• Welcome to Photrio!
    Registration is fast and free. Join today to unlock search, see fewer ads, and access all forum features.
    Click here to sign up

Adox CMS 20II in pota


Thanks. There's one more low contrast developer of some repute - Delagi 8 which is a variant of POTA that I came to know through @gorbas:

Water @38C: 500 ml
Sodium sulphite: 25 g
Phenidone: 1.4 g
Borax: 0.8 g
0.2% BTZ solution: 15 ml
Water to make: 1 l

Use one shot. Process at 20C. Intermittent agitation with initial 20 seconds of agitation followed by 10 seconds every minute thereafter. Normal developing time is 15 minutes (for Kodak Technical Pan at EI:32-64).

The developer is claimed to give a normal contrast range of 7-10 stops with Tech-Pan.

(This version of Delagi 8 formula appeared in Popular Photography May 1985.)

I might give this a try.
 
I think the overriding opinion would be that CMS20 II and Adotech IV is the perfect match up for full tone normal looking negatives, go wacky at your peril. But fortunately for enquiring photographers other alternatives are genuinely out there, like my preference for 510 Pyro, just let's stop blaming the film given all the backup info behind it.
 

@Rudeofus: Are these the developers you're talking about?
20 g/l Na2SO3 + 1 g/l Ascorbic Acid
20 g/l Na2SO3 + 1 g/l Ascorbic Acid + 1 g/l Phenidone
20 g/l Na2SO3 + 1 g/l Hydroquinone
20 g/l Na2SO3 + 1 g/l Hydroquinone + 1 g/l Phenidone
20 g/l Na2SO3 + 1 g/l Catechol
20 g/l Na2SO3 + 1 g/l Catechol + 1 g/l Phenidone

Which one do you recommend the most for Adox CMS 20ii to get maximum speed? What is the prescribed agitation scheme?
 

I'm just finishing up a video comparing three developers, with Adotech IV. Xtol, POTA, Caffenol. Encouraged by the results, I'll probably do a part 2 with other developers, such as 2-bath Pyrocat-HD, LC-1B, H&W Control, maybe even D-23...
 

I would definitely not recommend the versions without the Phenidone, these will show little to no development at all. All the other ones with Phenidone, Sodium Sulfite and some secondary development agent worked well according to the original thread author. I personally would avoid the ascorbate version unless you have a sound method for dealing with iron and copper ions.

I could ask the original author about results with formula 4 and 6, if this helps you.
 
From the Film Developing Cookbook , TD-LC 103 worked well with CMS20II at EI =12
 
I'm just finishing up a video comparing three developers, with Adotech IV. Xtol, POTA, Caffenol. Encouraged by the results, I'll probably do a part 2 with other developers, such as 2-bath Pyrocat-HD, LC-1B, H&W Control, maybe even D-23...

Sounds interesting, Andrew. Is this a comparison of CMS20 in these developers?

Thanks

pentaxuser
 
Try looking for that thread again - some of it is accessible.
 
Thanks I look forward to the videos. As long as you are able to speak clearly while chomping on your donuts feel free to continue to do so

pentaxuser

My mum taught me to never speak with food in mouth... doughnuts okay, though.
 
And with Timbits, the offence is, at most, momentary

I'll stuff a Timbit in each cheek, and make like Marlon Brando, in The Godfather
 

This is interesting, thanks Alan. There's also the Anneman-Gainer developer which is frugal in its use of Phenidone and yet has a tendency, according to the person who worked on it, for uneven development. Interestingly, this developer has been used to push process CMS20II (EI:80) with some success.
 
Out of curiosity, would Technidol developer ( designed for Kodak Technical Pan film) work with CMS20? I still have one of the packages of Technidol ( somewhere) but have never compared the two films.
 
There was also a thread here with the title "A very low contrast, low pH, full speed POTA variant", but it seems to have dropped of the face of the internet.

This thread?

 

Wow, you found it! I swear, that a couple of days ago neither duckduckgo nor google were able to find it. Yes, that's the one.
 
I contacted Michael (the thread creator) and asked him about this developer and its applicapility to CMS II.

With his permission I will quote some part of his responses:

I should add to this, that control of fog is paramount to keeping grain in check. If you want to use CMS II for its potential resolution advantage over TMX, try to avoid fog even if it costs half a stop of film speed.
 
I contacted Michael (the thread creator) and asked him about this developer and its applicapility to CMS II.

With his permission I will quote some part of his responses:

Thank you Rudy (and also Michael). This is good info and I guess 20g/l sulfite, 0.5g/l Dimezone-S and 0.35g/l ascorbic acid would be a good starting point, but how much KBr should be used? If there is a specific instantiation of Michael's low contrast developers that he recommends for CMS 20ii, it would be very valuable.
 
I can forward this info to Michael, but here is my view on this: Sodium Sulfite is an extremely weakly buffered alkali, and as soon as buffering action sets in, its pH is already too low for developers. You will therefore get widely varying amounts of restrainer depending on your specific stash of bromide and how you mix the whole thing and how long it sits there after you mixed it.

Remember also, that these amounts of Phenidone don't dissolve easily in water, therefore it's tempting to start with Phenidone stock solution in Propylene Glycol. However, I vaguely remember Mark Overton's (@albada ) observation, that the presence of Propylene Gylcol somehow changes the properties of PC type developers. Oh, and your Phenidone is certainly fresh, because nobody ever bought a larger stash and kept it for years

This means, that there are lots of variations to be expected, and one recipe working perfectly for one may cause either significant fog or speed loss for someone else.
 
Although Adox CMS20 II is the best known one, there appears to be a later film Spur Ultra R 800 which has a slightly higher speed in its dedicated developer and I have been using this. Mine is edge marked "Spur Orthopan UR"

Ultra R 800 = Orthopan UR


The slight differences evoked at processing at the dedicated Spur developer aside, the Ultra and the CMS are described with identical characteristics.
 
Remember also, that these amounts of Phenidone don't dissolve easily in water, therefore it's tempting to start with Phenidone stock solution in Propylene Glycol.

I haven't tried and have no plans to try either, but there is a patent that describes several methods to prepare readily dissolvable salts of Phenidone/Dimezone:

Here is one method:
"Compound II [Dimezone-S] (1.0 g) in THF (35 ml) and ether (20 ml) was mixed with 5-sulphosalicylic acid (1.27 g) in THF (15 ml) at room temperature. The solvent was evaporated to give a fawn solid Yield 1.81 g (80%)."

@Nikola Dulgiarov might be able to comment on the feasibility and effectiveness of the methods described in the patent.