Efke 100 in Pyrocat HD

[Don48]

Was wondering if anyone could suggest starting development times for Pyrocat HD at 1:2 or 2:2 dilution for above sheet film (7x17), effective EI of 64. I usually pre-rinse for 2 minutes; develop in trays; and use constant agitation. Thanks for any advice/suggestions.

Don

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Don, welcome first off. I recently started shooting 8x20 Efke Pl100. My times have been the following. 5 minute presoak, 12 minutes development, stop, tf-4 fix and wash. I use the 2:2:100 Pyrocat-HD @ 72 degrees in trays one at a time. My EI was 100. I've printed my negs on graded paper. Mainly Slavich and Emaks. I hope this gives you a start. I am printing on silver paper and if you are going to do alternative processes you may need to adjust your times.

There are many more people on the forum who are more experienced than I and I hope they will chime in.

Jim

 

[Adrian Twiss]

Jim

Just come across this thread. You say that you develop 1 sheet at a time. I am just getting back into LF and although I have an HP Combiplan tank I have reservations about the time taking to fill and empty it. I am contemplating tray development (5x4 film in 10X8 trays) using semi stand development (Agitage for 10 seconds then 10 seconds every 3 minutes). Could you tell me how many sheets you get out of a single tray of solutiion and how much working solution you use.

Many thanks.

 

[edtbjon]

Adrian, check on unblinkingeye.org about semistand. Anyhow, I would recommend to give any stand or semistand development a good thorough agitation to start with, i.e. more like 30 sec instead of 10 sec in the beginning.
About volumes, I think 75ml/sheet is recommended at 1:1:100. If you dilute more, you have to see to using at least .75ml of part A for each sheet.

If you still want to use the CombiPlan, it should be fine as development times are quite long. (I take it you will dilute the dev. at e.g. 1:1:200 or so, for which times will come to 20-30 minutes with semi-stand.) In that case, the time it takes to fill/drain it doesn't affect theresults at all. Also check a recent thread on BTZS tubes which discuss stopping and fixing in normal light.

//Björn

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Jim

Just come across this thread. You say that you develop 1 sheet at a time. I am just getting back into LF and although I have an HP Combiplan tank I have reservations about the time taking to fill and empty it. I am contemplating tray development (5x4 film in 10X8 trays) using semi stand development (Agitage for 10 seconds then 10 seconds every 3 minutes). Could you tell me how many sheets you get out of a single tray of solutiion and how much working solution you use.

Many thanks.

Adrian, I generally can do 3 sheets because the tray is quite full. I use a special tray that is about 10x 22 inches and 3 inches deep. If i was going to do my 8x10 sheets i use a dilution of 1:1;150 pre-soak for 5 minutes and agitate for 1 1/2 minutes at first and then 10 seconds for every 3 minutes thereafter. I will extend the development to about 16 minutes. This is minimal agitation. I am developing my negatives for carbon printing now and I have not developed any film for a while so this is from memory. I develop at about 74 degrees F. When I do 8x10's i do them 4 at a time in hangers in a gallon tank. I get about 8-12 sheets per batch of developer. I think the total volume is 3800 ml. - 4000 ml. Pyrocat-HD is cheap so don't try to stretch it to far.
I personally would not try tray development for semi-stand. You will more than likely get uneven development unless you use a slosher system in the tray.

Jim

 

[AlanC]

Don,

I have developed quite a lot of 5x4 Efke 100 in Pyrocat HD. Like you I use trays, with continuous agitation -very gentle. But I don't pre-soak.
At 2+2+100, at 20 degrees C. my normal dev.time would be 15minutes.

Alan Clark

 

[LizAllen]

Hi, I have not been using Eke but am planning to. I normally have been using Bergger 11 x 14 sheet film and Tray develop 6 to 8 sheets at a time Pyro. pre soak 1 minute agitate 13 seconds shuffle agitate carefully through the lot turn around and again 2+2+100@72-74dg.F Question I read that a hardener is recomended for EFKE? I never have used a hardener with Bergger and was wondering if it is necessary?
Liz Allen

 

[trexx]

When I started processing Efke 4x5 I got some scratches. I have since become more gentle in my shuffling of the sheets and do not get scratches in processing. I do occasionally get clip marks where I place the hanger clip, that I do not see with most other sheet film. But as it is in the margin it hardly effect the image. Staining developers also tend to provide some hardening. Once the neg. is dried it appears no less fragile than any other neg.

If you work deliberately, aware the emulsion is softer then most, you should be alright.

 

[LizAllen]

Thank you, I will just work as normal. I usually use wooden clothes pins for hanging and I never have gotten a mark. Does Efke stain well?
Thanks

Liz

 

[trexx]

I have used both Pyrocat and PMK, both produce good results and stain. I remember that one of the two the stain was subtle, but there. I don't have the negs with me so I do not remember which it was.

 

[Lhoward]

Liz,

I am preparing to develop Bergger 11 x 14 in Pyrocat HD. How long did you develop for with this strength of solution? Thanks, LeRoy

 

[c6h6o3]

Was wondering if anyone could suggest starting development times for Pyrocat HD at 1:2 or 2:2 dilution for above sheet film (7x17), effective EI of 64. I usually pre-rinse for 2 minutes; develop in trays; and use constant agitation. Thanks for any advice/suggestions.

Don

I suggest you develop by inspection and then you'll always get the highlight density you want. You could start looking at 8 or 9 minutes.

 

[Mahler_one]

Efke and DBI

I suggest you develop by inspection and then you'll always get the highlight density you want. You could start looking at 8 or 9 minutes.

I agree about DBI which is, however, an "art" that takes some learning. With Efke 100 which I rate at 80, I use Pyrocat HD at 1:1:100, 75F. Of course, negatives will vary somewhat in the developing time, for as was pointed out, one is developing for the highlights. However, most of the time I find the negatives are "pulled" at 15-16 minutes with the extremes so far being about 14 minutes to as long as 18 1/2 minutes. As was pointed out, start to look at about 8-10 minutes are per the article about DBI on MichaelandPaula.com. The negatives are "parked" in citric acid stop, and then fixed in either TF4 or soon, the newer TF5. As an aside, I have had not problems with fading of the Pyrocat HD stain using TF4.

As a caveat, I have now switched to either Delta 100 or FP4. Although these films are more expensive than Efke 100, the occasional scratches on Efke were exasperating and not worth the heart-burn! Because Pyro developers are "tanning" and therefore hardening, I did NOT use a hardener before developing the Efke that I used.

Lots of good luck with your endeavors, and let us know how things are going for you!

Ed