I’d hoped to develop one of the two rolls of unprocessed film I have today, but I’m uncertain as to the state of my developer. I use Ilfotec DD-X which Ilford states has a shelf life of around four months once opened. As I’ve not developed many rolls of film in the past four months, I suspect that my partially used bottle might be older than that and I don’t want to risk my time and effort, plus a roll of film, to discover that it’s gone bad. I guess it could be fine, but I’m not going to take the chance.
As a result, I’ve ordered a fresh bottle. The website told me it will be here on Wednesday, but I’m not sure that’s taking into account the fact that today and Tuesday are the Christmas Day / Boxing Day bank holidays, so it might take longer. I do have a bottle of Adonal I could use, but I’d prefer not to use that on the film I have waiting as it’s a roll of Tri-X (that I need to push a stop) and some Delta 3200, and Adonal (Rodinal) tend to be something of an acquired taste when it comes to faster films.
Hopefully I’ll get at least one of the rolls developed before the weekend though, which is when I’ll run out of photos from this roll of Shanghai GP3 that I’m currently sharing pictures from.
Yashica Mat 124G & Shanghai GP3. Lab developed in Xtol.
Taken on 18 December 2021
Steel City Snapper photography 