[Leica] Do you like the look of pyro?

[jsmith342 at cox.net (Jeffery Smith)]

The darker grays have a much richer look than I have been able to get from 
conventional developers like D-76. It may be that the stained areas are more 
scanner-friendly. The PMK Pyro from Photographer's Formulary is stable as a 
liquid for years. It is a bit fussier to use (one inversion every 15 
seconds, rotating the tank before every inversion, rubber gloves, and trying 
to accurate measure 4ml and 8ml of the two solutions). But I like the 
results enough not to mind the fuss.

Jeffery


> 
> From: "Frank Filippone" <red735i@earthlink.net>
> Date: 2006/03/21 Tue AM 09:50:27 EST
> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org>
> Subject: RE: [Leica] Do you like the look of pyro?
> 
> The tonal quality is quite lovely.  ( I think the image itself is also 
> quite
> effective.)
> 
> Pyro, depending on the particular formulation of the chemicals, can be
> either quite green or quite brown in stain.  FP4 plus Pyro is a really
> popular combination that allows a wide amount of expansion or contraction 
> of
> your tonal range.   It is also very cheap to use and has been around for
> years.  Newer formulations are still being brewed.  Today, it is a pretty
> specialized market.  Mostly LF users.  It is usually considered to be not
> too fine a grain developer.
> 
> One of the advantages of Pyro is in print making.  Using VC paper, the 
> green
> cast acts like a local filter in the highlights, giving more local contrast
> to those areas.  The brown colored PYRO do not do this as effectively.
> Scanners should be oblivious to this effect  (Note that I said ...should
> be....)
> 
> Your workflow ( or whatever the methodology you call the process of 
> scanning
> the negatives and getting them ready to post) might help a lot of users of
> this combination.
> 
> Frank Filippone
> red735i@earthlink.net
> 
> This is a scanned negative.
> 
> Jeffery Smith
> New Orleans, LA
> http://www.400tx.com
> 
> 
> 
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> 

Jeffery