ABSTRACT
Super-fine grain developers such as Adox Atomal 49, Kodak Microdol-X, Ilford Perceptol, Edwal 12, and the Sease series, have loyal adherents although many technical problems arise when using them with modern films. In the earliest super-fine grain developers, two approaches were taken to create a high solvent effect. Developers in the 1930s combined phenylenediamine (ppd) with glycin or various other developing agents and other chemicals to try to overcome the obstacles of speed loss and long developing times. The advantage the ppd developers have is that after ripening, they produce sharpness-enhancing adjacency effects through exhaustion. The exemplars of the modern ppd derivatives are mostly used in color developers including those used for developing chromogenic black and white films. To convert D-23 into a developer with graininess approaching ppd developers, but with less inconvenience, less toxicity and better overall quality, R. W. Henn reduced D-23’s pH to 7 by adding 15 g/L of sodium bisulfite.
