E72 Paper Developer

Last time I purchased a litre of Ilford Multigrade Paper developer it had gone off and I had to return it. I don’t think it was age per-se, there was a tiny hole in the foil seal, plenty large enough for air to get in. After that I told myself I’d make my own. Finally this weekend I did. E72 formulated by Chris Patton.

In a funny way it’s a sensible companion to my now favourite film developer FX55, it’s very similar. First off the main active developing agent is Phenidone, well I have that to make ’55. For this recipe I needed 0.3gms. I now have some decent scales but that small amount falls off the minimum to get an accurate measurement! No problem. I had already made up a 2% solution in Propylene Glycol. Easy, 2gms in 100ml. That means all I had to do was squirt 15ml from a syringe into the mix. Glycol has the other happy benefit that it doesn’t dissolve Oxygen, and so keeps the Phenidone good for years!

I contiunued on and made up my litre, it dilutes 1+3 for regular contrast so 250ml makes up to a litre for working solution. Put another way I’ve made enough for 4 litres of working solution. The speed I go, that will last all winter!!

I have no way or indeed need to work out how much the chemistry cost me, not very much, and perhaps about £1:50? It wouldn’t surprise me if the litre of distilled water cost the most!

I won’t go through the formula, if you are interested, there’s a very good video by John Finch (Pictorial Planet). His website is in my links page, and you can watch his video (recommended!) Here: Making E72 Paper Developer.