Pyrocat-HD for Stand and Semi-Stand Development

[C. D. Keth]

I'm starting to experiment with pyrocat-HD for stand development and I was wondering what other people were coming up with. I have searched pretty thoroughly, I think, and there's a lot of questions but surprisingly few good answers.


Here's what I'm doing so far and it seems to be working pretty well. I am doing this with fomapan 200. I start with a 5 minute water bath to saturate the emulsion and remove the green backing. The developer is mixed 1.5:1:100 per a recommendation I read from Sandy some time ago that the extra part A helps cut down on oxidation. I agitate for the first 30 seconds, and then develop for 54 minutes with 10 second agitations after 18 minutes and 36 minutes.

I may go up to 60 minutes but I don't know if that would make much difference.

Anybody have a time to start with to do this with delta 100? I wonder if it will be as forgiving as the foma has been.

[Jay DeFehr]

Christopher,

Are you mixing your own Pyrocat HD, or buying it?

[C. D. Keth]

Christopher,

Are you mixing your own Pyrocat HD, or buying it?

Up to now I've been buying the dry packets from formulary. I'll probably mix it myself in the future, certainly if I move up to 8x10.

[Jay DeFehr]

If and when you decide to mix your own, you might consider mixing up some Obsidian Aqua, too, for comparison. OA is just catechol, metabisulfite, and carbonate -- very simple, and very economical. OA is formulated for intermittent agitation, and all the effects of low frequency agitation ( stand/ semi-stand/ minimal agitation, etc.) are produced with more agitation (for more even development) and shorter development times (less time for oxidation) than with superadditive developers like Pyrocat HD. Typical development times for enhanced edge and compensating effects are in the 9:00 to 12:00 range, with ten seconds agitation every three minutes, with a developer dilution of 1:500 @ 70F.

Here's an example of Adox 25, EI 25, developed in OA 1:500, 10:00, 70F, ten seconds/3 minutes agitation:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8188/8129589265_1462c2d874_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jay_defehr/8129589265/) Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jay_defehr/8129589265/) by Jay DeFehr (http://www.flickr.com/people/jay_defehr/), on Flickr

[sanking]

I'm starting to experiment with pyrocat-HD for stand development and I was wondering what other people were coming up with. I have searched pretty thoroughly, I think, and there's a lot of questions but surprisingly few good answers.


Here's what I'm doing so far and it seems to be working pretty well. I am doing this with fomapan 200. I start with a 5 minute water bath to saturate the emulsion and remove the green backing. The developer is mixed 1.5:1:100 per a recommendation I read from Sandy some time ago that the extra part A helps cut down on oxidation. I agitate for the first 30 seconds, and then develop for 54 minutes with 10 second agitations after 18 minutes and 36 minutes.

I may go up to 60 minutes but I don't know if that would make much difference.

Anybody have a time to start with to do this with delta 100? I wonder if it will be as forgiving as the foma has been.

Chris,

Get in touch with Steve Sherman. Steve, who is a member of this forum, is widely considered the master of this type of development. He published an article or two in View Camera on the technique and has taught some workshops on stand/semi-stand type development.

I use a variation of semi-stand development that I call minimal agitation. The working solution is 1.5 Parts A + 1 Part B + 150 parts water. I pre-soak for five minutes, then drain and pour in solution A. My initial agitation is vigorous for 60-90 seconds, then I agitate again for 15 seconds at the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 points of development.

With this dilution and agitation routine the contrast will increase steadily for up to 1.5-2 hours. With Delta 100 a total development time of 45 minutes should be a good starting point.

Sandy

[Michael Kadillak]

There is considerable information available for Pyrocat HD stand and semi stand development than you may have not yet gained access to. Steve Sherman wrote a couple of articles in View Camera on his technique using this developer and he has participated in numbers of extensive discussions on this technique as had Sandy King and others. I have seen phenomenal results produced produced by Steve and Sandy and others and I am sure that they will assist to the degree you need. That is what this forum is all about.

[russyoung]

A side issue question, please: Pyrogallol cannot be used with a septic tank system. Is pyrocatechin acceptable?

I'm not interested in speculation but in an informed answer.

Thanks.

Russ "who lives on a farm with a septic tank" Young (apologies to Rick...)

[sanking]

A side issue question, please: Pyrogallol cannot be used with a septic tank system. Is pyrocatechin acceptable?

I'm not interested in speculation but in an informed answer.

Thanks.

Russ "who lives on a farm with a septic tank" Young (apologies to Rick...)

The toxic benzene in pyrocatechin is a constituent of human urine. My understanding from previous research on the subject is that pyrocatechin (and pyrogallol) break down fairly quickly in a septic tank.

BTW, my house also has a septic tank. Why are we apologizing to Rick?

Sandy

[stradibarrius]

Is there a minimum amount of the A and B solution that must be used??? For example if I am processing 1 roll of 35mm in a hand tank and 500 ml of liquid completely covers my reel, would 5+5+500 be enough of the chemistry?

[C. D. Keth]

Is there a minimum amount of the A and B solution that must be used??? For example if I am processing 1 roll of 35mm in a hand tank and 500 ml of liquid completely covers my reel, would 5+5+500 be enough of the chemistry?

That should be fine, it still fits the most common 1+1+100 dilution. If that's for stand development, Sandy's recommendation of 1.5:1:150 is working quite well for me. For 500mL that would be 5mL of part A, 3.3mL of part b, and 500mL of water.

[Dan Henderson]

Christopher: you don't say how you are developing (open tray, tank, taco, etc.,) or whether you are developing sheet or roll film, but be forewarned and alert: I have developed 4x5 film semi-stand and with minimal agitation in both Pyrocat and Obsidian Aqua. I used daylight tanks (film in a vertical orientation) until I began observing streaking, mottling, and other evidence of uneven development. I tried everything that I could think of (more vigorous agitation, extremely gentle agitation, more frequent, less frequent agitation, even vibration, and could not solve the problem. I finally bought a slosher tray and began developing in open trays and my problem went away. So if you are using sheet film my advice is to develop some sheets exposed on an evenly illuminated white or gray card, or blue sky, and look at your contact sheets carefully.

[C. D. Keth]

I'll have to check that, Dan. Thanks for the warning.