PMK for Platinum and Palladium

[nasser1]

I just got my PMK kit from Bostick and S. , this is my first experiance! when I

photograph for pt. pd, I rate my 400Tmy at 200.

Now! to develop, I red the instruction says part A:1, part B:2, and water:100.

would any one tell me is that right for my Tmax? any commants are helpful. I red

articls in the net but its not clear for me. Thank you in advance.

[brucecahn]

It is said that pyro is not that good with T Max. The best films for it are Bergger, soon to be available again, and Tri X. I use 9 milliliters of A and 18 milliliters of B added to 24 ozs of water. I That will work for any B&W film. The question is for how long? Also I do not bother presoaking the film (unless it is Rollei) and add the chemicals to the water with the lights on. It is a good idea to do some prints before you do a lot of film so you can determine the best developing time. The negatives should look thicker than for silver printing.

[lex_jenkins]

I might be disremembering, but I think Jay de Fehr recently said PMK has worked fine for him with T-Max films. (Hopefully he will correct me if I'm wrong.)

[jay_de_fehr]

Hello gentlemen,

 

Lex, your memory is crystal clear; the whole T-grain/pyro incompatibility issue is a myth and nothing more.

 

Nasser, Platinum printing is very averse to dense, low contrast negatives, so de-rating your film should be considered carefully. A good negative for Platinum printing is higher in contrast than one for silver printing, but should not be thick or dense, as that will only extend printing time and make for unsharp, muddy prints. Pyro stain is quite opaque to UV, so stained negatives print with more contrast than you might estimate by visual analysis. In very general terms, I would suggest you expose at box speed, or a little more, and develop 50% longer than normal for silver printing. Good luck!

 

Jay

[patrick_gainer]

By all means test before you use anything to get any important end result. The staining of negatives by pyrogallol is what makes PMK and related developers valuable for printing on platinum or palladium as well as VC and graded papers easy. Pyrocatechin and hydroquinone are other staining agents used for this purpose. Negatives developed in staining developers often look low in contrast to the eye, and to VC papers as well, but print well on Platinum and graded paper, and with proper filtration on VC,