Every roll you develop is a small negotiation between time, temperature, and agitation. Get all three right and you get a negative that scans and prints easily. Get one wrong and you spend the rest of the process fighting it.
This chart collects published starting times for the film and developer combinations people ask about most often, along with the push and pull times, the temperature math, and the agitation scheme that all of those numbers assume. It is a starting point, not gospel. More on why that distinction matters at the end.
What these times assume
Unless a row says otherwise, every time in this chart assumes:
- 20°C / 68°F
- Small tank, inversion agitation — four inversions during the first ten seconds, then four inversions during the first ten seconds of every minute after that
- Fresh, one-shot developer at the stated dilution
- No pre-rinse — Ilford specifically advises against it, since a water soak before development can cause uneven processing
Change any of those and the time changes with it. If you develop in a Jobo or other rotary processor, or you agitate continuously in a tray, cut the time by up to 15%. Continuous agitation develops faster than intermittent agitation.
One more rule that applies everywhere: avoid times under five minutes. Both Kodak and Ilford warn that short development times can produce uneven results, because the seconds you lose filling and dumping the tank become a meaningful fraction of the total. If a combination lands you under five minutes, dilute the developer further and use a longer time instead.
Kodak Tri-X 400
The classic. Tri-X is forgiving of development error, which is part of why it survived everything.
One thing to check before you start: these times are for Tri-X 400 (400TX). Tri-X 320 is a different emulsion with its own published times, and the two get mixed up constantly in charts and forum posts.
In D-76 / ID-11
| Exposure index | Stock | 1+1 |
|---|---|---|
| EI 200 (pull 1 stop) | — | 9:30 |
| EI 400 (box speed) | 6:45 | 9:45 |
| EI 800 (push 1 stop) | 6:45 | 9:45 |
| EI 1600 (push 2 stops) | 9:30 | 13:15 |
| EI 3200 (push 3 stops) | 11:00 | 16:00 |
The EI 800 row is not a typo. At one stop of push, Tri-X in D-76 has enough shadow latitude that the published times are the same as box speed — you are relying on the film's headroom rather than extended development. The real time increases begin at two stops.
There is a second wrinkle worth knowing. Kodak's Tri-X data sheet gives 6:45 for D-76 stock, but Kodak's D-76 data sheet has long listed 8 minutes for the same pairing. The 8-minute figure appears to date from the pre-400TX emulsion and was never updated. Use the number from the film's sheet, not the developer's.
In HC-110
| Exposure index | Dilution | Time |
|---|---|---|
| EI 200 (pull 1 stop) | B | 4:45 – 6:45 |
| EI 400 (box speed) | B | 4:30 – 7:30 |
| EI 400 | H (1+63) | 9:00 |
| EI 800 (push 1 stop) | B | 8:30 |
| EI 1600 (push 2 stops) | B | 16:00 |
Those ranges are not laziness on my part. Tri-X in HC-110 dilution B is genuinely one of the most contested entries in film photography. Kodak's own data sheet has published a time of 3:45, on the same sheet that warns against times under five minutes. Published values from other sources for the same combination run from 4:30 all the way to 7:30.
The practical answer: use dilution H at 1+63 for around nine minutes, or dilution B at about six minutes, and adjust from there based on your first roll. The longer time in a more dilute developer is easier to control and more repeatable.
Ilford HP5 Plus
HP5 has more shadow latitude than Tri-X and pushes with less of a contrast penalty.
In ID-11 / D-76
| Exposure index | Stock | 1+1 |
|---|---|---|
| EI 200 (pull 1 stop) | 6:45 | — |
| EI 400 (box speed) | 7:30 | 13:00 |
| EI 800 (push 1 stop) | 10:30 | 16:30 |
| EI 1600 (push 2 stops) | 14:00 | 21:00 |
| EI 3200 (push 3 stops) | — | 25:00 |
Those are Ilford's ID-11 numbers. Here is the catch: on the same data sheet, Ilford lists D-76 at 1+1 as 11 minutes while listing ID-11 at 1+1 as 13. ID-11 and D-76 are supposed to be the same formula, and the two-minute spread on a very common combination is a useful illustration of the point at the bottom of this article. Whatever the reason — packaged formulas drifting apart over the decades is the usual explanation — start at 11 or 12 minutes if you print with a condenser enlarger or scan flat negatives, and at 13 if you want more contrast.
For pushing HP5 past EI 1600, Ilford recommends DD-X or Microphen rather than ID-11. Microphen is a speed-increasing developer and buys roughly half a stop of genuine film speed rather than pure contrast. If you are routinely shooting at 1600 or 3200, it is also worth asking whether you want a purpose-built fast film like Delta 3200 or T-Max P3200 instead of pushing a 400 film three stops.
Push and pull processing
Extended development does not actually make film more sensitive to light. The shadows recorded what they recorded when the shutter opened. What extended development does is build density in the midtones and highlights, which raises contrast and makes an underexposed frame printable.
So the trade is predictable:
Pushing gives you more contrast, more visible grain, and shadows that stay thin and empty. One stop is usually invisible in the final print. Two stops looks like a push. Three stops is a stylistic choice, not a rescue.
Pulling gives you less contrast and finer grain. It is the right move for harsh midday light, contrasty scenes, or when you accidentally shot a 400 film at 200. Overexposed black-and-white negatives are much easier to save than underexposed ones.
If you cannot find a published time for the push you need, the working rule is roughly 30% to 50% more development time per stop. In the tables above, HP5 in ID-11 stock goes from 7:30 to 10:30 for one stop — a factor of about 1.4. Use published times when they exist, and the multiplier only when they do not.
Two practical notes. Push the whole roll, not part of it, since development applies to every frame in the tank. And decide before you shoot, not after, because you need to meter consistently at your chosen EI for the roll to hold together.
Temperature compensation
Development is a chemical reaction, so it runs faster when warm. If you cannot hold 20°C, adjust the time using these approximate factors:
| Temperature | Multiply time by |
|---|---|
| 17°C / 63°F | 1.30 |
| 18°C / 64°F | 1.19 |
| 19°C / 66°F | 1.09 |
| 20°C / 68°F | 1.00 |
| 21°C / 70°F | 0.92 |
| 22°C / 72°F | 0.84 |
| 23°C / 73°F | 0.78 |
| 24°C / 75°F | 0.71 |
An example: HP5 in ID-11 stock at box speed is 7:30 at 20°C. Your tap water settles at 23°C in August. Multiply 7.5 minutes by 0.78 and develop for about 5:50.
Three cautions. Stay inside roughly 18–24°C, since the approximation drifts at the extremes and very warm developer softens the emulsion. Keep your stop, fixer, and wash water within about 5°C of the developer, because a sharp temperature change between baths can cause reticulation. And measure the developer itself rather than the room — a tank of chemistry that has been sitting on a cold basement floor is not at room temperature.
If a warm-weather correction pushes you under five minutes, that is the five-minute rule biting again. Cool the developer back toward 20°C, or move to a more dilute mix and a longer time.
The rest of the process
The development time gets all the attention, but the steps after it are what determine whether the negative survives the next fifty years.
Stop. A ten-second rinse in water, or in a stop bath at 1+19, at the same temperature as the developer.
Fix. Rapid fixer at 1+4 for two to five minutes. Under-fixed negatives keep a milky purple cast and will deteriorate. When in doubt, fix longer. You can test your fixer with a scrap of film leader: drop it in and time how long it takes to clear, then fix for twice that. Clearing times get longer as the fixer ages, which is your signal to mix fresh.
Wash. Five to ten minutes in running water, within 5°C of your processing temperature.
Final rinse. A few drops of wetting agent in distilled water, roughly 5ml per liter. This is what prevents drying marks, which are far more annoying to retouch than they are to avoid.
Films that aren't on this chart
Tri-X and HP5 cover most of the questions, but they are not the whole shelf. For everything else, the workflow is the same: pull the manufacturer's time for your developer, run one roll, adjust.
A few that come up often here, with member frames on each page so you can see what you are aiming at:
- Ilford FP4 Plus and Kodak T-Max 100 — slower, finer-grained, and less forgiving of overdevelopment than Tri-X
- Kentmere Pan 400 and Kentmere Pan 100 — the budget option, and closer to HP5 behavior than the price suggests
- Kodak T-Max 400 — tabular grain, which reacts faster to development changes than traditional grain does
- Ilford Pan F Plus — beautiful, and punishing if your times run long
- Fomapan 200 and Fujifilm Acros II — both have reciprocity behavior worth reading up on before a long exposure
Color is a different conversation entirely. C-41 and E-6 are fixed-time, fixed-temperature processes, so there is no equivalent chart — you hit 38°C and follow the kit.
Why the numbers disagree
You will notice that published times for the same film and developer often differ, sometimes by minutes. This is not sloppiness. It comes from real variables:
- Water chemistry. Mineral content varies enormously by region and affects development rate.
- Agitation technique. "Four inversions" means something slightly different in everyone's hands.
- Target contrast. A time optimized for a condenser enlarger produces a denser negative than one optimized for scanning. Scanners generally prefer thinner negatives, which means slightly shorter development than the classic darkroom times.
- Thermometer accuracy. Cheap thermometers are routinely off by a degree or more, which is worth about 8% of your development time.
- Film revisions. Emulsions get reformulated. Some published times date from earlier versions of the same film — the 8-minute Tri-X figure above is exactly this.
The way through this is not to hunt for the one true number. It is to pick a starting time, develop a roll, look at the negatives, and adjust. If the highlights are dense and hard to print through, cut 10%. If the negative looks thin and flat overall, add 10%. Two or three rolls of that and you will have your own number for your water, your thermometer, and your enlarger or scanner — which will beat any chart, including this one.
Keep notes. A rolls log with film, EI, developer, dilution, time, and temperature costs nothing and will save you a year of guessing.
Where to check
For combinations not listed here, the two sources worth using are the manufacturer's data sheet for your film, which is free on Kodak's and Ilford's sites, and the Massive Dev Chart at digitaltruth.com, which aggregates thousands of film and developer pairings and also exists as a phone app with built-in timers and agitation prompts.
When the two disagree, start with the manufacturer's number. They tested the film; everyone else is reporting.
Developing a combination that isn't on this chart? Post your times in The Darkroom — film, developer, dilution, EI, time, temperature, and how the negatives turned out. Real numbers from real darkrooms are more useful than another copy of the same table. And if you want to see how a stock actually renders before you commit a roll to it, browse the gallery by film stock.