any experience with Tanol Speed? rotary dev + Foma 100

[Roger Vadim]

Hi there!

I am looking for a developer for my 200+ sheets of Foma 100 in 4x5 for using in a rotary Jobo CPE.

The Foma 100 builds up density quite fast, so far I manged to get nice negs with x-tol 1+2, but the shadows are weak and it is tricky to get a N- development in rotation.

So, beeing curious, i'd love to try a staining developer. All of the Pyro developers are dificult to get here in Germany, I could buy Moerschs Tanol in the local shop (Fotoimpex) though .

Moersch claims that Tanol is suitet for rotary development. The "internet wisdom" says staining developers are a no go for rotation ... Has anybody got some experiences with the Moersch line of developers like Tanol? Or advises in which way to look for a Pyro like developer over here in Europe which is suited for rotation?

Thanks for your help!

[Vlad Soare]

Pyrocat-HD works with rotation, though I don't think it's available pre-mixed in Europe.
I don't know about Tanol, but I'm sure Wolfgang Moersch will tell you all you want to know if you ask him. He's very helpful.
Why not mix your own developer? You can find all the chemicals you need here. Mr. Suvatlar is trustworthy and ships quickly, and his chemicals are of high quality.

[sanking]

Moersch claims that Tanol is suitet for rotary development. The "internet wisdom" says staining developers are a no go for rotation ... Has anybody got some experiences with the Moersch line of developers like Tanol? Or advises in which way to look for a Pyro like developer over here in Europe which is suited for rotation?

Thanks for your help!

Conventional internet wisdom does not reflect the full reality.

First, there are two kinds of pyro developers. One kind is based on the reducer pyrogallol, the other on pyrocatechol. These are similar chemicals and in a suitable formula both will stain and tan. However, pyrogallol is more prone to oxidation and developers based on it do not do well in rotary development unless they are protected from oxidation by ascorbic acid and/or more sulfite, or unless one adopts special developing technique such as splitting the working solution into two parts and discarding it half way through development. PMK and WD2D are examples of this type of pyro developer. Contemporary formulas based on pyrogallol incorporate ascorbic and these formulas can be used for rotary development without any modification of the development technique. Rollo Pyro, developed by Harald Leban in the late 1990s was the first modern pyrogallol based developer to use ascorbic acid.

The second kind of of pyro developer is based on the use of pyrocatechol as the reducer. Pyrocatechol is much less sensitive to oxidation than pyrogallol and even the small amount of sulfite that is used to preserve the stock solutions is sufficient to prevent oxidation in rotary development. Pyrocat-HD belongs to this class of developer and works fine with rotary development without any modification. I am fairly certain that Tanol is also based on pyrocatechol as its working characteristics are very similar to those of Pyrocat-HD.

In Europe you can buy both Pyrocat and the Moersch developers like Tanol from Lotus Camera. http://www.lotusviewcamera.at/index1.html


Sandy King

[Roger Vadim]

Thanks Sandy and Vlad, very insightfull overview!

To be honest, mixing my own chemicals would be a bit much at the moment, and I prefer using "ready made" things, getting lost in tinkering far to easy...

So I suppose Tanol speed belongs to the pyrocatechol family? Anybody using this stuff om old-school films like Foma?
And: Vlad, how do you tame your Foma?

cheers!

[Vlad Soare]

Vlad, how do you tame your Foma?

When I used Fomapan 100 I developed it in R09 or D-76. My normal times at 20 degrees Centigrade were six minutes in R09 1+40 and ten minutes in D-76 1+1. N-1 development was eight minutes in D-76, and six minutes (I think, I'm not sure) in R09 1+80.
In R09 there was no difference between intermittent and continuous agitation. In D-76 the times were two minutes shorter with continuous than with intermittent agitation. Why R09 needed no compensation, beats me. It just didn't.

My experience with it and staining developers is limited to just one single try, in Pyrocat-HD 1:1:100, ten minutes at 20 degrees Centigrade. It turned out a bit too contrasty, but not by much. Still quite easily printable.

It builds up contrast very quickly. Sometimes too quickly. When in doubt, always err on the side of shorter development. You'll almost always be fine with a slightly shorter development (given sufficient exposure), while just a bit of overdevelopment can cause the contrast to explode. I once mistakenly developed a roll of Fomapan 200 for two minutes longer than normal. All frames on that film were later on printed with a #0 filter (or maybe #1/2, I can't remember exactly).

Sorry, I don't know anything about Tanol. Since it comes from Wolfgang Moersch, I'm sure it must be a fine developer, and if he says it's OK for rotation I see no reason to doubt it.

[sanking]

So I suppose Tanol speed belongs to the pyrocatechol family? Anybody using this stuff om old-school films like Foma?
And: Vlad, how do you tame your Foma?

cheers!

To tame most films that develop contrast quickly I would recommend a much weaker than normal dilution of a pyro developer, used for normal development time. For example, I get very nice results with Efke 25, which is a very high contrast, film, with a 1+1+200 dilution of Pyrocat, where 1+1+100 is considered the normal dilution. I don't know the Foma film you are using, and I don't have specific developing times for Tanol, but I feel confident that this approach would work with Tanol/Foma.
Sandy

[Roger Vadim]

Great responses! I just e-mailed Wolfgang Moersch to ask him is any of his staining devs is suitable with Foma 100. Will share the wisdom...

Like Vlad I had nice results with R09/ Rodinal, but quite some really overcooked negs - a minute more means a lot to this film. if you develop less, then one ends up with a EI of 32 which is a shame for an ASA 100 film... I thought Pyro could be interesting with this Film. I'll give it a try as soon Wolfgang Moersch responds.

Cheers!

[andreios]

Sorry to revive such an old thread - but I am curious what were your results with Foma film and Tanol developer - since that is just the combination I am contemplating to start using.
Thank you