GVK1 is a new film developer formulation of a type I’ve never tried before. It was designed with the principles of a high definition developer for high sharpness, while also incorporating enough silver solvent that the grain will not be ugly and outright coarse. It has grain of comparable smoothness to D-76 stock, but to my eye behaves as a speed increasing developer, potentially even providing a speed increase of 1 to 1/2 stop for medium and slow speed films. Contrast is fairly normal with rich shadow detail and slightly compensated highlight detail. Overall shadow and midtone separation is great, but highlights are sometimes at risk of running away, especially if darkroom printing. This developer is especially great for exposure latitude on traditional grain films, with reasonable results coming from box speed processing and between +2 or -2 exposure, though of course more ideal printing density and grain will come with proper pull/push processing. The overall appearance of the developer is extremely sharp, but without the ugly grain that sometimes comes with this, IFF properly developed. Grain specifically here is a very gentle and smooth type where it tends to still be visible but works very well to stay out of the way or even enhance the image. Skies on high speed films can sometimes be a bit much in grain, but that’s pretty par for the coarse. I’d say it can be comparable to the distinct grain that EXG1 gives but quite a bit smoother. It is formulated as a two part recipe for very long shelf life and stability. The significant amount of TEA in solution makes sulfite less soluble so I doubt that this would be suitable as a single part developer.
6x4.5 HP5+@800, processed for 20m at 72F
Summary of characteristics
Potentially speed increasing, seemingly by about 1 to 1/2 stop, depending on the film
Ideal for pushing without contrast running away, while appropriately boosting shadows
Very sharp with minor macro contrast edge effects raising perceived sharpness further
Moderate to fine grain with appropriate development but extremely coarse grain if under developed
Relatively slow development speed which is very sensitive to cold temperatures. 72F is the recommended temperature for this developer
Normal contrast which is maintained but with increased scale when pushing or overexposure
Good exposure latitude on traditional grain films, but poor underexposure latitude on T-grain films
Very sensitive to under development, but with over development builds contrast in a different way than many developers so that contrast remains fairly normal. Specifically, it is quite resistant to over development, and in an odd way can yield finer grain. Scale will increase with over development which can make printing difficult, but scanning remains simple unless the amount of over development is so much to cause highlights to come up against dMax
Expected to be very long shelf life (no changes seen over 3 weeks)
Works well with normal and reduced agitation. Not recommended with continuous agitation due to oxidation concerns
Stand development gives no obvious problems such as streaking, but will give high contrast with weaker shadow detail and a risk of highlights running up against dmax.
From the minimal amount of testing, seems to work well for both T-grain and traditional grain films.
35mm T-Max 400 test, processed for 13m at 72F (likely could’ve used slightly more development, but usable)
Formula
Part A:
700ml of hot water
5g metol (typical “pinch of sulfite” beforehand)
50g sodium sulfite
200ml propylene glycol (this works to reduce the amount of oxygen water contributes and makes the glycin more easily soluble. Can likely be substituted with water though)
5g glycin
Top to 1L with water
Part B:
700ml of hot water
20g potassium carbonate, anhydrous
200ml triethanolamine (TEA) 99%
Top to 1L with water
There are several grades of TEA and thus some care is required in determining what you have. 99% TEA should be completely clear or very slightly yellow. If it is a darker yellow then it is likely commercial grade TEA, which is likely NOT suitable in this formula (it would affect pH and may cause dichroic fogging due to diethanolamine contaminate). There are two types of "99%” grade TEA. There is actual 99% and then there is “low freeze grade 99%”. These two will both appear very clear in color. You can test if you have 99% or low freeze grade 99% by simply placing a small amount in the refrigerator. If the solution does not freeze into a solid mass, then it is low freeze grade. Take this with a word of caution however, the freezing property of triethanolamine has somewhat stumped me though with bottles sometimes spontaneously freezing weeks later. In general the grade doesn’t matter all that much in this formula anyway. If it says 99%, use it as recommended here. If it says low freeze grade 99%, then maybe add 10% more.
Shelf life is unknown, but expected to be quite good since it is a two part formula. Due to temperature problems described below, I had suspected it had actually gone bad earlier than expected, but a test between fresh mixed and 3 week old developer, there was no observable difference in results using near identical exposures. As with most formulas, if there is a significant color change then the solution should be considered suspect. Specifically, part A should be a very slight straw yellow and part B should be completely clear. After mixing the developer will be colorless but appear slightly cloudy. After use the developer should typically be clear, but sometimes if using higher temperatures or extended development times the developer might be yellow. The pH of the working solution should initially measure ~10.75 and after use it will measure ~10. Do not attempt to reuse the working solution.
6x4.5 FP4+ processed for 11m at 80F
Usage
Use 100ml of part A and 100ml of part B to make 1L of working solution. I recommend using a temperature of 72F if possible. Lower temperatures can increase the development time required much more than other developers, but higher temperatures do not require very much compensation. Use a starting time of 12m for medium speed films like FP4+, and a starting time of 18m for higher speed films like HP5+.
Temperature can have a stronger effect than expected in the overall properties of GVK1. I have non-scientific measurements that even with time compensation to approach similar density, a higher temperature for this developer will give finer grain. The temperature target I aim for is 72F/22C. I believe this might be a peculiar property of having so much TEA in the working solution. TEA is a known silver solvent, though it is rarely used for these properties at the amounts here and in general seems poorly studied, at least publicly. It may function poorly as a silver solvent at temperatures that would (without water) be below it’s freezing point of 68F/20C. Regardless, development seems quite different at low temperatures, but actually seems to even out at warmer temperatures. For instance, I’ve noticed not too much compensation is needed when going from 72F to 80F, maybe 10% less time. However, going from 72F to 67F requires something like a 40+% time compensation. With higher temperatures the developer also seems to exhaust quickly and this probably also causes the weird response with time compensation. This will likely give poor results in a jobo or other continuous agitation environment.
35mm HP5+@800, processed for 18m at 67F (under developed by at least 1 stop, hence the extreme grain. Very thin negatives)
Temperature
If in doubt, aim for over development, as this developer is fairly unlikely to clip highlights without really careless testing and additional development does not seem to give much additional grain nor increase contrast in a linear way. Basically, this is a weird developer and you should use it with caution with important pictures. The curve of development speed does not at all match up with any other developer I know of, so do not try to guess it with any important pictures and always use a test strip (sometimes several!) to determine proper development time in your setup. And remember that this developer seems to be especially sensitive to temperature.
I typically don’t pay too much attention to temperature as long as it’s in that typical 68F-72F range, but with this developer I was burned by this carelessness. If possible, invest in a simple infrared thermometer and take the temperature reading of your tank with reels and the water to be used, as well as your room temperature. Put water at the temp you would use into the tank and let it sit there for 10 minutes. Afterwards, pour out the water and immediately measure the final temperature that would result. Use this temperature for compensations and to figure out what would likely result. For example, I mixed my developer with 73.5F water, after adding the room temp developer components this had cooled to 72F. The tank measured to be 68.5F empty. I added the developer and after the time had passed, the final temperature was 71F. In the time I was burned by under development, I used a similar time with ~15% compensation, but the resulting final temperature was 67F. It appeared to be 1-2 stops under developed. Meanwhile, I was kind of dumb about using a sous vide and used no compensation from the 72F target time and the final temp was 81F. The result looked only about 1 stop over developed and with no ill effect otherwise.
6x4.5 FP4+@400, processed for 20m at 72F
Recommended Development Times
Note, all times are for 72F/22C.
FP4+@125, 12m
FP4+@400, 18m (untested, 20m is too much)
HP5+@400, 18m
HP5+@800, 21m (untested, 20m was slightly thin but usable)
T-Max 400@400, 15m (untested, 13m was slightly thin)
Fomapan 200@200, 10m30s
Stand development: not recommended, but apparently is workable with higher contrast. It might be worth trying a weaker dilution OR less part B for stand development
35mm FP4+, processed for 13m at 68F (although looks good, negatives were thin with more grain than usual)
35mm HP5+@800 test, processed for 80m semi-stand with 1m initial agitation and 4x agitation at 30m (note this is very long scale, would be difficult to print)
35mm HP5+@400 test, processed for 18m, 72F
Example Pictures
This is updated long after creating the formulation and figuring it all out. This is a small subset of some good pictures I took and processed using this formula. This should give a more realistic takeaway of the results to expect with this developer and various film combos.
This will be updated as time goes on and this pandemic ends and I can get back to more photography!
