Ornano Gradual ST-20 Film Developer ~ Possibly the best Developer Out There!

Rated 4.83 out of 5 based on 6 customer ratings

Price range: £3.90 through £17.80 Inc. vat

Ornano Gradual ST-20 Film Developer was revived from the dead in 2021 by BelliniFoto together with Nik & Trick Photo Services.

Once a very popular product, especially in the USA but not seen until then, for over 18 years Gradual ST20 is now starting to regain that momentum as being potentially one of the top three b&w developers currently available.

It’s complex high energy phenidone based formula has excellent utilisation of film speed, tolerating underexposure of one stop or more ie it’s good for pushing films even when using prolonged development times.

That formula also makes it especially suitable for high-speed films or film shot where poor ambient or artificial lighting is used but also great for films intended for widespread subject matters such as fashion, fine art, reportage, architecture, micro and macro photography.

A developer that makes for very good physical prints and strong enlargements in the darkroom, as well as lovely detailed scans.

Without fail, results invariably prove to be absolutely outstanding and as people share those on social media the realisation that this new Gradual ST-20 builds on the reputation of it’s former self is happening.

For those that expect expect the finest results from their black and white films are coming back for more as they concur with our own findings and agree that this could be the best out there. We rate it over and above the might DDX.

We have found it to be specially good with Tmax 100 & 400, Shanghai GP3, Rollei Infra-Red and folk are loving it when used with Foma and Ilford films too.

If you’re not sure yet then we also decant the odd bottle down into sample sized bottles for you to try…seriously, give it a go, you stand to be amazed! 😉

Size

Clear

SKU: N/A Categories: B&W Chemistry for Resale, B&W Film Developers by BelliniFoto, BelliniFoto Photographic Chemistry, Black & White Chemistry, Black & White Film Developers, Darkroom Supplies Chemistry & Hardware, Liquid Black & White Film developers, Ornano Foto Chemistry, Suggested Consumables, Wholesale Analogue Photographic Supplies at Nik & Trick

Ornano Gradual ST-20 Film Developer was revived from the dead in 2021 by BelliniFoto together with Nik & Trick Photo Services.

A developer that makes for very good physical prints and strong enlargements in the darkroom, as well as lovely detailed scans.

We have found it to be specially good with Tmax 100 & 400, Shanghai GP3, Rollei Infra-Red and folk are loving it when used with Foma and Ilford films too.

If you’re not sure yet then we also decant the odd bottle down into sample sized bottles for you to try…seriously, give it a go, you stand to be amazed! 😉

Weight	N/A
Dimensions	N/A
Size	50ml Sample, 250ml Bottle, 500ml Bottle, 1 Litre

6 reviews for Ornano Gradual ST-20 Film Developer ~ Possibly the best Developer Out There!

Rated 5 out of 5

George Day (verified owner) – 17th April 2021

I used this developer for the first time with ORWO UN54 shot at 100 ISO and the results were very nice indeed at the recommended dilution of 1:9 for 5 min @20C. This film was made for motion picture use and as such has fine grain and good latitude and although D96 is the developer designed for this type of film I think Gradual ST 20 acts in a very similar way and with its fine grain development and is therefore going to be a valuable addition in choice of development of a range of films, especially if intending to push process .
Rated 5 out of 5

Mark Thompson (verified owner) – 30th September 2023

I used this developer for the first time today. Very impressed with the results; fantastic tonality, sharpness and fine grain. I developed a 35mm roll of Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project (group on Facebook) with an old Voigtlander Vito CL. The film had been exposed at box speed and developed at 1+9 for 9 minutes at 20 degrees C. I highly recommend this developer, the results are stunning. Look forward to trying it with larger format film in a better camera. I will post some of my first scans this week on my Instagram feed @fyldephoto
- Richard – 11th October 2023
  
  Thank you for that Mark,
  
  Word is spreading about this developer and showing that our words are honest as usual…this truly is an exceptional developer!
  
  I’m going to share them on our social media so that should reflect in your IG following hopefully
Rated 4 out of 5

Jonathan Baxter (verified owner) – 18th March 2024

Used this developer on a few occasions and honestly the results speak for themselves. I find it can recover a slight under exposed negative when at the printing stage, but it really shines when my negatives are exposed +1 – + 2 stops over. Just my initial findings.
Rated 5 out of 5

Krystian Alabrudzinski (verified owner) – 8th March 2026

Probably the best developer I’ve used! While you don’t have many documented development times it’s a fun experience running experiments trying to find the right time.

My favourite film to use Ornano Gradual ST-20 is Fomapan 100. The tonality and sharpness is beyond stunning as others mentioned the same! It works amazing when pushing film as well and I can’t stop recommending it enough. It’s a must try!
Rated 5 out of 5

Steven Bailey – 14th April 2026

I’ve tried all sorts of developers – but so far nothing has come close ! I regularly shoot Ilford Delta, Kodak Double X and Ilford FP4 and I love the results I get from Ornanao ST24 – the only issue is lack of recipes for all film stock on Massive Dev Chart
Rated 5 out of 5

Darren Norris (verified owner) – 24th April 2026

First time using this developer and the first time i have used ilford pan f 50 film and i have shot film for years.
All i can say is WOW, i think this is the combination i have been searching for!!!
I bought a couple of rolls of fuji acros ii and have shot and developed one of them. I liked the results but they didn’t blow me away and i think it was my choice of developer. I am going to develop the other one in this Ornano Gradual ST-20 and if the results with Pan f 50 are anything to go by then will be another outstanding combination. If not then i have already found my Holy grail…….Fantastic
I shot the pan f at box speed and developed as per the Orwano Gradual ST-20 guide sheet found on this site. Very happy!