Re: Finally done with PMK. What next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
StoneNYC
You can't print carbon without using a staining developer?
That's not what he said.
Normally silver and alt processes do best with negatives developed to different maximum densities. A negative optimized for silver or for alt processes will typically be difficult or impossible to print the other way. The advantage of a pyro developer is that it produces a negative that appears to have a higher density to UV than it does to visible light. The consequence is that when you get your process dialed in you can make negatives that print well both in silver and in alt processes that rely on UV exposure.
Much more detail here:
http://home.roadrunner.com/~bobherbs...m_printing.pdf
Re: Finally done with PMK. What next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Oren Grad
That's not what he said.
Normally silver and alt processes do best with negatives developed to different maximum densities. A negative optimized for silver or for alt processes will typically be difficult or impossible to print the other way. The advantage of a pyro developer is that it produces a negative that appears to have a higher density to UV than it does to visible light. The consequence is that when you get your process dialed in you can make negatives that print well both in silver and in alt processes that rely on UV exposure.
Much more detail here:
http://home.roadrunner.com/~bobherbs...m_printing.pdf
Thanks
Re: Finally done with PMK. What next?
Quote:
You can't print carbon without using a staining developer?
Not what I said. Of course you can. What I said was, you can print the same stained negative on gelatin silver papers and alt processes, such as carbon. I mentioned carbon transfer, because that is what I have the most experience in. I also print kallitypes with the same stained negative. I use pyrocat-hd and obsidian aqua (I prefer pyrocat-hd). Very economical developers and last quite long in their separate stock solutions. You mix them up from stock to make a working solution. Both developers are great for rotary or tray work.
Re: Finally done with PMK. What next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ROL
Oh no! Please, NOT THAT! Oh Lord, you're frightening me… gooood help us all.
Sorry, I missed the post as I was otherwise engaged. Still teetering on the edge of that building? All seriousness aside, if you can't achieve decent negatives with any of the developers mentioned, the problem lies elsewhere. I fear you'll be wasting a lot of time searching for that magic bullet.
Actually, I mentioned those other developers because I've had good results with them. I had very good results this morning with Ilfotec-HC. What I'm asking for is not accusations of bad practices in the darkroom (I've had a number of them in this thread). I've only had trouble with PMK pyro, but not always. I really just wanted to know which developer, in other photographers' experience, was the best and most versatile. I got some good info so far, and figured out why my densitometer wasn't working properly, but I didn't want to go through film testing with 6 or 7 developers. I was hoping that photographers on this site could help me narrow down the list.
--Gary
Re: Finally done with PMK. What next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gary L. Quay
Actually, I mentioned those other developers because I've had good results with them. I had very good results this morning with Ilfotec-HC. What I'm asking for is not accusations of bad practices in the darkroom (I've had a number of them in this thread). I've only had trouble with PMK pyro, but not always. I really just wanted to know which developer, in other photographers' experience, was the best and most versatile. I got some good info so far, and figured out why my densitometer wasn't working properly, but I didn't want to go through film testing with 6 or 7 developers. I was hoping that photographers on this site could help me narrow down the list.
--Gary
Have you managed to do that?
RR
Re: Finally done with PMK. What next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Regular Rod
Have you managed to do that?
RR
No. Not really. Oh, well. I'll take the fixed densitometer and call it a success, though.
--Gary
Re: Finally done with PMK. What next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gary L. Quay
No. Not really. Oh, well. I'll take the fixed densitometer and call it a success, though.
--Gary
To be of any real help folks can only recommend what they actually know. I have only used two PYRO type developers so can only say what I know about them. 510-PYRO is simple to use but needs heat to make up the stock solution. The results are great if you want a nice long range of tones with readily controlled highlights. OBSIDIAN AQUA is easier to make up and uses less expensive materials, BUT has two stock solutions, A and B, so there are two lots of measuring out to do but that is really no hardship. The sharpness it delivers is remarkable. It has become my go to developer.
So there's my attempt at helping you narrow it down. Either developer is great and they both last indefinitely as stock solutions. You won't regret using either of them.
:)
RR
Re: Finally done with PMK. What next?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Regular Rod
To be of any real help folks can only recommend what they actually know. I have only used two PYRO type developers so can only say what I know about them. 510-PYRO is simple to use but needs heat to make up the stock solution. The results are great if you want a nice long range of tones with readily controlled highlights. OBSIDIAN AQUA is easier to make up and uses less expensive materials, BUT has two stock solutions, A and B, so there are two lots of measuring out to do but that is really no hardship. The sharpness it delivers is remarkable. It has become my go to developer.
So there's my attempt at helping you narrow it down. Either developer is great and they both last indefinitely as stock solutions. You won't regret using either of them.
:)
RR
Thanks! I've been thinking seriously about trying Obsidian Aqua. What I like about 510-pyro and Obsidian Aqua is that they eliminate the rapid oxidization that plagues PMK. You can actually tray process in a normal manner.
--Gary