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Question re: Rodinal, Ascorbate & T-Max100


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I've read with interest the discussions about using sodium ascorbate with Rodinal. Two questions:

 

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1. Can I mix the ascorbate with water in advance, and store it for later use, or would it deteriorate (so that I need to mix it up just before developing)?

 

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2. I've used Rodinal 1:100 with T-Max 100 with some success, but a 1:50 dilution is suggested in the sodium ascorbate combination. Would a 1:100 w/ascorbate mixture work as well or better than a 1:50 dilution?

 

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Thanks

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I wouldn't mix pure ascorbate solution unless I use it

immediately.

 

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By the way, why you want to use Rodinal? I don't understand! :-)

Just get phenidone or metol somehow, and you can easily make

carbonate from baking soda. Or even simpler, try Ilfosol-S if

you don't want to mess with powders.

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I used Rodinal 1:100 and it worked fine (rotary processing); I found a speed loss of 1/3 stop using Rodinal w/ascorbate (three different films) while curve shapes and development times remained the same.

 

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For TMX and Acros I just couldn't see much point in adding the ascorbate, even when examining the negs at 30x. While it did significantly improve HP5+ in Rodinal I decided I could "improve" it lots more by just using D-76H 1:3.

 

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Anyway, it dissolves easily so it's no problem to mix on-the-fly.

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"I decided I could "improve" it lots more by just using

D-76H 1:3."

 

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Except nightscapes, I always felt that TMX in D-76 1+3 type

formulae and Microphen 1+3 tends to be dull, while I like

HP5+ in D-76H 1+1 and ascorbate version even more. Do you

think rotary agitation makes any difference given

appropriate adjustment is made for processing time? I doubt

it has any significant effect with TMX, but I thought you

might have some insight here.

 

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Also, you once said PMK is a fad these days. Did you have

experience or opinion about pyrocatechin based formulae?

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> Do you think rotary agitation makes any difference given appropriate adjustment is made for processing time?

 

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In making the transition from intermittent agitation to rotary processing I discovered that the curve shapes of Delta 100, Delta 400, TMX, HP5+ and Delta 3200 remained virtually identical.

 

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> Also, you once said PMK is a fad these days. Did you have experience or opinion about pyrocatec

 

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No, but you guys got me to thinking about it in another thread so I just ordered ingredients for Pyrocat-HD to give it a try. I'm often faced with shadow areas in deep shade and brilliant sunlit clouds and what I've read about it indicates it may be worthwhile.

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I have some new data on my site about Pyrocat-HD. See <a

href=http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/PC-HD/pc-hd.html> Testing

Pyrocat-HD</a> by Clay Harmon. I find Pyrocat-HD to be virtually

equivalent to PMK, except that its stain is a different color. The

stain color affects how it prints on VC papers, but that normally is

not an issue for me.

 

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I do not believe pyro developers are a fad. I have reproduced an

article by Bob Herbst (originally published in View Camera), entitled

<a href=http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Pyro/pyro.html> The Effects

of Pyro Stain in Platinum Printing</a>, that clearly proves that

staining developers (in this case the W2D2 pyro formula) can

reproduce a longer tonal range than conventional developers (in this

case D-76) for both platinum and silver. The extended tonal range is

particularly important for me, since I photograph almost exclusively

in Texas, Mexico, and the Southwest, where I encounter bright sun and

deep shadows in the majority of my photographs. See particularly

Herbst's <a

href=http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Pyro/Figure_4/figure_4.html>

Figure 4</a>.

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> stain is a different color. The stain color affects how it prints on VC papers, but that normally is not an issue for me.

 

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The stain color is part of what put me off on pyro (Rollo/Leban); I normally print on VC paper and the stain color was rather too much. I don't do platinum although I'm sure it's something I'll have to dabble with at least sooner or later.

 

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> that staining developers (in this case the W2D2 pyro formula) can reproduce a longer tonal range than conventional developers

 

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I agree with that. I got a tremendously long range with Rollo but what bothered me was that all the compression was at the high end when printing the negs on VC paper. Yes I know the solution is to print on graded paper <G> but that's not the way I want to go. What I'd like is something between Rollo and D-76.

 

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One thing I didn't find; do you do an afterbath (developer or Kodalk) or not with Pyrocat?

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When I compared PMK and Pyrocat-HD in the past, I wrote: "Pyrocat

negatives print much like PMK negatives on VC papers, but require

less exposure on graded papers than similar PMK negatives, because

the brown stain doesn�t inhibit the blue light that paper is

sensitive to as much as a yellow stain would. Sandy King has stated

that alternative process printers who print with UV light sources

find their exposure times reduced with Pyrocat-HD when compared with

print times from pyro negatives."

 

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I've never used Rollo Pyro, so I don't know it's characteristics. I

have found that if I print PMK or Pyrocat-HD negatives on VC paper I

need number 3 or 4 filtration to boost contrast in the high values,

which in turn increases exposure times. But I've gotten exquisite

results with Bergger CB Warm grade 2, Ilford Galerie grades 2 and 3.

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