I’ve been using Ansco 130 print developer as my standard for a while now. It’s famous because a variant of this developer was a favourite of Ansel Adams. It’s not something you can buy off the shelf, but it’s relatively easy to make….and well worth it.

There’s a lot of commentary out there about its magical properties in bringing out highlight detail and producing beautiful prints. But, for me, there is one unique characteristic of this developer that makes it well worth the effort of sourcing the ingredients and making it: it lasts for months at working dilution, even with repeated use.

That’s right: Dilute 1+1 (or use at full strenght for higher contrast), store in concertina bottles to keep the air away and you can just pour and print again and again and again. I’ve not actually managed to exahust a bottle yet. I run out of developer from fluid loss during darkroom work before the developer exhausts. Compare that to most developers where you are lucky to get two sessions, and you’ve got a print developer that is incredible value for money and, because you don’t need to pour away and renew every week, eco friendly to boot.

To make 5 liters of concentrate, the ingredients are:

Dissolve all of the ingredients in 3.75 litres of water that has been warmed to 52 degrees centigrade. Once dissolved, top up to 5 litres with room temperature water. Store in air tight 1L bottles ready for dilution and use.

That’s it. Pretty simple…except for one (maybe two…) little flies in the ointment. Firstly, Glycin is very hard to source. It was a widely used chemical in photographic chemistry, but since the advent of digital and the huge drop in demand for darkroom materials, has little use. The only reasonably-priced source I found was Photographers’ Formulary in the US. The second problem: Glycin is unstable and doesn’t keep. I took the plunge and ordered 100g (for about the equivalent of £15). Credit to Photographers’ Formulary, unlike most US companies that panic at the thought of intenational shipping and charge an arm and a leg, they are efficient and reasonable.

The rest of the ingredients are readily available and cheap. I used a combination of Amazon, ebay and my favourite London photo store, Process Supplies. For about £35 I got enough chemicals to make 9L of concentrate or 18L of working solution. At £3.50 a litre of concentrate for a developer that can be used for months on end, that’s amazing value.

I froze my spare Glycin in the hope I can use it once I finally exhaust my first 5 litre batch of Ansco 130 concentrate; although at current rates, with about 1-3 darkroom sessions a week, that’s going to take at least two years. I’m only just about to break out my third litre of stock solution!

A few things I’ve learned while using Ansco 130: The stock solution is slightly brown, like a dark straw colour. Exposed to air it turns very dark brown, so make sure you store in air tight bottles with the air expelled between use. It’s a little slower than most of the off-the-shelf print developers. Allow a full three minutes for development, or a little longer for good measure with fibre papers. It hates the cold…not great in winter when your darkroom is an unheated shed. At colder temperatures it slows down drastically. Consider means of keeping your developer at 20 degrees if you don’t have already. Other than that, it’s all pretty straight forward.

Why not take the plunge and give it go? I’m confident Ansco 130 will become a favourite.

As with all chemicals, exercise caution when handling, particularly in powdered form. Don’t breath the dust and goggles are always advisable.