Halcyon developer - one of a kind...

[Mikhailc]

Several years back a photographer from US Jay DeFehr published this his recepy on the Large format forum:
https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/archive/index.php/t-71010.html
I came across this article a year ago and decided to give it a try... I have not regrett! Dispite presence of PPD in the mixture - this developer let you to keep ISO resobably high ( I noticed just small changes in sensitivity on several different films I have tried so far) The grain is really small.. strange - but at the same time acutance is OK - I would not say great, but comparable to "normal", not super-fine grain developers - like D-76, ID-11, etc.
Just wondering - if somebody also is using this fantactic formule, so generously giisclosed by mister DeFehr ?
From my side - I'sd like to thank this photorgrapher and great person - this developer has become one of my favorites.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Try pyrocat mc and get back to me

 

[Pat Erson]

I truly wonder if PPD is that easily available...
Anyway it scares the hell out of me so I'll stick to D-76.

 

[Mikhailc]

I truly wonder if PPD is that easily available...
Anyway it scares the hell out of me so I'll stick to D-76.

Our food we eat is coming from "high tech agriculture" - - tonns of different chemicals, some of them are way worse then PPD.... Actually - if you want to colour black your hair - 90% probability that barbers would use PPD or some of it's derivatives - . Dont be scared! In US PPD is available. I have found it locally too - it is black, but still works fine.

 

[Alan Johnson]

The former ultra fine developers using PPD as a grain solvent were replaced by Perceptol and the former Microdol-X, but Jay uses a novel combination of PPD and ascorbate and it appears from the link that this gives finer grain than D76 type. But as mentioned above PPD is difficult to obtain in some countries.

 

[Murray Kelly]

Mikhailc, I was particularly intrigued by your comment that PPD works even when black.
I have a lump that looks like coal so perhaps I should experiment with it.
The combination was new to me too, Alan, but since then I have seen some others that pre-dated it.