
Thank you for bringing this developer to our attention. I just developed and scanned my first test roll of Kentmere 100. What gorgeous negatives! Beautiful and so clean. I could easily use any of the 3 speeds I shot. Since there was no Diafine recommended EI, I started with doubling the box speed which actually turned out to be the sweet spot for my tastes. I love this developer!
Do you measure the pH of the new solutions you make, and at the end of 6 or 12 month periods(before you dump them out), do you check them to see if there has been a change in the pH of these solutions over time?
I don’t - I run a lot of film and just always play it safe -- Diafine lasts a long time but it’s not eternal
Hi, and thank you for all the information you provide! I am using the Bellini Duostep as my main developer, which is supposed to be just like Diafine. As you have made alot of videos on stand development since this one, I am wondering if you prefer diafine or stand for your processing nowadays, and why? And what are your favorite films for 35mm in diafine?
I use a lot of different film developer combos based on what look I want and what technical considerations I need to worry about but Diafine and HC110 and Rodinal are used a lot.
I'm eager to try Diafine for my B&W film development. Did you say that you do not use an acid fixer, just distilled water? BTW, I like my B&W images to have high contrast with detailed highlights & shadows so it looks like the second image from the left is about right for me. Is that TriX 400 shot at 800 ISO?
You have to use a fixer just not a stop bath- water is fine as a stop after part B- I use a TF4 fixer most of the time mainly because I use PYRO as well and it is ideal for stain creation- yes 800- but know that Diafine will not give you a high contrast negative but rather a long tone negative with controlled highlights and open shadows- from this idea tone for scanning just apply the needed “S” curve in PS and you can get all the controlled contrast you want with controlled highlights and shadows.
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION - Excellent. Thanks.
I have a lot of rolls to develop and this looks like a much simpler way of mass devloping a variety of rolls. Should I only stick with rolls I pushed and maybe go with xtol for the ones shot at box speed, though I'd rather go with the simpler usage of diafine?
Depends on the film- some films especially those made by ilford don’t get much of push from Diafine- Xtol is an excellent developer for TGrain films
@FIGITAL REVOLUTION I'm mainly use ilford/kentmere, so maybe I'll do some experimenting. Thanks!
Definitely a good idea!
Have you ever tried doing a water rinse between part A and part B? This would keep part B from contamination. I haven't tried this myself yet.
Definitely don’t do that- part A is activated by part B- there is no issue with A contaminating B but B can never come in contact with A as it will spoil A.
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION thanks
I have a question regarding a potential exposure issue. I shot some Kentmere 100 film today at 200 (thinking I was going to process with Diafine). It was in a redwood forest and I really think I placed the shadows somewhere between zone 3 and 4. In fact I’m not sure you could call them shadows because to my eye they were close to black. But my question is should I go ahead and develop in Diafine (which I love) or should I maybe develop in something like the Ilford DDX I have on hand and adjust the processing slightly? I’m concerned any highlights I have might get blown.
Diafine is a compensating developer and as such it is quite difficult to blow out the highlights-- DDX is also a wonderful developer but when I have extremes I go for Diafine or one of the Stand Developer combos I have written about.
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Thank you for that great advice. I ended up using Diafine and the negatives were beautiful with great density. I was having problems with my Epson V600 rendering the tones as it was making way too much contrast and found it was resetting to “automatic” settings. I had to switch everything off again and select “monochrome”. I ended up with a low contrast scan that contrast in Lightroom and Photoshop. I get so much information from your videos and make sure I give a thumbs up to hopefully get your channel out to others. I so appreciate that you respond to questions with thoughtful advice. Please know that the time and effort you put into your channel is much appreciated.
@@baggerrider8073 glad to help-- happy shooting!
If you are going to use Diafine, or any other two-bath B&W developer like it (Divided D-76, for example) you must accept the bad with the good. Part of the bad is that it is a one-stop-shop. There are no speed or contrast range adjustments. You will not need to struggle with the Zone System. It is "highly compensating", which is code for "all of your highlight details will be mushed together without separation into one or two slightly separated tones". You won't have to worry about blowing out those clouds in your landscapes. Like the Model T which came in any color you'd like, so long as it was black, your clouds will come in one tone, white. When I started mixing my developers from bulk chemicals and carrying around "Dignan's Newsletter"(*) for casual reading, I fell hard for Divided D-23, later graduating to Divided D-76. They have some virtues. (1) They are easy to use. One size fits all, in that all films process for the same times in each bath, more or less. You can process different types of film, all in the same batch, with the same chemicals. You literally cannot over develop. (2)They last forever, because the chemical components of developing agent and process activator are always in separate solutions, except when developing. This also makes them cheap as dirt to use. (Except for the gross over-pricing of Diafine, of course.) (3) They are highly reliable as to results. They take no skill to use, and there is almost nothing you can screw up. So, it is automatic B&W film processing, like Polaroid without the instant results, or "B&W Processing for Dumbies". (*) Dignan's Newletter was a roughly printed 20-30 page assembly of articles on all aspects of film processing, focussing on cutting edge ideas, testing results, and DIY formulas for all types of B&W and color processes. Some worked better than others, but it was a bible for photo processing nerds in the 1970s. It eventually morphed into Darkroom Photography magazine, a high quality commercial publication with a very narrow market, which died in the digital transition. A full set of this magazine contains the collective working knowledge of film photochemistry in one source.
FYI freestyle photo just restocked Diafine!
Awesome!
As I write this, Diafine is in stock at B&H. So are you saying you reuse Diafine much like fixer? I’m relatively new or should I say back to film developing and with my other developers I am use them only once.
Yes Diafine can be used for an extended period of time as long as you keep your process clean and never mix the a/b solutions-- I generally keep a gallon of the developer for a few years and process a lot of BW film in that time--
@@FIGITALREVOLUTION Many thanks! I will certainly give it a try and do some test rolls.