HP5 Plus Large Format Sheet Film in PMK Pyro?

I am starting a new journey of testing large format HP5 Plus sheet film in PMK Pyro. I am using PMK Pyro because I am making Pt/Pd contact prints. I welcome any comments, tips, advice, lessons learned, etc. from HP5 Plus LF sheet film users with PMK Pyro.


Thanks

Tim

Since trial and error will be more expensive and time consuming than printing with silver based paper, I'd probably avoid a staining developer with UV printing. There is no easy way to determine the negative density to UV light.

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When I was using PMK, in an open tray with constant agitation, i.e. shuffling film, my time for HP5+ was: EI 400 PMK Pyro 1:2:100@20C, 14:00 minutes, for Pt/Pd printing.

I forgot, do not put the negative back in the spent developer after fixing.

I used rapid fix, contrary to conventional wisdom, without problems.

FredW said:

I forgot, do not put the negative back in the spent developer after fixing.

I used rapid fix, contrary to conventional wisdom, without problems.

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Yes, skip the after bath, it only builds base+fog. Hutchings agrees. I use TF4. When I have used acid I have had some pinholes with some old style emulsions. In regard to calibrating density, since you will be calibrating your PMK negative to a specific emulsion(pt/pd), once you have arrived, you have arrived. It doesn't matter what developer you use, unless you change it. The blue channel on my densitometer gives consistent numbers. They don't actually mean anything though, outside what they mean as to how they print with my integrator. But as I said, once you've arrived, you arrived. Basically if you have a PMK neg that prints well with silver it will print well with alt process with little adjustment. That's what is so cool about them. I have been very satisfied with PMK specifically for pt/pd.
None of my PMK negatives have had any problems, but then again I don't leave them lying out in the sun.

Actually, one of the beauties of so many alt processes is that once you have the negative dialed in, there is no more trial and error, no more burning and dodging, so even with pt/pd, the cost per finished print goes way down. I'm pretty much at the 1st print is a good print point, sometimes I have to make a second print. Pyro-based developers are IDEAL for alt-process printing, especially if you get down the garden path a way and start doing salt prints or albumen prints, which need a really contrasty/beefy negative. Pt/Pd likes a somewhat beefier negative than silver - expose the same, then add maybe 20% to your developing time over what you'd need for silver and you're good to go. Cyanotypes need a negative with a compressed density range - over-expose by say 2 stops, then pull the development 20% to compensate so you have shadow detail without blown-out highlights.

PMK is a good pyro developer, but it is a speed-losing developer. You'll definitely need to add a stop to retain detail in your shadows with it. Look into Pyrocat HD or MC instead - you can expose at normal ASA. Get the MC if you're tray processing, as it will oxidize a little slower than the HD version and will be less likely to exhaust during an extended development session. No matter which version (PMK, Pyrocat, etc), use them 1-shot, do not try to replenish or re-use.

If you are using rotary processing PMK may not be the best choice. It can oxidize fast. There are several workarounds. One is to split the developer and change it halfway through the development time. Lot's of info on the problem so make sure you research it if using rotary.

HP5+ as well as other films of this speed do not expand as well as slower films. This causes some problem with getting sufficient D-Max to print well with Pt/Pd. It can be done, but often results in the whole scale moving up the curve and long printing times with insufficient contrast.