TMY/510-Pyro development data

[Jay DeFehr]

I've made TMY my standard film for all formats and processes, and I know others are using this film in ULF sizes as well. 510-Pyro is an excellent choice of developer for use with this versatile film wether one is shooting 35mm and printing on VC paper, or shooting ULF and printing on albumen or salted paper, and everything in between. Development times are conveniently short, even when developing to the extremely high contrast and density range of which this film is capable. 510-Pyro is compatible with all films, formats and development processes, including rotary development and reduced agitation techniques. The data presented here is based on a 1:100 dilution and continuous agitation @ 68F.

Grade 2 enlarging paper DR 1.0

N............5:00

N+1.........8:00

N+2.........13:45

Azo G3 or VC paper DR 1.25

N-1........5:00 min

N...........6:30

N+1........11:30

N+2........15:00



Effective Film Speed (EFS)

N-1......500++

N.........640+

N+1......640++

N+2......800--

Azo G2 DR 1.65

N-2......5:25

N-1......7:00

N.........10:40

N+1......13:45

N+1.76..16:00

EFS

N-2.......640-

N-1.......640+

N..........800--

N+1.......800-

N+1.76...800

Albumen or P.O.P. DR 2.0*

N-2........7:00

N-1........10:00

N...........12:40

N+1........15:00

* all of the data here relates to densitometer readings in the Blue wavelengths. The UV processes above would actually print with significantly more contrast than this data suggests, and as such, it should only be seen as a conservative example of the expansion potential of this film/developer combination with these processes.

While the range of expansion and contraction development and the range of printing processes shown here is very wide, it does not cover the all of the possibilities presented by this combination. It is clear that this dilution is not ideal for contraction development and graded papers, for instance, in which case a 1:200 dilution would be more practical. 510-Pyro is an excellent candidate for reduced agitation techniques. I've used a 1:500 dilution, and reduced agitation for 20 min. development of LF high contrast ortho film with very good results. I've also used 510-Pyro with 35mm film printed on VC papers with equally good results. I hope this information will be useful for those using 510-Pyro with TMY, or for those considering doing so.

Jay

[Andre Noble]

What film is TMY?

[Jay DeFehr]

Hi Andre.

TMY is Kodak Tmax 400.

Jay

[Andre Noble]

Jay, apologies for the slightly off topic subject. Good work you're sharing there.

How do you like the results of TMAX in Pyro compared to traditional emulsions such as Kodak 125 Plus-X and Kodak TX Tri-X in pyro?

I've tried Kodak 125 Plus-X and Kodak TX Tri-X in pyro (roll films) and in some ways they are better than Ilford Fp4+ and HP5+ in pyro in terms of midtones and shadow gradation.

But the complaint I hear about Kodak's 'new emulsion technology film' , TMAX from people like Steve Simmons and many others is that it's tough to get consistency from the TMAX.

I wish Kodak still made 125 Plus-X in Sheet film. I may try TMAX sheet film before (knock on wood) Kodak ties to discontinue it as well.

[Jay DeFehr]

Hi Andre.

All of the films you mention are excellent films, and all have their devotees, many of whom do excellent work. That being said, This new generation of films represents some very real improvements over the last generation, including improved emulsion hardening, spectral response, reciprocity characeristics, grain-for-speed, and expansion potential. TMY's characteristic curve is a nearly perfect straight line, which makes it very predictable in its response to exposure and development input parameters, which is a kind of geeky way to say it's very consistent and reliable. I couldn't begin to speculate about Mr. Simmons problems with these films. Give it a try, and see what you think. Good luck.

Jay

[Ken Lee]

Jay -

I found the formula described in your article here.



Are there any sample images available, for this film/developer combination ? Testing is great but I'd also love to see how it looks in a real situation. I'm sure that others would too.

[Jay DeFehr]

Hi Ken.

Unfortunately, the only scanner I have is a 35mm film scanner, and I don't have any examples of this combination in 35mm. I'll go out tomorrow and shoot some sample images in 35mm, and post them here, if I can figure out how to post images.

Jay

[Ralph Barker]

Jay - we don't currently have image-upload capabilities (but will have with the new forum software). Thus, you would need to upload the (web-sized) image file to a Web-accessible server, and then include the image URL with HTML coding in your post. Here is what the HTML looks like (but, remove the spaces before and after the angle brackets):

< img src="http://www.yourhost.com/your_directory/your_img.jpg" >

[Jay DeFehr]

Thanks, Ralph. I'll have to find a host for my images.

Jay