has anyone tried to import in Diafine from online retailers?


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nightwolf75

nightwolf75

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i'm re-starting/re-learning how to do my own BnW developing and i came across this (generally) idiot-proof developer called Diafine.

is anyone using it? i am thinking of getting from online retailers cos i am not sure if locally ruby carries them (i only see tmax and ilford on the shelves). will our singpost allow it to come in? i understand some BnW chemicals are barred from entry cos they are classified as dangerous substances?

TIA! :)
 

I have two bottles of diafine solution, about a litre each. $10 self collect at cck? :)
 

I've ordered mine from freestylephoto and diafine is a 2-part compensation developer came in powder form. Mix with water and you can get about 4litre of solution A & B. You can develop in room temp and it is said that it can produce finer grains at 20C. You won't need to pre-soak nor stop bath. It is said to be a really intelligent developer that it is possible to shoot a roll of trix with different ISO up to 1600. I have shot with 400iso and 1600iso in 1 roll of trix and everything turn out pretty ok.

I experienced Bromide drag in the past few rolls of films. I think mainly because I didn't mix the powder with distilled water. The solution (from the internet) to that is to agitate slightly more vigorously and for a slightly longer duration. I haven't really try that so I can't give you a definite answer. Pretty much all I know about Diafine. I haven't use it enough to learn more new things about the developer.
 

virtualme78 said:
I've ordered mine from freestylephoto and diafine is a 2-part compensation developer came in powder form. Mix with water and you can get about 4litre of solution A & B. You can develop in room temp and it is said that it can produce finer grains at 20C. You won't need to pre-soak nor stop bath. It is said to be a really intelligent developer that it is possible to shoot a roll of trix with different ISO up to 1600. I have shot with 400iso and 1600iso in 1 roll of trix and everything turn out pretty ok.

I experienced Bromide drag in the past few rolls of films. I think mainly because I didn't mix the powder with distilled water. The solution (from the internet) to that is to agitate slightly more vigorously and for a slightly longer duration. I haven't really try that so I can't give you a definite answer. Pretty much all I know about Diafine. I haven't use it enough to learn more new things about the developer.
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thanks! i am asking a friend to find the diafine from yodobashi. hopefully got. if not, might have to check with ruby.

you said distilled water? meaning our tap water is not a good idea?
 

I'm not sure if Ruby sells Diafine. Like many others, i got mine from overseas websites, like freestylephoto. You might wanna try others like amazon, B&H, etc.

Yep... as in the bottled distilled water the marts are selling. It seems like our tap water isn't as clean/pure as we thought. I dunno if that is the primary reason behind the bromide drag. Distilled water is definitely a better choice than our tap water.

Diafine can last you a long long time so you might wanna find a big, good container (dunno about air-tight and opaque, etc) to hold the solutions. You can pour the solution back to the container but try not to contaminate the solutions with each other.
 

virtualme78 said:
I'm not sure if Ruby sells Diafine. Like many others, i got mine from overseas websites, like freestylephoto. You might wanna try others like amazon, B&H, etc.

Yep... as in the bottled distilled water the marts are selling. It seems like our tap water isn't as clean/pure as we thought. I dunno if that is the primary reason behind the bromide drag. Distilled water is definitely a better choice than our tap water.

Diafine can last you a long long time so you might wanna find a big, good container (dunno about air-tight and opaque, etc) to hold the solutions. You can pour the solution back to the container but try not to contaminate the solutions with each other.
Click to expand...

thanks man! appreciate the help! :D
 

nightwolf75 said:
thanks man! appreciate the help! :D
Click to expand...

I didn't help much... just give it a shot.. if u shoot trix exclusively, you'll like Diafine
 

After a lot of experimenting, I've moved to Diafine as my main developer for my main film tri-x. I use a different procedure though -- pre-soak in water, then 5+5 in A & B.

While you can shoot with many different ISOs, I've noticed that Diafine likes contrast, so I usually put a yellow filter on during the day. At night normal contrast is high enough.

My Diafine is mixed in tap water. I've had bromide drag only once, and that was an experiment with very low agitation. The agitation thing is important for diafine -- too less you get drag, too much you get more grain.

virtualme78 said:
I've ordered mine from freestylephoto and diafine is a 2-part compensation developer came in powder form. Mix with water and you can get about 4litre of solution A & B. You can develop in room temp and it is said that it can produce finer grains at 20C. You won't need to pre-soak nor stop bath. It is said to be a really intelligent developer that it is possible to shoot a roll of trix with different ISO up to 1600. I have shot with 400iso and 1600iso in 1 roll of trix and everything turn out pretty ok.

I experienced Bromide drag in the past few rolls of films. I think mainly because I didn't mix the powder with distilled water. The solution (from the internet) to that is to agitate slightly more vigorously and for a slightly longer duration. I haven't really try that so I can't give you a definite answer. Pretty much all I know about Diafine. I haven't use it enough to learn more new things about the developer.
Click to expand...
 

That's what I read about agitation and bromide drag. I have to admit I didn't agitate much or vigorously. As for presoak, it is not recommended for something like how presoak will make the emulsion bloated and things like that. Too technical for me.

I think contrast is for different people... some like more, some like flatter.. but I think its good to try out and see how the result will turn out.
 

i just asked ah yin ystd at ruby. and no..they dun stock diafine.

guess once i wear out wormz777's diafine, i will have to order from freestylephoto. if anyone is ordering fm them, pls drop me a PM? i would like to tompang and split the shipping costs. :)
 

nightwolf75 said:
i just asked ah yin ystd at ruby. and no..they dun stock diafine.

guess once i wear out wormz777's diafine, i will have to order from freestylephoto. if anyone is ordering fm them, pls drop me a PM? i would like to tompang and split the shipping costs. :)
Click to expand...

Mix your own diafine, you can get the chemical locally.
 

nightwolf75 said:
eh... i failed chemistry back in sec school. no joke. :confused:
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Screenshot_2012-11-17-21-47-43.jpg


From the darkroom cookbook.
 

are the chemicals available locally? did a search but can't find it in local directories.
 

nightwolf75 said:
are the chemicals available locally? did a search but can't find it in local directories.
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There are local lab supplier for places like education institution that sells chemical. The issue is the min volume that they are willing to sell. Anyway, when mixing powdered chemical, do not mix all at one shot as it might cause caking especially powder like anhydrous sodium carbonate which use larger volume in most b&w chemical.

Personally, i don't really like diafine as they produce horrible result for darkroom print. The film latitude is badly spoiled, though you might still see the film contrast level due to the dynamic range of b&w. The wide latitude is badly affected so much that if i am scanning, i rather shoot a digital b&w and add some digital grain to it. But thats my POV which should not affect others if they just want to shoot film for the sake of shooting films.
 

Anyone tried the home brew? All pretty common materials that u can easily get.

Solution A:
Water at 125F/52C 750 ml
Sodium sulfite, anhydrous 35 grams
Hydroquinone 6 grams
Phenidone 0.2 grams
Sodium bisulfite 6 grams
Room temperature water to make 1.0 liter

Solution B:
Water at 125F/52C 750 ml
Sodium sulfite 65 grams
Borax 20 grams
Cold water to make 1.0 liter
 

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