PyroCat HD Quantity Question

[IanBarber]

Not sure if it makes and difference but this will be my workflow.

• Develop 4x5 sheets in a Paterson tank using the Mod54 holder
• Scanning (not darkroom printing) the negatives
• Using pre-made Pyro HD (see below)

Available Films On Hand

• Ilford FP4+
• FomaPan 100
• Kodak TMAX 100

Dilution
I will probably use the 1+1+100 dilution as this appears to be the standard but as I shall be scanning, not sure if this is correct

Normal Scene Development times
For a starting point, I guess I will turn to the Massive Dev Chart for each of the above films

Semi-Stand Development Times
Probably go with 20 minutes with 4 inversions every 7 minutes

Question:
Is there a minimum amount of A+B required.

What I mean is... when I use HC110, I make sure I have a minimum of 6ml per 80 sq/ins of film (4x 5x4 sheets) or 1x (120 Roll)

[j.e.simmons]

Look over the site
Http://Pyrocat-hd.com
It answers a lot of your questions. Also look over Sandy King's discussion of divided development. It does work for scanning, but I don't think, from my limited experience, that the resulting negatives would work well for traditional printing.

[IanBarber]

Look over the site
Http://Pyrocat-hd.com
It answers a lot of your questions. Also look over Sandy King's discussion of divided development. It does work for scanning, but I don't think, from my limited experience, that the resulting negatives would work well for traditional printing.

I had stumbled across this page after I asked the question and found it to very good.

I am presuming then that I can use the pyro which I have bought in the above post as a 2 stop bath developer as per the article in the website you mentioned

[j.e.simmons]

I have not used their version, but I don't see why not. The two bath system uses much more developer, but is an easy system for scanning. Meter the shadows to get enough shadows and development takes care of the high lights.

[Alan9940]

Some time back I asked Sandy the question about minimum quantities of stock developer needed for 4x5 because I started working with extreme minimal agitation techniques and he said you could probably goes as high as 1:1:400-500 without any concern.

[Peter Gomena]

Pyrocat-HD is amazingly potent. I routinely tray process up to 8 sheets of 4x5" film in a liter of 1:1:100 working solution without a problem. My standard time for FP4+ at ISO 125 is around 8 minutes for normal contrast scenes.

[IanBarber]

Pyrocat-HD is amazingly potent. I routinely tray process up to 8 sheets of 4x5" film in a liter of 1:1:100 working solution without a problem. My standard time for FP4+ at ISO 125 is around 8 minutes for normal contrast scenes.

ive stumbled across many people saying FP4+ and PyroHD work hand in glove, do you agree Peter

[IanBarber]

Some time back I asked Sandy the question about minimum quantities of stock developer needed for 4x5 because I started working with extreme minimal agitation techniques and he said you could probably goes as high as 1:1:400-500 without any concern.

Cheers Alan

[Steve Sherman]

Look over the site
Http://Pyrocat-hd.com
It answers a lot of your questions. Also look over Sandy King's discussion of divided development. It does work for scanning, but I don't think, from my limited experience, that the resulting negatives would work well for traditional printing.

Typically negatives destined for scanning are processed to a very low contrast index and then adjusted in Photoshop. This makes for a negative with higher acutance. I employ a similar philosophy with my negative design in concert with Split Contrast Printing technique using Multi Contrast Silver Gelatin papers. During a ONE on ONE Pyro and Split Printing workshop I gave this past weekend the student with 30+ years of Large Format and Silver printing described my negatives as "disturbingly flat" looking negatives which produce full range prints with incredible Mid Tone contrast. So yes the negs will work for scanning and Silver printing. Alt Processes may require higher negative density for the longer scaled medium.

[IanBarber]

Typically negatives destined for scanning are processed to a very low contrast index and then adjusted in Photoshop. This makes for a negative with higher acutance. I employ a similar philosophy with my negative design in concert with Split Contrast Printing technique using Multi Contrast Silver Gelatin papers. During a ONE on ONE Pyro and Split Printing workshop I gave this past weekend the student with 30+ years of Large Format and Silver printing described my negatives as "disturbingly flat" looking negatives which produce full range prints with incredible Mid Tone contrast. So yes the negs will work for scanning and Silver printing. Alt Processes may require higher negative density for the longer scaled medium.

Thanks Steve, thats that one out of the way