Film for Pyro Development for Alt Process

[D. Bryant]

Why the attacks?

What attacks?

Don Bryant

[rls]

For what it's worth, I use PMK Pyro and FP4 and contact print on pt/pd, cyanotypes and sometimes gum bichromate. Works like a champ. Been using it for 4x5, 8x10 and 7x17 (when I still had one).

I learned to use PMK from another photog in town who also makes wonderful alt-process prints from his FP4 films souped in PMK.

To the original poster, give it a try if you're curious. It's easy to use, in my experience.

Cheers! -Rob

[Andrew O'Neill]

Some photographers do use PMK to process their negatives for alt processes. I recall reading an article a few years back in PT mag where a photographer praised the benefits of of using PMK as a developer which allowed him to print the same negative in either platinum (I think it was platinum) or gelatin silver.

[Dave Aharonian]

I'm just starting to do Pt/Pd printing and PMK with FP4 and 400Tmax is absolutely beautiful. Its my film/developer combination. I no longer soak the negs in the used developer following the fix step as this does increase the overall stain, but I don't find it to be a big difference, and my older negs which received the afterbath still print very nicely. I find that Andrew is correct too - my PMK negs print very well using either PT/Pd or silver.

[Michael Kadillak]

Way back when at the first Large format Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico Gordon Hutchings stated in public during at least two public forum/discussions I attended that PMK was designed for and is optimal for enlarging and may not be optimal for contact printing. That is not to say that PMK is not an exceptional developer that could be used for alt processes. It is simply a statement from very skilled and seasoned photographers that suggests that if you are a photographer that contact prints there are other pyro developers that you might want to evaluate on your own. These alternative pyro developers are ABC, W2D2 and Pyrocat.

There are no rights or wrongs when it comes to a subject as subjective as this one.

At the end of the day it is simply about the finished product (the fine print) and the developer, while relatively important, is only one of several variables used along this journey of personal expression. The individual photographer needs to assess the capacity of his or her process and materials to get to where they feel they want to be.

Everyone gets all heated up about their chosen developer and defends it like someone was talking trash about your Mother. Who the hell cares as it is the diversity that we have access to that makes us who we are.

Cheers!

[Jim Noel]

The original question seemed to be concerned with getting adequate contrast with Efke 100. It took me a while experimenting with various developers and dilutions to get satisfactory results for salt and albumen prints. These included PMK, ABC, W2D2 and Pyrocat HD.

I have settled on Pyrocat HD, 4:3:1:100 ( the 3rd component is 0.1% ascorbic acid) Efke at EI 100, 72 degrees F, 14 minutes.

For alt processes requiring less contrast like Pt/Pd I use 12 minutes.

Is this the best solution? It is for me, but may not be for you.

[alec4444]

The original question seemed to be concerned with getting adequate contrast with Efke 100. It took me a while experimenting with various developers and dilutions to get satisfactory results for salt and albumen prints. These included PMK, ABC, W2D2 and Pyrocat HD.

I have settled on Pyrocat HD, 4:3:1:100 ( the 3rd component is 0.1% ascorbic acid) Efke at EI 100, 72 degrees F, 14 minutes.

For alt processes requiring less contrast like Pt/Pd I use 12 minutes.

Is this the best solution? It is for me, but may not be for you.

Thanks, Jim, that is in fact the problem I'm trying to solve. Out of curiosity, how did the other developers work for this film? I know David said he had decent results with ABC... W2D2 looks promising - the "blurb" on Freestyle says it hardens the emulsion a bit, which would be a definite asset for Efke 100.

Thanks!
--A

[David A. Goldfarb]

All staining pyro developers harden the emulsion by tanning the gelatin to some extent.

[John Bowen]

I personally use Pyrocat HD and love it with TMY and Azo contact prints. At the inaugural Fine Focus Fall Foliage Workshop (try saying that 3 times fast) in 2006, one of the participants brought 8x10 enlargements of negatives developed in PMK. Needless to say, her work and the quality of her prints just blew us all away. There was no evidence of grain in the final prints at all. I normally use HC-10 for my 35mm Tri-X negatives, but I wouldn't hesitate for a second to try and get my hands around PMK for 35mm film.