Superfine grain film developer

<p>I've been playing with this formula for a few years, on and off, refining and tweaking here and there, and now it has become my primary developer for all films and formats. The advantage of superfine grain for small formats is obvious, but the advantages for larger formats might be less so. In short, improved scanning benefits any format that is scanned, and those benefits also apply to optical enlarging. Halcyon produces negatives of very high resolution, with extremely fine grain, but best of all, very fine gradation. TMY-2 developed in Halcyon is a dream combination, but it works well with all the films I've tested. Halcyon gives normal development times and full film speed, but tolerates overexposure better than underexposure. As with all superfine grain developers, there is a risk of dichroic fog, so fresh fix should be used as a preventative measure. Halcyon makes possible high enlargement factors without compromising image quality. While the superfine grain is the most obvious characteristic, it is the total image quality package that makes Halcyon my primary developer. <br /><br />Halcyon<br /><br />DH2O (distilled water) 750ml<br />PPD (paraphenylenediamine) 7g<br />Sodium Sulfite 50g<br />Salycylic acid .5g<br />Ascorbic acid 3.5g<br />DH2O to 1 liter<br /><br />Develop TMY-2 7:30, 70F, IA<br /><br />Halcyon-Replenisher<br /><br />DH2O 750ml<br />PPD 10g<br />Sodium sulfite 50g<br />Salycilic acid .6g<br />Ascorbic acid 5g<br />Triethanolamine 10ml<br />DH2O to 1 liter<br /><br />Replenish by bleed method, 25-50ml/ roll or equivalent<br /><br />PPD is toxic, so use appropriate precautions.</p>

<p>Cool</p>

<p>How would TMY compare, with this process, with say Tech Pan/Technidol as far as grain goes? Have you used any other films with this process? Sounds awesome!</p>

<p>Jay, Aren't you the mad chemist<g>? So PPD is not known to be high accutance; a) are you equating "very high resolution" to high accutance, b) if so, what part of the formula do you attribute that to? Also, does this work for slow films? ISO 25 range? Did you ever test for a target pH for the developer? And finally, did you compare it to something like Silvergrain's formula for DS-12? It would be fun to do some testing of your forumula, but PPD and I don't get along well<g>. Thanks for publishing this Jay.</p>

<p>Shawn,</p>

<p>TMY-2 is not as fine grained as Tech Pan, even developed in Halcyon, but the grain is invisible up to about 8X enlargement, even with one's nose to the print. That equates roughly to Tmax 100 developed in Xtol, which is very fine, indeed.</p>

<p>Michael,</p>

<p>I don't equate resolution to acutance. Resolution is defined as the ability to resolve very fine detail, with the standard measurement being made in line pairs per millimeter. Acutance is a subjective appearance of sharpness, and in some ways is opposed to resolution. High resolution requires fine grain, while sharpness can appear greater with an increase in graininess. Acutance is more directly related to prints, while resolution can be measured in a negative, or a scan of a negative. Grain interferes with scanning, and does not confer the same increase in apparent sharpness it can to a print. So, for negatives to be scanned, resolution is more important than acutance. <br>

PPD and ascorbic acid are superadditive, and make an excellent developer pair, giving superfine grain (PPD), high resolution, due to the surface development properties of ascorbic acid, full film speed, and excellent gradation. <br>

The pH of Halcyon is around 7.8-8.0. Halcyon is not very similar to DS12, despite sharing some ingredients. DS12 is an acutance developer using very small quantities of developing agent in a dilute solution of high pH value. I borrowed from Suzuki the idea to preserve the ascorbic acid with salicylic acid, which seems to work very well. </p>

<p>The slowest film I've tested with Halcyon is Pan F+, which works great, and the finest graned film I've tested is Acros, which also works great, so I would expect to get excellent results with an ISO 25 film. </p>

<p>PPD is toxic, which is one reason its use was discontinued in favor of less toxic agents like metol and hydroquinone, which have themselves been replaced by phenidone and ascorbic acid in many modern commercial formulas, but no commercial formula produces results similar to Halcyon. Anther reason PPD fell out of favor was the development of finer grained films, and the fact that most PPD formulas imposed a speed loss of one to three stops. In a way, PPD and ascorbic acid were separated by history, and I know of no other formula that uses the pairing. I use safe lab practices in my dark room, and I'm confident m exposure to PPD is well below the safe minimum. I don't encourage anyone to use PPD who doesn't take safe practices seriously. </p>

<p>Oh, I see what you're doing with the salycilic acid. That's brilliant. Are you going to pre-package the formula? Any particular reason you call it Halcyon? Mysticism/Mythical basis?</p>

<p>Questions about this developer:<br>

Does it provide normal contrast? Any scanned examples yet?<br>

Keeping properties once made?<br>

Is PPD easy to buy and is it inexpensive?<br>

Does PPD store easily?<br>

"Develop TMY-2 7:30, 70F, IA" < I know IA refers to agitation method but could you be more specific?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot. This sounds very interesting.</p>

<p>= Tom<br>

<br /></p>

<p>Is it possible to replace the PPD to OPD which is less toxid and have less stains.</p>

<p>Michael,<br>

Halcyon is rich in metaphor and associations for me. </p>

<p>Tom,<br>

Yes, Halcyon provides a normal range of contrasts, and is suitable for expansion and contraction development. Keeping properties are similar to Xtol, or better. PPD can be purchased from Photographers Formulary for $24/100g, and keeps well on the shelf. IA = Intermittent Agitation, 10 seconds/minute, normal inversion agitation. </p>

<p>Robert,<br>

OPD is less effective than PPD, and costs film speed. Halcyon doesn't stain. </p><div></div>

<p>Photographers Formulary do not ship paraphenylenediamine outside the US.</p>

<p>Is it worth trying CD4 color developing agent in its place? Use the same weight?</p>

<p>Alan,<br>

I have no idea. I don't think any of the alternatives to PPD are as effective. I wouldn't know where to begin suggesting a substitution rate, or what effects a substitution might have on the resulting developer's characteristics. </p>

<p>Thanks Jay, and keep of the great work.</p>

<p>Your website says you reside in Idaho. What a lovely area with some many great photo ops. - you are very fortunate. Hope the winter has been a good one for you. Take care.</p>

<p>- Tom</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks, Tom. This has been the best winter of my life, and I hope the same for you. </p>

<p>Be well</p>

<p>Jay:<br>

Been following your posts regarding your home brew developers for quite some time now. Do you have any idea how this "superfine" developer compares with Microdol-X? I have been using Microdol-X at 1:2 and 1:3 for some time now and have been happy with the results but I also like to experiment a little also.<br>

Thanks,<br>

Jeff </p>

<p>Hi Jeff,</p>

<p>Halcyon gives much finer grain than Microdol-X stock, and better film speed. Microdol-X film speed gets better with dilution, but grain gets coarser, too. Evaluating grain in prints is very difficult with Halcyon, because of the enormous enlargement factors required to see it, even with small formats and fast films. I can't find grain on which to focus with my grain focus scope. Scanning at high resolution can be useful, but the accuracy relative to printing is questionable. </p>

<p>Thank you, Jay for that. Quite ground breaking. I have a curly question. How do you think it might go with Imagelink-HQ?<br>

I am trying to tame this film and have heard that C-41 developers are useful for microfilm to obtain pictorial quality. My PPD is 50+ years old and quite black but I remember that the results were soft but not quite sharp, using Pan-X and similar. I am into Minolta 16mm here.<br>

I could try CD-4 but will order in from Canada some PPD if necessary. I am in Australia. Basically looking for some words of encouragement. :-)<br>

I was unaware that VitC and PPD were superadditive but then, who has tried it before?<br>

My tiny sample of salicylic acid has vanished - it must vaporise (can't remember the correct word but will think of it tomorrow) if not closed tightly. I could maybe try aspirin.<br>

Any hints much appreciated</p>

 

<p><strong>Jay</strong>, as I can understand you use PPD base? or some salt of PPD?</p>

<p>Murray,</p>

<p>Sorry for the delayed reply, I didn't see a notification in my inbox. Coincidentally, I've been shooting a lot of Imagelink HQ lately, and the best developer I've used for it is the following:<br>

A<br>

Propylene Glycol (PG) 70ml<br>

Phenidone 7g<br>

Ascorbic acid 1g<br>

PG to 100ml<br>

B<br>

The alkali can be adjusted for the contrast desired. Good results can be obtained from the following, highest contrast to lowest, diluted 1:1:100* with the A solution and water to make a working solution:</p>

<p>Sodium carbonate 10% solution <br>

Sodium metaborate 10% solution<br>

TEA (triethanolamine) 99%<br>

Borax 10% solution<br>

*Sodium sulfite 10% solution (use for diluting A solution 1:100)<br>

The attached image was made with Imagelink HQ EI 25, developed in the above developer diluted 1:1:100 with 10% sodium carbonate solution, 6min, 70F, agitated 10 sec/minute.</p>

<p>Andre,</p>

<p>The PPD I use is: Paraphenylene diamine (1,4-Benzenediamine,1,4- Diaminobenzene) Flakes, CAS # 106-50-3, C6H6N2</p>

<p>I hope this helps. I just developed a roll of 35mm TMY exposed in an adorable little Chinon Bellami compact camera, in a liter of Halcyon I've been using/replenishing since September and the negs are drying now. They look pretty good! I'll scan a frame or two and post something later. </p><div></div>

<p>Jay, Murray,<br>

formula of PQ developer for Imagelink HQ reminded me some other receipt for high-contrast technical film. <br>

Phenidone 1g<br>

Hydroquinone 2g<br>

Sodium Sulfite 30g<br>

Sodium Carbonate 10g<br>

KBr 1g<br>

Water 1l<br>

I found this formula in patent US4205124 "Low gamma photographic developer". I was modify it with added some KBr. This is very active developer. I'm need only 2min for developing PolypanF 50 with push +1 with acceptable contrast</p>

<p>Jay,<br>

I haven't PPD base, only PPD.2Cl. no problem to make PPD base: 18.1g of PPD.2Cl + 8g of NaOH = 10.6g of PPD base. so I will try this receipt, because have very good experience with other PPD-based developer - Meritol-Metol. HP5+@400 15min produce very fine negatives with grain and contrast less than in D76 stock<br>

<img src="http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7804/img0068003.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Wow! Thanks Jay and Andre. The sample, Jay, looks great. Reminds me of the Camaro I just sold.<br>

I have been struggling for ages to get somehting acceptible and the best so far has been a D-76-like 1:10 with the pH pulled down to about 8. Only problem is repeatability. Test charts look excellent but real life strips are just not right at all. My exposure guestimates could well be my downfall.<br>

These 2 will give me encouragement to continue the battle.<br>

I am using 16mm and have 600' of the stuff. :-(<br>

The supplier of chems in Canada has gone out of the supply side and PPD is off the menu for me until I can find another. Possibly European.<br>

Thanks again guys.</p>

<p>This is really interesting developer. I finally pushed myself to order ascorbic and salicyl acid and results are amazing. PPD as a developing agent itself has tendency to let grain grow to enormous sizes in lights, but with ascorbic acid are results virtually grainless even with 3-stop overexposure.<br>

Thank you Jay for bringing this formula to light.</p>

<p>Hi karol,</p>

<p>I'm glad you're getting good results. I like this developer very much. Thanks for your kind words.</p>

<p>I've used ascorbates with CD-2 (ppd derivative before) also combined with phenidone.</p>

<p>I've stumbled on something which may trump even ascorbic acid which I do not believe has ever been used before.</p>

<p>I've used ascorbates with CD-2 (ppd derivative before) also combined with phenidone.</p>

<p>I've stumbled on something which may trump even ascorbic acid which I do not believe has ever been used before.</p>

<p>Well, Dan, don't keep us all in suspense; what is this mystery ingredient?</p>