Diafine, I like it!

In case you haven't heard me rave about this Diafine before, I'll explain my relationship. Diafine has been my experimental film developer for a few months now. It comes in two parts, a solution A and solution B, each one ships as a powder and is mixed with water to make a gallon. It's a pretty impressive developer, especially for those on a budget.

Here's a quick run down of the high points of Diafine:

The suggested operating temperature range is 70 to 85 degrees. I no longer have to hunch over my faucet adjusting the knobs trying to hit 68 on the nose. To be honest I just use it at room temperature most of the time, unless it's at one extreme or the other, and everything seems to work just fine.

In most cases it adds a stop or two in film speed or gives a range of acceptable exposure values. For example: I can shoot Kodak Tri-X 400 at ISO 800, 1250 and/or 1600 all in the same roll and I don't have to change how I develop the roll. Everything will come out the same. Lovely!

I suppose I should explain the developing process for Diafine at this point. It's so easy! Any film, shot at any speed is developed the same, WHOA! No pre-soak needed. Three minutes in solution A, two inversions and two taps every minute. Don't rinse it! Follow with three minutes in solution B with the same two inversions and two taps every minute. A quick rinse to spare your fixer and then fix as normal.

Next awesome point! After you develop you pour both solution A and solution B back into their respective gallon containers. You save it! Forever! Because the two solutions don't mix in large quantities, they should stay stable and potent for a long time. As in, a year or longer. That's impressive.

Last but not least, the stuff is cheap! I buy mine at freestylephoto.biz and it's only $14.00 for a gallon and both A and B. $14.00 a year for developer? Yes, please!

NEXT TIME! Developing color c-41 film in Diafine?! NO WAI!