Long lasting deep tank developers.

waynecrider · Apr 26, 2005

I need a long lasting developer for 4x5 deep tanks where I will be using floating lids for storage. A developer with the ability to prevent streaking for stand and semi stand developing would be a plus, but I could also just do the routine. Current film of choice is Efke PL100. I'll be contacting the negs for now.

k_jupiter · Apr 26, 2005

http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Harvey/harvey.html

Panthermic 777

tim in san jose

Earl Dunbar · Apr 26, 2005

k_jupiter said:
http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Harvey/harvey.html

Panthermic 777

tim in san jose

Well THAT was interesting. I sorta remember reading about 777, but never tried it. What confuses me is the conclusion at the end that it is not as well suited to outdoor shooting as studio with controlled lighting. First, isn't agitation the way to control that with 777? And, if highlights are well controlled with 777, can't you get good results with proper exposure?

Earl

k_jupiter · Apr 26, 2005

Earl Dunbar said:
Well THAT was interesting. I sorta remember reading about 777, but never tried it. What confuses me is the conclusion at the end that it is not as well suited to outdoor shooting as studio with controlled lighting. First, isn't agitation the way to control that with 777? And, if highlights are well controlled with 777, can't you get good results with proper exposure?

Earl

I think their thoughts are the difficulty of controlling the upper zones through process. I believe in process control and testing. If you have control of the process, the runaway effects of bright sunlight are reduced. I haven't seen any issues using the Adox 100 3x4 film in 777 at 75deg F. But testing is key to getting consitant results.

tim in san jose

Phillip P. Dimor · Apr 26, 2005

I was going to suggest 777 as well.. Acufine/Microphen have an outstanding life and i've used both for pushing 4x5 sheet film but i'm not sure if that's what you'd really want.

I'm interested in doing this as well, actually. After having replenished Acufine and loving the results, I'd like to maintain a 5gal tank with floating lid. Seems conveinent.

Phillip P. Dimor · Apr 26, 2005

Also please note, i've never tried 777 but have read about it's longevity and quality of results..

noseoil · Apr 26, 2005

Jim S. has been using 777 recently and has spent a little time with it now. Hopefully he can shed some light on this for you. tim

Ole · Apr 27, 2005

FX-2 is another longlasting developer - so my recommendation is "anything with Glycin in it".

c6h6o3 · Apr 27, 2005

noseoil said:
Jim S. has been using 777 recently and has spent a little time with it now. Hopefully he can shed some light on this for you. tim

I've been through two 4 gallon cases of it now. I simply refuse to use anything else as long as I can get it. It's very quirky developer, but the results are unique. One must believe Fred DeVan's admonitions about agitation and take them to heart. That's how you tame contrast with Harvey's 777.

It seems to lose significant potency after 6 months of use, so I dump half of my ripened gallon and fill the jug to the top at that time with freshly mixed developer. I use the rest of the new stock as replenisher.

I'm not actually using it the way Cartier-Bresson and Gene Smith and Fred DeVan did. They used 4 gallon deep tanks. I use 1 gallon in a tray.

I develop 400TMax in it by time and temperature and Efke R50 by inspection. If I could see anything under the inspection light with TMax I would do that by inspection too.

Take a look at the 3rd picture from the left on this page (thumbnails at the bottom). The one of the child turning the corner taken in Greece. That's the look you get with it. There's no doubt in my mind that 777 was the developer used for this picture. (The appearance of blown highlights is due solely to poor scanning. I've seen this picture in books and it's beautiful.)

HTH

Jim Shanesy

removed account4 · Apr 27, 2005

jim:

when you use the developer in a tray, do you just dump it back into the tank/bottle after use?

i had thought of changing developers and using 777, but it seemed to me kind of difficult to shake the jug.

are you buying it from blugrass packaging? or are you using the formulation on the unblinking eye? when i spoke with the folks at bluegrass, the lady who mixes it up told me the article was "way off" as to what they speculated the componants were, but they might have been just telling me that so i buy direct from them ...

-john

c6h6o3 said:
I've been through two 4 gallon cases of it now. I simply refuse to use anything else as long as I can get it. It's very quirky developer, but the results are unique. One must believe Fred DeVan's admonitions about agitation and take them to heart. That's how you tame contrast with Harvey's 777.

It seems to lose significant potency after 6 months of use, so I dump half of my ripened gallon and fill the jug to the top at that time with freshly mixed developer. I use the rest of the new stock as replenisher.

I'm not actually using it the way Cartier-Bresson and Gene Smith and Fred DeVan did. They used 4 gallon deep tanks. I use 1 gallon in a tray.

I develop 400TMax in it by time and temperature and Efke R50 by inspection. If I could see anything under the inspection light with TMax I would do that by inspection too.

Take a look at the 3rd picture from the left on this page (thumbnails at the bottom). The one of the child turning the corner taken in Greece. That's the look you get with it. There's no doubt in my mind that 777 was the developer used for this picture. (The appearance of blown highlights is due solely to poor scanning. I've seen this picture in books and it's beautiful.)

HTH

Jim Shanesy

Paul Howell · Apr 27, 2005

I have been thinking about 777 for the past 6 months, does anyone know what it costs and how is it shipped and mixed?

jim appleyard · Apr 27, 2005

Wayne, I don't know if pushing film is what you wish to do, but Diafine will last a long time. You will have to shoot your Efke 100 at a higher EI.

waynecrider · Apr 27, 2005

jdef said:
If you have room for another tank, you could use a divided developer.

If you're interested, I can forward the formula for Stoeckler's 2-bath, or my Rapid 2-bath, or both. Good luck.

Jay

I don't have a problem as far as tanks are concerned, I just need to do some + and - development if agitating. If anything I will need to contract develop.

I'm not weighing and mixing chemicals, so I need something pre-measured.

Actually FX-2 was a consideration, but maybe i'll look into 777 and see what it holds over other developers.

c6h6o3 · Apr 28, 2005

Paul Howell said:
I have been thinking about 777 for the past 6 months, does anyone know what it costs and how is it shipped and mixed?

pm me about this

Long lasting deep tank developers.

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