Getting Back To PMK - Want To Try Pre-Mixed But Is It Good?

I've been souping my films mostly in Pyrocat these days...with the occasional use of HC-110. But now I have a hankering to get back into PMK - and while I'd previously mixed all of my PMK from scratch...I've more recently been spoiled by the convenience of liquid concentrates.

So my question: for folks who've happened to try both the pre-mixed (liquid), vs the dry-mix "kits," vs. mixing from scratch...what are the specific differences you've noted, aside from the occasional advantage that mixing from scratch afford via. specific tweaks to the formula?

More to the point...is PF's PMK in liquid concentrate form a "good" developer, in terms of consistency and quality of results?

Go for it. I mixed pmk from scratch until I got really tired of getting out the scales etc… So, I thought t would go the easy route and get the premeasured powder… better, but. Ok, time to try premixed, and I never went back, never had issues like inconsistency and it lasts a really long time. Once I ordered in the winter and it froze (Iowa), but I thawed it out and it was fine. Photographers Formulary’s PMK.

I've used PF's PMK and it worked well. Mine lasted four years before the Pyro component finally went bad. (I didn't use the whole bottle before it expired)

I kept a bottle around for twenty years, used a lot of it, and it became tar-like with time and so I pitched it. I always added a pinch of Amidol right before starting development which makes it into PMK+. Adds a wee bit of actual shadow speed (maybe 1/2 stop) which was sometimes helpful. I have a fresh bottle which I recently decanted, and I need to start using it.

The PF liquid form has no downsides

I started using PMK immediately after it was announced in "View Camera" magazine, in what, 1993? It was not long after that when PF introduced their liquid kit, and I used that exclusively until 2010 or so. Always worked the same, never a problem. But in 2010 I switched films (to FP4+) and developers, to Pyrocat-HD. That's been my film developer since, so I can say that I have extensive experience with both developers. PMK is just fine, but I wonder if you'll see an improvement, or differences, in your images if you switch developers. But then you print larger than I do, I believe.

I’ve used the pre-mixed since 1990 with no negative issues. I buy it from Bostick and Sullivan these days.


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Same here. Curves matched my self-mixed from bulk.

Thanks for the great replies!

I started with PMK back in 1992 (after having learned ABC pyro in 1982 from Cole Weston, but wanting more consistency) - having purchased a very outdated 32oz. bottle of Pyrogallol from the Dartmouth chemistry dept. ($8.00!) and mixing from scratch. This was when FP-4 was FP-4 (no + yet), and wow...how wonderful for southwest desert images! I would always place processed films back in the used developer for a bit before washing - and am still convinced that this gave me better shadows and not just extra density to print through.

I then used PMK with FP4+ for quite awhile, until for whatever reason I decided to give Bergger 200 a try back in 2004 - and had such a horrible time with that film with PMK that I gave up both...and went back to FP4+ but this time with Pyrocat - a combo which continues to serve me well and I cannot really fault...especially when comparing broad medium-density sky areas in Pyrocat to the same with PMK, with the latter tending to give occasional (but very slight) mottling. Probably me and not the developer though.

But something keeps calling me back to give PMK another try with FP4+ - and the comments above have given me a good amount of confidence that I will go ahead and order some of the liquid pre-mix from PF. Cannot wait!

Postscript about ABC Pyro - I'd still be using that formula if Super XX were still available!

I've been working with pre-mixed Formulary A&B concentrates for a long time. No issue. The pyro solution itself can go rather brown if old and oxidized, so might be better in a glass bottle than the poly one they ship it in; but I've seen no ill effect in development itself due to that. Old A component pyro can look like mud and still give excellent results.

I thought Bergger 200 and PMK was a marriage made in heaven. My favorite 8X10 film of all time. Never had anything resembling mottling. PMK is pretty much my go-to developer for every film except TMax100, where I need more of an edge acutance kicker.

But speaking of the desert, FP4 lacks the shadow separation depth I expect there, or in the mountains where extreme contrasts also often prevail. With Super-XX and Bergger 200 now gone, TMax 400 is the next best thing in terms of a long straight line with minimal toe; but it also has real advantages of its own, including much finer grain than the good ole 200's. But I keep a variety of sheet film on hand, with the two speeds of Tmax and FP4+ being my favorite options.