sanking
20-Aug-2004, 09:27
Howard Bond published an article on Pyro in the May/June 2004 issue of Photo Techniques that received a lot of attention on this forum in a thread called “Pyro in the May/June "Photo Techniques." Much of the discussion was critical of Mr. Bond’s methodology, in part because of his choice of film for the comparison test, Tmax-100, but also because it was not clear whether he used VC paper or graded paper for the tests.
Well, Mr. Bond has published another article on Pyro in the current (Sept/Oct) issue of Photo Techniques and it is really very well done. In research for this article Mr. Bond tested four films (Tmax-100, Tri-X, FP4+ and HP5+) using four different developers, two Pyro developers (PMK and WD2D+) and two non-staining developers (D76 and DD-X). He notes that differences between prints made from pyro and conventional developers are too subtle to be conveyed by magazine reproduction and documents the article with curves produced from what he calls “film prints,” i.e. contact prints on film made from a transmission step wedge.
Briefly, here are Mr. Bond’s findings.
1. When printing on graded papers the stain acts just like silver density, increasing the effective density range of the negative, and this is illustrated in the article with curves that show the similarity between pyro and conventional developers with graded papers.
2. The color of the stain (yellow) is relevant for variable contrast (VC) papers, since it is similar to that of low contrast VC printing filters. This can cause “a gray tone in a print area that would otherwise (with another film developer and no burning in) be white. And he write, “Pyro enthusiasts say that this gives them “greater tonal separation” in the high values, which is false. Actually, highlights are simply darker and flatter."
3.Comparing sharpness with several films Mr. Bond concludes that pyro does indeed produce less-visible grain and greater apparent sharpness , “although the latter may not be apparent in moderate enlargements and with some subjects.”
4. Finally, Mr. Bond’s study points out what I have also found to be one of the major obstacles in comparing photographs of subjects developer in pyro. As he remarks, “there is no way to know what fraction of the stain is acting as a VC filter and what fraction is acting as neutral density. This makes it impossible to know what density range the pyro negative should have to match the other negative.
On the whole, even though I disagree with Mr. Bond’s ultimate conclusion, i.e. “Now that I am better acquainted with pyro, and since I don’t use Tri-X, I see ample purely photographic reason for ignoring it,” the article is well-researched and documented and sets a new standard for others who may plan to compare results with pyro developers and non-staining conventional developers, or for that matter between pyro developers that have different color stain.
Well, Mr. Bond has published another article on Pyro in the current (Sept/Oct) issue of Photo Techniques and it is really very well done. In research for this article Mr. Bond tested four films (Tmax-100, Tri-X, FP4+ and HP5+) using four different developers, two Pyro developers (PMK and WD2D+) and two non-staining developers (D76 and DD-X). He notes that differences between prints made from pyro and conventional developers are too subtle to be conveyed by magazine reproduction and documents the article with curves produced from what he calls “film prints,” i.e. contact prints on film made from a transmission step wedge.
Briefly, here are Mr. Bond’s findings.
1. When printing on graded papers the stain acts just like silver density, increasing the effective density range of the negative, and this is illustrated in the article with curves that show the similarity between pyro and conventional developers with graded papers.
2. The color of the stain (yellow) is relevant for variable contrast (VC) papers, since it is similar to that of low contrast VC printing filters. This can cause “a gray tone in a print area that would otherwise (with another film developer and no burning in) be white. And he write, “Pyro enthusiasts say that this gives them “greater tonal separation” in the high values, which is false. Actually, highlights are simply darker and flatter."
3.Comparing sharpness with several films Mr. Bond concludes that pyro does indeed produce less-visible grain and greater apparent sharpness , “although the latter may not be apparent in moderate enlargements and with some subjects.”
4. Finally, Mr. Bond’s study points out what I have also found to be one of the major obstacles in comparing photographs of subjects developer in pyro. As he remarks, “there is no way to know what fraction of the stain is acting as a VC filter and what fraction is acting as neutral density. This makes it impossible to know what density range the pyro negative should have to match the other negative.
On the whole, even though I disagree with Mr. Bond’s ultimate conclusion, i.e. “Now that I am better acquainted with pyro, and since I don’t use Tri-X, I see ample purely photographic reason for ignoring it,” the article is well-researched and documented and sets a new standard for others who may plan to compare results with pyro developers and non-staining conventional developers, or for that matter between pyro developers that have different color stain.