D-19 film developer

Description

A high-energy, high-contrast developer: technical and aerial work, scientific photography, document copying. For density and an abrupt tonal step rather than half-tones.

What it gives you

A great deal of hydroquinone and sodium carbonate in place of borax — far more alkaline than D-76, developing quickly and to high density. The curve steepens: mid-tones compress, black goes black and white goes white. For an ordinary landscape that is too much; for line originals or a spectrogram it is exactly right.

One more use

A two- or three-stop push, where getting an image at all matters more than keeping the mid-tones. Grain grows noticeably — that is the expected price, not a fault.

Questions and answers

Will it do for ordinary work?

Technically yes, but the contrast will be excessive. For everyday subjects take D-76 or X-TOL.