BJP Metol Carbonate film developer - any experiences?

[el wacho]

BJP Metol Carbonate Film Developer;

metol.......................17gr
sod. sulphite..............125gr
sod. carbonate...........175gr
pot. bromide...............1.8gr
water........................1000ml

does any one have any experiences/comments/insights with/about/into this developer?

thanks.

 

[Harold33]

BJP Metol Carbonate Film Developer;
metol.......................17gr
sod. sulphite..............125gr
sod. carbonate...........175gr
pot. bromide...............1.8gr
water........................1000ml
does any one have any experiences/comments/insights with/about/into this developer?

I do'nt know this one but the pH is so high (more carbonate than sulfite !) that, with modern films, even if you dilute 1+2, dev. time must be less than 3 mn.

What do you expect of this formula ?

 

[Gerald C Koch]

The British Journal of Photography as the place to start for more information.

 

[Tom1956]

I believe I'd be very wary of that formula. Something isn't right. Looks more like it would be a fair paint stripper.

 

[TheToadMen]

Find the magazine it was published in, then check the next issue if they posted an erratum ...

Or just mail them and ask (and let us know what they said).

 

[Ian Grant]

The BJPA was/has always been a particularly good source of formulae.but which year was this taken from, I have at least 50 different copies

Ian

 

[el wacho]

sorry folks, should have put times. was hoping to hear from a user.
times are ( from the 1963 journal i have thanks to İan ),

@21c

1:2 6'
1:5 15'
1:10 30'

it is recommended that the carbonate be kept in a separate solution.

interesting features are the ratio of metol to carbonate being 1:10 approx.
it is recommended that the Kbr be dropped for higher dilution use.

compared to other metol only developers such as d76h, d89, beutler's et al, the alkaline-developing agent ratio is very high.

thanks.

 

[Ian Grant]

Two points, first this is a slow working general purpose developer it's listed as being a "Classic Almanac formulae" along with other developers that had largely gone out of use. Secondly the Sodium Carbonate weight is for Crystalline form the amount of anhydrous Carbonate needed is very significantly less - 64.8gms as opposed to 175gms. (The sulphite weight given is cryst as well).

It was a developer designed to lower contrast and is actually quite similar in proportions to Ilfod ID-3 and Kodak D165 (Selectol Soft). It's not designed to be fine grain and predates the wide spread use of 35mm films.

The developer was listed first at a time George Brown was BJP editor and he was an award winning chemist and a contemporary of GEK Mees of Wratten and Wainwright (later head of research and Vice President of Kodak).

BJPA Metol	ID-3	D165
Metol	17	6	6
Sodium Sulphite (Anhyd)	62.5	25	25
Sodium Carbonate (Anhyd)	64.8	37	37.5
Potassium Bromide	1.8	1	1
Water to	1 litre	1 litre	1 litre
Use	1+2, 1+5, 1+10	1+3	1+3

So in fact the ratio of Metol to Carbonate is less than 4 compared to the fractionally more than 6 in ID-3/D165 and there's a little less Sulphite as well. If anything it'll be marginally softer working.

Ian

 

[pdeeh]

I happen to have a BJP Annual (not Almanac) from 1964 where the formula is given as

Metol 17g
Sodium sulphite (anhyd.) 62g
Sodium carbonate (anhyd.) 75g
Pot. Bromide 2g
Water 1l

"A clean soft working developer giving soft gradation and full shadow detail. Excellent for portraits and subjects of strong contrast ... Also useful diluted 1+1 as a soft gradation print developer."

Development times are given (for 70°F) as 6 mins for 1+2, 15 mins for 1+5 and 30 mins for 1+10, but these are referenced to films which no longer exist of course.

 

[Ian Grant]

Looks like a bit of rounding off on the weights, but interestingly the 75g Carbonate would be the same as the eralier version if it was the mono-hydrated form. It may be an error. The formula was dropped in the 1965 BJP Almanac.

Ian