steve sherman Posted October 31, 2002 Share Posted October 31, 2002 Has anyone experimented with ABC Pyro and FP4 and HP5. I shoot 5X7 FP4 and 7X17 HP5. I have been using PMK with what I thought were nice results. I have read allot about the ABC pyro and wondered what others might say. Any time and temp staring points. Thanks Steve Sherman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_wellman Posted October 31, 2002 Share Posted October 31, 2002 I shoot mostly BPF 200, but still use HP-5 occassionally. I have recently swithched over to ABC pyro and found it works much better than PMK for both films. There is an excellent thread on this topic of PMK vs ABC pyro at www.michaelandpaula.com in the Azo forum. Take a look there for a very informative discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_de_fehr Posted November 1, 2002 Share Posted November 1, 2002 Hi Steve. I shoot HP5+ in 8x10 and develop in ABC Pyro by inspection and love the results I'm getting. I should say that I'm new to 8x10 and ABC Pyro and Development By Inspection and HP5+ is the only film I've ever used in 8x10. I'm finishing up my third box of 25 sheets. Before I tried ABC Pyro, I used the same developers that I used for med. format; D76,and Xtol. All of these developers have given me great results but there are differences. D76 and Xtol produce negs and prints that are hard to tell apart with a soft look and creamy smooth skin tones, but some tendency to block up in the highlights with the contrast that I like. I seem to get a little more shadow separation with Xtol than with D76, but like I said, they're hard to tell apart. The negs developed in ABC Pyro are easily distinguishable as the stain gives the negs away, but the prints really tell the story. They have a quality that is hard to describe. They're tack sharp, but have a smoothness to them, especially in the highlights where I'm used to fighting for detail. I shoot portraits, and when developing by inspection I develop until the facial highlights come through the base side with authority, about zone 8 or even 7 at around 10 min. This could be fairly described as masochism with D76 or Xtol, but the ABC delivers beautifully separated, delicate detail throughout the highlights, with no penalty in the mid tones which have a buttery soft look, or the shadows which hold detail where I hadn't noticed it existed. I've never used PMK, and wouldn't even consider it for contact printing, because I love the results from ABC too much to use anything else. I might give it a try for my med. format stuff, if I ever shoot any more.4x5 is probably a good test for it, as I enlarge it, but only to 8x10, and ocassionally 11x14, so grain will be negligable. I was advised to use ABC Pyro for contact printing over PMK by people who are very knowledgeable and reliable, and I thank them for it now. For what my novice opinion is worth, I love the combination of HP5+ and ABC Pyro. I can't recommend it highly enough. Good luck.-jdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
light-zone Posted November 1, 2002 Share Posted November 1, 2002 I use HP5+, rated at ASA 320. Using my spotmeter, I read the deepest shadows where I want to have detail, and expose at that reading. Development in ABC 1:1:1:7 @ 70-72° by inspection. The negs are usually done at between 8.30 - 9 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_freeman Posted November 1, 2002 Share Posted November 1, 2002 you, or anyone involved with pyro, must go to the azo forum at michael and paula's website. anything you need to know is already there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy_p_guet Posted November 1, 2002 Share Posted November 1, 2002 After some trials with PMK and modified PMK for printing on Azo, I now use ABC (Michael Smith's formula) with 8x10" HP5. Good results, beautiful negs and prints (as Jay said), in fact the best I ever got (but I am new in 8x10"). To get good shadows on Azo, I must rate HP5 at 100-125 ISO (traditionally placing important shadows in III). With D76, I had to rate HP5 at 250, but in ABC the negs are very underexposed at this speed. N development with 4 sheet in 1 liter in trays is about 7' at 20°C. Density range between I and VIII must be about 1.5 or 1.6. ABC hits strongly in highlights, it's hard to control it. For contrasty subjects, I think it's almost impossible do down highlights decreasing time, it needs another dilution. For flat subjects, it's easy to increase time, but another way with shorter time would be to add C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve sherman Posted November 1, 2002 Author Share Posted November 1, 2002 Thanks for yourt thoughts, as always this forum is the greatest. Steve Sherman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_a._smith1 Posted November 1, 2002 Share Posted November 1, 2002 There are several extremely thorough discussions about ABC Pyro on the Azo Forum at www.michaelandpaula.com. As Joe Freeman said, it is already there. The Forum will be organized by topic this weekend so that similar threads can be compared. From everything I hear and read, what I have been recommending for years: ABC Pyro, Development by Inspection, Azo paper, Amidol, does yield the finest results for most everyone who tries it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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