Acros 4x5 in PMK pyro

[Baxter Bradford]

Having made use of the deal at Robert White (my local toy shop) mentioned elsewhere on the forum to stock up on Velvia, I now have a box of Quickload Acros which I would like to use and process in my normal PMK dev.

I see from other threads that I ought to rate between 50 and 80, watch out for the annoying hole in the emulsion when composing and will have fun tearing the packets open whilst trying to leave the film intact....I do hope it is worth it!

Would welcome advice on dev times for the PMK at std temp. I use a Combi tank to process. For my other film types I have found no need to deviate from Gordon Hutchings' figures, once I expose at the correct ISO.

Many thanks

Bax

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Cannot comment on PMK, but the hole I think is great! Hung up by little hooks to dry in the shower...they never fall, no drying marks. The hole is right in the very corner and to me presents no problem. Acros is stunning in Dixactol, so PMK will likely be great too!

Tom

 

[Robert Hall]

Acros in PMK is fantastic. If I could afford it, I would use it and none other. I would probably fall off my barstool to hear what a 12x20 sheet would cost. Anyway, I process for Palladium printing, so my negs tend to be on the dense side, but I would suggest PMK, 70F, const agitation for around 11 minutes.

Good luck,

 

[Baxter Bradford]

Many thanks
Tom, interesting that you got a good result in DiXactol. I tried it a couple of years ago in Exactol lux and didn't fare well. Got something resembling cabbages on the film(!) and very uneven development. My friend had the film shipped in from Badger in USA and we thought it might be the film. Obviously from your observations, it must have been me! I still have a small amount of Exactol and DiXactol, not nearly enough for 20 sheets though.
Robert, glad to see that you regard it that highly. I shall use your suggestion, but in light of my experiences above, shall attribute no blame! But will give praise when it works.

Bax

 

[Tom Stanworth]

Many thanks
Tom, interesting that you got a good result in DiXactol. I tried it a couple of years ago in Exactol lux and didn't fare well. Got something resembling cabbages on the film(!) and very uneven development. My friend had the film shipped in from Badger in USA and we thought it might be the film. Obviously from your observations, it must have been me! I still have a small amount of Exactol and DiXactol, not nearly enough for 20 sheets though.
Robert, glad to see that you regard it that highly. I shall use your suggestion, but in light of my experiences above, shall attribute no blame! But will give praise when it works.

Bax

Problems of cabbages, hmm. I take it you had wild staining patterns. I have that once when some work was done on the water supply in my area (water tower was cleaned out). I did not twig for some time, but as the problems did not exist before and disappeared with distilled water use subsequently, I cannot think of anything else. I have since moved, so never got to see if the water reverted. Some sediment had come thru the pipes too which probably really screwed things up, tho this was a week or so before I dev'd the ill fated film. Where I live now, Pyrocat HD is fine with tap water, tho I have only tried with other films.

Tom

 

[Baxter Bradford]

Well I developed 3 sheets in PMK at 70 deg F with agitation every 30s for about 12 min, (combi tank emptying is slow). The results are very impressive from the 3 different subjects. If only I had remembered to allow for the hole in the emulsion in my composition......

It is almost certainly not 3 times better than other films, which it needs to be in terms of price.
Best news was an absence of cabbages, or anything nasty. The film was clear as bell.

Thanks for all help on this.

Bax