Topic: Worrying News, Part 2

[Info Red]

Perhaps  this is old news, but I just saw this posted on another forum:

http://www.photoformulary.com/uploads/Kodak%20dis-continued.pdf

Apparently in October 2009 Kodak announced several darkroom chemicals they will be discontinuing, or by now perhaps they're already gone.  Yesterday I laid in a supply of Tri-X 320 from the local shop, after they announced it was a dead duck. 

I guess now I'll be going back tomorrow to lay in a supply of D76!  This is really getting wierd! 

I know there are other developers out there - Ilford, etc - but I've been using D76 for a very long time - 40 years or so - and really like it!

Damn!

Info Red

[moominsean]

they don't list the 1 liter mix for d-76, so they may still be producing that. still, that's pretty sad. d-76 is my main developer. looks like they are one step away from stopping production on all chemicals.

[cmdrray]

Here's the link to the Kodak announcement:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache%3ATG5Q7yOxKA0J%3Amotion.kodak.com%2Fmotion%2FuploadedFiles%2FPCN110209_Q.pdf+kodak+discontinues+d76&hl=en&gl=us&sig=AHIEtbQ0R8V6xezaGXrTpi3eGopi5y_seQ&pli=1

The 1 Gallon pack remains in production.
I must say...no one should lament the passing of Indicator Stop Bath, if that is indeed
what is happening. I mean, WHO enjoys that smell? The Ilford version is far more
tolerable. Personally, I have used chemistry made by  Ilford, Edwal and Photographer's Formulary
for a long time, and find their products equal to (or better than) Kodak's. [I like Xtol, though I wish it would last longer...]

[Francois]

When you look at it closely, things aren't so bad.

Who uses D-76 replenisher anyways?
I also wonder who buys D-76 in 10 gallon packages (and how do you mix this much? )
I've never seen PhotoFlo 600 on the shelves and can't foresee ever being able to go through a 1 gallon jug of the stuff one capful at the time!
The others like Sodium Hydroxyde are mainly used for making some other chemicals...

I noticed they are discontinuing either products that don't sell much (like DK-50) or things sold in very large volume (50 liters of Xtol )

So I don't think there's much to worry there, unless you really miss the stench of Kodak Sepia Toner
(and if you do, I have the formula to make your own)

[Info Red]

I have to apologize for not reading the fine print a bit more thoroughly!:-[ 

As long as they keep cranking out the smaller sizes of D76 that will serve me well.  As for the other chemistry, I still use Dektol, but am quite comfortable using the Ilford materials as well as those supplied by Photographer's Formulary.  I think we'll still have film, paper, and chemistry from various sources for quite a while to come.  That is my hope, at least.

Info Red

[LT]

ilford ID-11 and kodak D-76 are entirely interchangeable. So if D 76 does become obsolete, ID-11 is virtually the same thing, or failing that, the formula for d76 is well known and very easy to mix yourself.

[Francois]

Very true. D76 has been made with almost the same formula for what seem to be almost 100 years (84 years to be more precise).
And there are a ton of variants which can be made. The two bath version easily comes to mind.

Here's a good article on the subject as found on the Silvergrain website

[moominsean]

the larger volumes were probably popular with schools. d-76 was a staple for photography classes for a long time... but now many schools only offer digital photography classes. bastards.

[Francois]

the larger volumes were probably popular with schools. d-76 was a staple for photography classes for a long time... but now many schools only offer digital photography classes. bastards.

Perhaps I was lucky but back in school, all we had was HC-110, then T-Max. There was a bottle of Rodinal lying on top of the big sink but nobody touched it for some reason...

[LT]

There was a bottle of Rodinal lying on top of the big sink but nobody touched it for some reason...

clever people