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Walter --
My reasons for varying developer dilution are purely practical; I like to have negatives reach "normal" contrast in about 8 minutes so I vary developer dilution sufficiently to make that happen. That means some low-contrast films, such as HP5 Plus, get "straight" D-76 or DDX+5; while contrasty films, such as Efke 25, may require D-76+2 or DDX+9 or 10.
In a series of dilution tests (D-Max Vol.5 #3 and #4) I found that image quality isn't affected significantly by dilution as long as development time is adjusted to provide a constant average gradient. Of course carrying this to extremes does change things — overnight development in DDX+50 would probably not produce a satisfactory image although, if one formed at all, it would probably be "unique."
But I'm talking sensible here, not quirky, and within reason, developer dilution can be varied considerably without serious consequences.
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