4x5, PMK problems...

[Jim MacKenzie]

I've used PMK for 35mm and 120/220 for almost a decade and I have good luck with it. The key is frequent agitation, every 15 seconds for 2-3 seconds and the agitation must be violent and abrupt.

I can't agitate violently and abruptly in a tray without making a giant mess so my solution was to use the Jobo tanks and use them manually. I should probably tinker with adding EDTA and doing rotary processing. Pyrocat HD is a lot more tolerant of agitation regimen than PMK is but I like the tonality I get with PMK (and I love the near immortality of the stock solutions) so thus far I have stuck with my habits.

[Rick Levine]

I used to use PMK and the nitrogen system in my Jobo with a 3010 drum like Gordon Hutchings suggested and it worked quite well. Then I discovered Rollo Pyro and life became much easier. With the addition of ascorbic acid there is no need for the nitrogen. If you presoak with a solution of Kodalk (sodium metaborate) as stated in the instructions (the ones from Bostick & Sullivan) you should be fine.

[Drew Wiley]

I have no problem with this film in trays. For 4x5 I use an 8x10 tray, and for 8x10
film a tray of slightly over 11x14. These are special thin stainless steel trays with
dimpled bottoms and gently rolled edges, which rest in either a larger tray of water for temperature control or a special long plexiglas trough connected to a thermoregulator. I develop four sheet of 8x10 at a time, or six sheets of 4x5. The sheets are carefully shuffled once every 30sec emulsion up. Each cycle the sheets are rotated 90 degrees to give balanced development. All thick emulsion films seem to gain a little extra density near the perimeter in PMK. As long as this is consistent it is easily controlled either by burning in or by a correctly graduated diffuser in the enlarger. For 8x10 sheets I use a liter of solution, and for 4x5 500ml.