What is your favorite paper developer and why?

[Willie]

Amidol. Mix my own using the Michael A. Smith formula. http://www.michaelandpaula.com
Works well for the contact prints and enlarger made as well. Has the capacity for more than 50 prints per litre of working solution - using 8x10 paper.

[John Layton]

Back in the days of amazing fixed-grade papers (the OLD Oriental, the OLD Agfa Portriga, etc.), I had great luck with a first tray of Selectol-Soft followed by a second of Dektol - which I'd use in sequence and in different time ratios depending on a given negative.

As papers have since then both devolved and re-evolved, I followed suit with a few changes - LPD, Amidol, Etc., also doing much of my own mixing.

These days, I've been very happy with two Ilford MG papers (new Classic and Warm Tone) - the Classic souped in Moersch Eco-4812 and the Warmtone in Moersch SE-6. True...the latter is a cool-tone developer, but to my eye its results when used with the Ilford Warmtone paper are wonderful...brilliant and clear (but never "blank") whites, and deep shadows with substance - which I find no real need to tone except to add a bit of permanence. The 4812 has a wonderful range and amazing DMAX. Most important in my case, as I'm doing 20x30's in open trays, is the 4812's keeping qualities, minimal fumes, as well as its tendency to "live long and die fast," meaning that I can get the most out of this otherwise expensive developer's true capacity, with its giving great consistency right up to the end of its life - at which point (literally within a single print) there is no doubt that it needs to be discarded. Amazing stuff!

[John Bowen]

https://bwbarlow.files.wordpress.com...out-part-1.pdf
https://bwbarlow.files.wordpress.com...out-part-2.pdf
https://bwbarlow.files.wordpress.com...out-part-3.pdf
https://bwbarlow.files.wordpress.com...out-part-4.pdf

Regards, -Tim.

Thanks!

[Taija71A]

Thanks!

No problem John... You are 'More than Welcome!'

[Bruce Barlow]

Sorry, it's not worth the effort to try to match scans and post online. The differences of paper developers on a given paper are so subtle, scanning and posting wouldn't allow you to see the differences.

I tested 12 developers with 12 papers and have 4 3" binders of prints. Telling papers apart is relatively easy. Telling developers apart is much harder. Oops. Just saw the prior posts with links to my articles. Sorry to seem redundant.

Come to Maine and I'll be happy to show them to you. Sadly, I did the tests in 2003, so many of the papers are now unavailable. The developers are still around.

The consistently top developers, based on my personal evaluation: Fine Art VersaPrint (available from the Formulary), and good old Dektol. The articles I wrote for View Camera are at BruceBarlow@wordpress.com, and include big charts with my results.

[Bruce Barlow]

You can actually do comparisons and pare down the variables. Mostly. Then you just ignore what might be a variable that you didn't think about and go full speed ahead. One negative, one enlarger, one filtration, set paper development time(s). You end up looking at comparable prints. I don't scan so I can't speak to that.

Did you know that selenium toning time varies by developer? Yup. I found that out the hard way, toning 24 prints from 12 developers and two development times at the same time. Some took twice as long as others. Same paper. Same negative. Matched exposure times. If I'd had a lovely assistant in the dark to be a scribe, I could have recorded the times. Alas, Maria Sharapova hadn't been banned from tennis yet, and so was unavailable. Not to mention that I hadn't thought it would vary.

As the perenniial Sensei, I recommend trying it. You'll learn a lot, and most of it will have nothing to do with making comparison prints.

[neil poulsen]

. . . Also PQ does not bother my skin at all. Seems safe. I don't drink it. . . .

It's actually not that bad.

[Tin Can]

Lol