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Who is using pyro?


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I am in the process of reopening my wet darkroom. When I was last doing a lot of work there, about 2003, I shooting Tri-X and processing in PMK. Looking into the various pyro developers available today, I am wondering if I should make another choice.

 

I want to avoid mixing powers so I need a liquid developer. What are other using? With what film combinations? Positives? Negatives? (No pun intended) . . .

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What format are you considering using Ed? The diffused stain effect of pyro, or any such dye producing developer, has a different look on small formats than larger ones.

 

I last experimented with a home brewed Phenidone-Ascorbate Borax developer. Very reliable and all ingredients but the Phenidone are easily obtainable from "high street" sources.

 

Never been a fan of pyro after a bit of a disastrous first try, so I'll say nothing against it or in its favour.

 

"I want to avoid mixing powers...." - That might be difficult unless you stick to commercial products. A bit limiting in formulary too, since Pyro developers oxidise readily.

Edited by rodeo_joe|1
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Don't use Pyro much anymore, especially given some of the other developers out there. HC-110 mentioned; Rodinal (as Adonal) works well with a variety of films, and the Photographer Formulary (Developers - Film - Page 1 - Photographers Formulary) has a number of liquid options as well (like the Buetler developer they have particularly). I have even used PF equivalent for Dektol for standard "negative" processing, and as well used it as a developer for making B&W slides from negative film from Peter Carter's methodology. This is with 35mm, 120, and 4x5, with Tri-X, Double X (5222), Tmax (TMY-2 and TMY), HP5, Fomapan type films. Good luck!

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Yes . . . Well . . . There are plenty of liquid pyro options and most of those address the oxidation problem very well. I am not talking about mixing from scratch. I have been doing this, off and on, since about 1973 so I am very familiar with other options such as HC-110. My concern with mixing powders is specifically about pyro because of the toxicity and risk of inhalation.

 

Photographer's Formulary is a great site and, in fact, it is the number pyro formulations in addition to PMK that drove my question in the first place..

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1827076409_2k17-042-002ces5.thumb.jpg.9e4b1d5ad04c91280e279142ffcd0972.jpg Hello everyone. Ed you picked a good time to jump back into film & use a pyro developer. Formulary sells the PMK Pyro material in either dry or liquid form. Also available is Pyrocat HD & MC formulas, again dry or wet. DIY and you have 510-Pyro or Obsidian Aqua, plus there are several other formulas that I have not tried.

While any form of pyro chemical demands some attention to details while mixing, you are in greater danger next to a smoker than mixing a batch of pyro up.

Venture over to the Classical Manual Camera forum and you will find a bunch of us there using the above pyro developers with a mix of films & formats. As a note, 99.99 % of my work since the late 90's has been with some form of pyro or staining developer. I go over to the "dark side" now & then with Rodinol, semi-stand. Example is from an Agfa Isolette 3 (Apotar), Ultrafine Xtreme 100 film (UFX100), Obsidian Aqua developer (Cathecol form of Pyro) & Epson V600 scan. Aloha, Bill

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The current Pyro developers allow me to use 400 asa materials in both 120 & 35mm formats with excellent results. 8x10 prints (digital) from scanned 35mm negs are EZ & every once in a while a full sized 11x14 makes it into a frame around the apartment. Here is Kentmere 400 in 35mm. Fed-3/Jupiter-8 combo, again with OA & a V600 scan. Aloha, Bill1528200888_2k17-037-006ces13bc4x6.jpg.59b9f3118f968ed5773ef1938033ffb3.jpg
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