I'm going to try abc pyro but have two questions

[Jim_3565]

"I'm just processing in trays so wondered if you might have a time I could start with for tmax 400? -Rob"

400TMax in ABC is a wonderful combination. There is beautiful (albeit gentle), slightly brown image stain obtained with ABC when used to develop TMY. This combination is very clean working, so it's easy to confuse lack of fog with lack of stain.

I'm an odball in that I use a proprietary formulation of Harvey's 777 developer. But ABC is my second choice and is actually a lot more convenient to use than Harvey's. I may go back to it. Get your ABC kit from Mike Jacobson at Artcraft Chemicals.

For a normal TMY negative (Zones III-VIII or SBR 7) try 9 minutes at 70 degrees F. I have never been able to develop this film by inspection, because the magenta sensitization dye is directly complementary to the green safelight. Others on the Azo Forum have reported success in DBI of TMY using a deep red safelight. Other have tried night vision goggles with rewarding results.

I get great 400TMax negatives which print easily on Azo with time and temperature development using either Harvey's or ABC, so I haven't made much of an effort to pursue DBI. I'd rather spend the money for night vision goggles on film.

I'm not slamming it in any way, so please everyone, no shit storm, but my results with Pyrocat HD and TMY have not been as rewarding as those with ABC. With the more pronounced stain of Pyrocat, the negatives seem more difficult to print. I find the scale of a TMY/ABC negative closer to that of the paper I use (Azo) than the scale of a TMY/Pyrocat negative. It probably has to do with the higher ratio in the ABC neg of reduced silver density to that created by the stain. In any case, Pyrocat negatives seem too contrasty for my purposes. But, a lot of great pyrotechnicians use Pyrocat to develop TMY to great effect. It seems to be especially good for pt/pd and carbon printing.

Hope this helps. Try TMY in ABC. Even if you don't see any stain, the proof is in the printing!

[Jim_3565]

Forgot one thing: I rate my 400TMax at 200.

[Ken Lee]

DBI may be possible using an InfraRed viewing device. As has been discussed here and elsewhere, you can watch the entire process of development, from beginning to end, in otherwise total darkness.

[sanking]

"Forgot one thing: I rate my 400TMax at 200."

How are you metering?

In my own experience I get full emulsion speed, i.e. EFS 400 with TMY and ABC Pyro when developing for the high average gradient needed for AZO #2 and alternative processes such as carbon and Pt./Pd. With Pyrocat-HD I use and EFS of 600. This is based on an average of two incident readings, one in the shadows, the other other in the brightest part of the scene.