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View Full Version : Where's Max?



Steve Hamley
8-Sep-2009, 15:52
Folks,

A few months ago, a pyro developer, Max Pyro, was announced.

I know you can/could buy it in mixed kits, but I haven't heard much if anything about it since the announcement.

I'm curious since the formula seems "secret", and the pitch "Buy our stuff, it's great but we can't tell you what's in it. " is always interesting.

Any field reports versus the other pyros?

Cheers, Steve

Drew Wiley
9-Sep-2009, 16:26
Steve - I tried it with HP5. Printed quite nicely, with a tiny bit more shadow separation than PMK, good highlight retention, but less edge effect (to my disappointment). It's also relatively pricey. It's alleged to be a dual purpose developer
to help the performace for both projection and contact/alternative printing, especially
with HP5. But since I rarely contact print, I don't see any advantage over the considerably cheaper PMK. The staining action is less aggressive. Allegedly the highlights don't block up as badly when the midtones are significantly expanded (a favorite trick of mine and apparently of Gordon Hutchings too, which sometimes requires masking to correct). I'll use up what I have and maybe become better informed, but so far I don't see that it's that big a deal.

Steve Hamley
12-Sep-2009, 16:59
Thanks Drew,

I sort of suspected something like that from the thunderous silence.

Cheers, Steve