[Leica] 2 bath Pyrocat-HD

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

I do think the streaking from intermittent agitation occurs during the time
the tank is sitting there in between cycles. When that time is extended past
two or three minutes you have some real danger of streaking depending on the
formula and the water and serendipity. It can become a bit of a crap shoot
as you can get no streaking for months but when you get back from a critical
shoot there it is.
Most developing formulas can be made into a two bath by simply taking the
alkali out of the formula and then using it as a second bath.
So if I was d 76 you don't add the 2 grams of Borax you make a second bath
out of it and that's when most of the development would supposedly take
place.

I also think once you take a developer to its highest or very high dilution
like Microdol X 1:3  it will show no need for divided development and will
have plenty of sharpness and compensation. This because of the lower sulfite
in play but also for the edge effects from the lower developing (reducing)
agents. And at one minutes agitation intervals. Maybe two. When you have
extended developing times like you get with Microdol X 1:3 that seems to be
a key factor in having the kind of neg we want.
And I really wonder how different our approach should be when we are making
neg for the darkroom vs. the scanner.

Mark William Rabiner


> From: Christopher Saganich <csaganich at gmail.com>
> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:27:50 -0400
> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] 2 bath Pyrocat-HD
> 
> Pyrocat is not a two bath, but you probably know that. My times and temps
> are as follows:
> 
> FP4 35mm @ ASA 100:  2:2:100 (5ml A, 5ml B)  500ml total volume. 10 
> minutes,
> 20C, Normal agitation of 10 seconds every 60 seconds.  This is the minimum
> dilution for a roll, so don't use a single roll tank and double the
> dilution.  If using density meter the blue channel will give most accurate
> results due to the stain.
> 
> KB100 120mm @ ASA 50 or 64:  2:2:100, 11 minutes, 22C, low agitation 10
> seconds every 3 minutes.  I used this time/agitation for highlight
> compensation, density of 1.27 above fog for zone VIII.  Increase agitation
> to normal and drop the time by 2 or 3 minutes for same ASA.  Pyrocat will
> hold dense highlights, it's what is is known for.
> 
> To avoid streaking and uneven development don't twist during agitation,
> streaking happens with twisting motion on SS reels rather then the amount 
> of
> agitation, or perhaps one modifies the other, Anyway I found a definite
> correlation with twisting and uneven development; streaking may be a
> different animal altogether.
> 
> Chris
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 11:16 AM, Paul Roark <roark.paul at gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
>> On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 7:37 AM, Richard Wasserman
>> <disfromage at ameritech.net> wrote:
>>> ... I use reduced agitation?... which increases edge effects ...
>> 
>> FWIW, my standard development procedures when I was using the Rollei
>> SL66 with Tmax 100 was to use dilute (1:3) Microdol-X with agitation
>> at 3 minute intervals.  The infrequent agitation gave great sharpness,
>> which was a real plus with the enlarger, but it has turned out to be a
>> mistake with digital tools when these negatives are scanned and
>> printed today.  I find it much easier to sharpen in Photoshop than to
>> reduce the grain (and local unevenness) caused by the infrequent
>> agitation.  If I were to go back to shooting the SL66 and Tmax 100,
>> I'd look at developers that gave me maximum smoothness and leave the
>> sharpening to PS,  where I can do it locally as opposed to globally.
>> 
>> Paul
>> www.PaulRoark.com
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Chris Saganich
> www.imagebrooklyn.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
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