ilford pan 400 w/ PQ universal developer

[lovritos]

hello everybody!

i want to develop my ilford pan 400 fils with the pq universal developer.
i have searched the forum for previous threads and found some info regarding the relationship between the dillution and the grain/contrast of the developed film. unfortunately, i cannot find any suggested deveping times for the specific film.

anyone can share some info?

thnx in advance

 

[foc]

Not exactly what you are looking for but could be a start.

https://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?Film=&Developer=PQ+Universal&mdc=Search

I am sure Ian Grant would be able to give you the correct info.

 

[mrosenlof]

https://www.ilfordphoto.com/pq-universal-product is the product page. Ilford isn't recommending this as a general purpose film developer.

you can download the datasheet from that page.

 

[Agulliver]

PQ universal is not recommended for what you're hoping to do. It's mostly a paper developer suitable for RC and FB paper and can be used for tray development of some technical sheet films. I think it has been used for small tank development of 35mm films by experimental users and the results delivered very high contrast negatives. Is this your desired result?

I did dry using PQ Universal for film once...results were horrible and I actually threw the negs out. I think it was Paterson Acupan 200. I shot a test roll to see if the PQ Universal was promising for 135 film...and concluded that it wasn't.

 

[Ian Grant]

PQ universal is not recommended for what you're hoping to do. It's mostly a paper developer suitable for RC and FB paper and can be used for tray development of some technical sheet films. I think it has been used for small tank development of 35mm films by experimental users and the results delivered very high contrast negatives. Is this your desired result?

I did dry using PQ Universal for film once...results were horrible and I actually threw the negs out. I think it was Paterson Acupan 200. I shot a test roll to see if the PQ Universal was promising for 135 film...and concluded that it wasn't.

Actually it used to be many years ago, it needs dilutions like 1+19 or 1+29, it gives excellent fine grain and very clean negatives compared to ID-11/D76, I tested it with FP4 in the mid 1980's.

Ian

 

[lovritos]

hey guys
thanx for the responses

developed the ilford pan 400 w/PQ universal w/1:9 dillution and 3,5min of developing time.
degatives look great ;-)

 

[Ian Grant]

Not exactly what you are looking for but could be a start.

https://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?Film=&Developer=PQ+Universal&mdc=Search

I am sure Ian Grant would be able to give you the correct info.

Apologies I missed your post when I replied earlier, here's Ilford information from 1960. I'd have suggested the FP3 time. I did use FP3 while at school the development times were the same as for FP4. I was buying ex Government/Military surplus FP3 and HP3 in 100 ft lengths because it was a fraction of the cost of FP4 or HP4.

Ian

 

[Craig75]

Nothing wrong with using a pq paper developer for film in my experience. Champion have roll film times for their paper developer.

 

[Ian Grant]

Nothing wrong with using a pq paper developer for film in my experience. Champion have roll film times for their paper developer.

May & Baker (Chanmpion) Suprol was once used extensively in the Photo-finishing industry for B&W film development. They had a very extensive data-sheet which I seem to have lost, it was many pages maybe 15-20 and had detailed data on reversal processing. It gave recommendations for many types of processing, continuous machine, deep tanks, as well as small scale home use - hey recommended 1+19 or 1+29.

Ian

 

[Craig75]

May & Baker (Chanmpion) Suprol was once used extensively in the Photo-finishing industry for B&W film development. They had a very extensive data-sheet which I seem to have lost, it was many pages maybe 15-20 and had detailed data on reversal processing. It gave recommendations for many types of processing, continuous machine, deep tanks, as well as small scale home use - hey recommended 1+19 or 1+29.

Ian

The current datasheet just gives 2 dilutions and ranges of times. However, rightly or wrongly I'm not sure I'd be keen on a dilution of 1+19 for between 2 and 5 mins in a manual spiral tank.

 

[Ian Grant]

The current datasheet just gives 2 dilutions and ranges of times. However, rightly or wrongly I'm not sure I'd be keen on a dilution of 1+19 for between 2 and 5 mins in a manual spiral tank.

Well that's why they also give vague times for 1+49, the short times were for machine processing originally. Suprol has been reformulated I think since I last used it in the early to mid 1980's. I used to buy it in 25ltre containers and it was a touch more active than PQ Universal. I'll try and find the first advert for Suprol which was released mid to late 1950's, or possibly very early 60's.

I don't think current PQ Universal has quite as good a shelf life once opened since it went to using Dimezone instead of Phenidone. this is important when using a developer at high dilutions as any deterioration (oxidation) will be exaggerated by dilution. With prints dilutions are lower and you're generally doing test prints as well but with films you want to take no risks.

Ian

 

[foc]

I remember when I worked in a wholesale lab back in the late 1970's early 1980's they had a B&W hand line and Ilford PQ universal was used in a replenished system. I can't remember the dilutions ( it may have been 1+9 , we kept a hand written log of the reps and film numbers) but the time was 8 mins @ 20C for all films. ( I remember it well as the timer clock chimed every minute and alarmed at the end)

I say this review on First Call site for Champion Suprol Universal Developer.

"Forget Rodinal! Forget HC110! Forget D76!! Suprol diluted 1:100, stand develop for an hour with minimum agitation,result: beautiful fine grained HP5 negs with a full tonal range! It's my only developer now!!"

 

[Ian Grant]

I remember when I worked in a wholesale lab back in the late 1970's early 1980's they had a B&W hand line and Ilford PQ universal was used in a replenished system. I can't remember the dilutions ( it may have been 1+9 , we kept a hand written log of the reps and film numbers) but the time was 8 mins @ 20C for all films. ( I remember it well as the timer clock chimed every minute and alarmed at the end)

It was quite normal to have a standard development time for most films. Ilfor Autophen a PQ variant of ID-11/D76 was Ilford's commercial B&W D&P developer released around 1957, the recommended development time of films was 8 mins in tanks, 6 mins in photofinishing machines. Autophen was available as a Powder or Liquid, packaged as a powder in up to 4x 54 ltres (working solution) packs, and Liquid 22.5 litres (5 gallon) concentrated solution.

I don't know when Autophen went out of production but by the early 70's there were very few (if any) large scale B&W photofinishing lines left in the UK as most labs had switched to colour. I never saw Autophen on the shelves of my Ilford professional dealer but that was mid 70's however I never came across the name Autophen until quite recently although I'd seen the formula in Jacobson's Developing in the late 1960's while at school, it's listed as The Axford Kendal PQ Fine Grain Developer.

Remembering how detailed the Suprol datasheet was on commercial film processing it would make sense that PQ Universal could be used in a similar way, I do have a PQ Universal data=sheet from about 1980 but it recommends using ID-11 for films apart from technical films, line, ortho etc. However it suggests 1+9 for tray processing normal films, but no times are given.

Ian

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Ilford Pan 400?

 

[Ian Grant]

Ilford Pan 400?

On a factory tour we were told that Ilford Pan 100 & 400 are made mostly for the African market, they are simpler emulsions than FP4 and HP5 but keep slightly better in hotter climates/ The data-sheet for Pan 100 & 400 states they "are not generally distributed and sold worldwide, they are only made available in selected markets".

Some appears every so often in the UK they are made in 35mm and 120.

Ian

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

On a factory tour we were told that Ilford Pan 100 & 400 are made mostly for the African market, they are simpler emulsions than FP4 and HP5 but keep slightly better in hotter climates/ The data-sheet for Pan 100 & 400 states they "are not generally distributed and sold worldwide, they are only made available in selected markets".

Some appears every so often in the UK they are made in 35mm and 120.

Ian

Thanks, Ian.

 

[Craig75]

If people can get past the banal image, lazy scan, and dusty flatbed scanner, my only concern would be Op's short development time.

on the face of it the image attached looks fine - this was developed for 4 mins in microphen i think.

but... looking at the bucket and leg there is a weird blotchy effect which I am assuming is caused by such a brief time in the tank.

something for OP to look out for when it comes to printing.