MAJOR NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: SILVERGRAIN

Digitaltruth Photo announces the release of the Silvergrain range of photo chemicals, formulated by Ryuji Suzuki.

This is a truly exciting announcement because Silvergrain products are the first to make use of the latest research in modern photo chemistry and represent a major advance over other products currently on the market. Quite simply, Silvergrain is the best photo chemistry that has ever been produced.

Silvergrain b/w chemicals are formulated with the following aims:

*to reduce toxicity beyond levels currently available
*to maximize shelf-life and longevity of all solutions
*to produce the finest results possible
*to provide unsurpassed archival quality

SPECIAL PRE-LAUNCH OFFER

All products will be available for shipping on May 30th, but we are offering special pre-launch pricing THIS WEEK ONLY. For more information please visit:

http://www.digitaltruth.com/store/silvergrain.html

The first phase of products includes:

Tektol Standard - is a liquid concentrate print developer designed to maximize the paper's natural image property with rich blacks and natural whites. Tektol Standard is the ideal choice for printers who stock a warmtone paper, a neutral paper, and a coldtone paper and select the paper to meet the desired image quality, and is further optimized to produce the maximum effect when used in conjunction with print toners.

Tektol Neutral - a liquid concentrate print developer designed to provide neutral black tones with most papers. Some popular papers tend to provide slightly warm blacks or olive blacks when processed in a standard print developer, but this developer will minimize this bias while maintaining rich blacks and bright whites. Tektol Neutral is the ideal choice for printers who prefer a neutral black tone out of their favorite papers.

Clearfix Alkaline - a standard archival rapid fixer, ideal for both films and prints. This rapid fixer is designed to expedite fixing as well as the washing speed, without any adverse effect to the image quality or permanence. Most films and RC papers can be washed to the archival level in a matter of minutes. If you are still using an acid rapid fixer, this is the product you have been waiting for to speed up washing and achieve archival standards.

Clearwash - a wash aid supplied in convenient, highly concentrated liquid stock. Clearwash works very similarly to Kodak Hypo Clearing Agent without the mess of powder chemicals. Unlike many other wash aid products being offered in liquid concentrate form, this product is designed to optimize the shelf life as well as the tray life of the solution and improves archival quality.

More products, including film developers, will be added to the Silvergrain range in 2006-7. Silvergrain products are available exclusively from Digitaltruth Photo.

Are these products equivalent to Suzuki's published formulas (DS-14, DS-15, etc.), and if so, what are the equivalences? I use some of these in home-made form and having them ready-made could be handy in some cases, but I'd like to know whether what I'd be buying is equivalent to what I'm already using. Thanks.

Jon,

Are you an APUG sponsor? Posts in this forum are supposed to be for sponsors only. Your profile only says you are a member.

roteague said:

Jon,

Are you an APUG sponsor? Posts in this forum are supposed to be for sponsors only. Your profile only says you are a member.

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Yes, I am a sponsor. I don't know why this isn't indicated correctly, but you can see our logo on the sponsors page. I'm sure Sean will fix it.

Yes, Digitaltruth is a sponsor.

Yep, DT has been a sponsor for quite a while now.

R.

srs5694 said:

Are these products equivalent to Suzuki's published formulas (DS-14, DS-15, etc.), and if so, what are the equivalences? I use some of these in home-made form and having them ready-made could be handy in some cases, but I'd like to know whether what I'd be buying is equivalent to what I'm already using. Thanks.

Click to expand...

The Silvergrain products are based on Ryuji Suzuki's published formulae, but they are not the same. Silvergrain ready-made chemistry is superior to the published formulas and includes proprietary enhancements. The formulas for DS-14 and DS-15 were produced during the initial stages of research into the use of these compounds, but the formulas have been considerably advanced since that time. What you will find is that characteristics of the products are similar, but that the Silvergrain range we are manufacturing has a host of other improved attributes.

This is exciting stuff. Jon, do you have any idea when you'll have the film developers out?

srs5694 said:

Are these products equivalent to Suzuki's published formulas (DS-14, DS-15, etc.), and if so, what are the equivalences? I use some of these in home-made form and having them ready-made could be handy in some cases, but I'd like to know whether what I'd be buying is equivalent to what I'm already using. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Tektol Standard (1+9) is an improved version of, and the closest to DS-14. Tektol Neutral is Tektol Standard's cooler brother. It's recommended if you feel DS-14 or Tektol Standard is a bit too warm with your paper. Neutral version is also recommended to remove greenish bias from papers that tend to produce it. What if Tektol Standard is too warm (or greenish) but Neutral is too cool? Mix 'em. They can be mixed at any proportion and you get an intermediate result accordingly. With the dilution range from 1+9 to 1+14, and blending between Standard and Neutral, you can customize your print developer, without handling powders, to match the subject matter, your favorite paper, and your taste. (I keep two small jugs of Tektol Standard 1+9 and Tektol Neutral 1+9 when I work in my darkroom, and mix them in a tray on the fly. I personally think it's very convenient. It took me some time to convince Jon with this idea but I hope creative photographers will see the merit.)

Clearfix is an alkaline rapid fixer concentrate. Unlike the formula I have somewhere on the formula section of APUG, Clearfix is pH BUFFERED, meaning that the fixer resists from acidification when used together with acid stop bath.

Clearwash is a sulfite-based washing aid but also has some fine tuning so that the working solution keeps better. It's also pH buffered and works nicely together with Clearfix. I don't know if I posted any washing aid formula on APUG, but I put a mix-it-yourself version on the Clearwash description (which you can click on the digitaltruth storefront page). Yup, I know I'm crazy to do this, but again, the production formula is given a few improvements to extend keeping property of the concentrate as well as the working solution. There's no good way to test if washing aid is still good or not, and this is an unwanted risk, so I decided to make sure that the working solution keeps significantly longer than the plain sulfite/metabisulfite solution.

Peter De Smidt said:

This is exciting stuff. Jon, do you have any idea when you'll have the film developers out?

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I wanna know that, too!

There is no specific date set for the release of the film developers. We intend to begin product development shortly, and start field testing as soon as possible. I hope we can release the film developers by the end of 2006, but we this will depend on how long it takes to successfully complete the field tests.

"Quite simply, Silvergrain is the best photo chemistry that has ever been produced."

Oh. Okay.

Isn't that something that needs to be earned rather than claimed ?

If it IS good, you don't need to hype it. Not here.

good luck

d

df cardwell said:

If it IS good, you don't need to hype it. Not here.

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I agree. (But at the same time I am not the one who's doing the sales/marketing/all other business.)

One thing I can say is that the production formulae are no worse than my published formulae, and you see how people comment on the published versions.

Ryuji,

What is your recommendation for replentishing the paper developers in a slot processor? I"m finally going to get my homemade 20x24 processor up and running this summer.

Peter De Smidt said:

What is your recommendation for replentishing the paper developers in a slot processor? I"m finally going to get my homemade 20x24 processor up and running this summer.

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Wow, 20x24 processor! My Nova is only 12x16 size, so for 20x24, I use a single-tray method.

So you know I solved the technical part of your question a long time ago when I bought my Nova in 1990s...

They didn't manufacture Tektol Replenishers this time, but, as you suspect, there is such formula. If they decide to offer Tektol Replenisher at some point, that'll keep your tank running for very many papers without total replacement of the solution.

The close next best option is to top up your tank with the same developer solution to make up for the fluid loss. When you notice significant extension of development time is necessary, you want to start over the tank. In reality, the fixer gets exhausted at some point anyway, and you might want to replace the whole tank at that point, or every other time the fixer is replaced. So this is still a good option. (If I were the business person, I would tell you this part first!)

I don't anticipate a problem with most common papers. Some paper emulsions, like Kodabromide, Brovira, Ilfobrom Galerie, Multigrade Cooltone, etc. may be faster in exhausting the developer than most other papers. It's kinda detail but you might want to keep in mind if you use mainly these papers.

Thanks for the clearer answer to my original question!

Ryuji said:

What if Tektol Standard is too warm (or greenish) but Neutral is too cool? Mix 'em. .... It took me some time to convince Jon with this idea but I hope creative photographers will see the merit.)

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I seem to recall reading advice about doing this with other developers, too, like Dektol and Selectol. I've never done it myself, but it seems like an idea that's established enough that it shouldn't take much convincing.

I put a mix-it-yourself version on the Clearwash description (which you can click on the digitaltruth storefront page). Yup, I know I'm crazy to do this

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I wouldn't say so. It's sort of like open source software. On the face of it, who'd pay to buy a copy of Red Hat Linux or OpenOffice.org when you can download them for free? In fact, lots of people do pay for these products because the commercial versions have small improvements, come with support, etc. Closer to home, Kodak sells gobs of D-76 and Dektol, even though the formulas (or very close analogs to them) are readily available.

Another factor is cross-recommendations. As a user of DS-14, I can now recommend Tektol Standard to somebody who wants a liquid concentrate paper developer that works like DS-14. Even if I keep using my home-made DS-14, that gains sales for Tektol Standard. Sales losses can occur if/when users of the bottled products switch to mixing their own, but I expect most of those losses would have occurred anyhow.

Finally, providing the formulas adds to the comfort level. With manufacturers closing up shop and dropping products left and right, knowing that a formula (or even just a close cousin to it) is available online means that investing in learning the subtleties of a new product won't be in vain, even if the product disappears from the market.

Ryuji said:

I agree. (But at the same time I am not the one who's doing the sales/marketing/all other business.)

One thing I can say is that the production formulae are no worse than my published formulae, and you see how people comment on the published versions.

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I hope it's very successful for you.

The sales / marketing problem is hard to solve: your work is quite elegant, the marketing needs to suggest a depth and clarity-of-purpose to the designs.

best of luck

df

srs5694 said:

I seem to recall reading advice about doing this with other developers, too, like Dektol and Selectol. I've never done it myself, but it seems like an idea that's established enough that it shouldn't take much convincing.

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Most manuals use those two developers in succession and vary the time. But the idea is similar, except that the technique I described is strictly for hue control and not contrast.

Another factor is cross-recommendations. As a user of DS-14, I can now recommend Tektol Standard to somebody who wants a liquid concentrate paper developer that works like DS-14.

Click to expand...

I know Jon prepared my published formulae and tested them himself first, but I also think that Jon was happy to set up the manufacturing side and pay for the initial investments because of this effect...

Finally, providing the formulas adds to the comfort level. With manufacturers closing up shop and dropping products left and right, knowing that a formula (or even just a close cousin to it) is available online means that investing in learning the subtleties of a new product won't be in vain, even if the product disappears from the market.

Click to expand...

Well, I'm still young and don't plan to stop using film. There should be a way to manage risks like you said and still provide convenience of buying a ready-to-use mix. For example, I understand taht Crawley publishes the formula for discontinued Paterson products that he designed.

srs5694 said:

Thanks for the clearer answer to my original question!



I seem to recall reading advice about doing this with other developers, too, like Dektol and Selectol. I've never done it myself, but it seems like an idea that's established enough that it shouldn't take much convincing.



I wouldn't say so. It's sort of like open source software. On the face of it, who'd pay to buy a copy of Red Hat Linux or OpenOffice.org when you can download them for free? In fact, lots of people do pay for these products because the commercial versions have small improvements, come with support, etc. Closer to home, Kodak sells gobs of D-76 and Dektol, even though the formulas (or very close analogs to them) are readily available.

Another factor is cross-recommendations. As a user of DS-14, I can now recommend Tektol Standard to somebody who wants a liquid concentrate paper developer that works like DS-14. Even if I keep using my home-made DS-14, that gains sales for Tektol Standard. Sales losses can occur if/when users of the bottled products switch to mixing their own, but I expect most of those losses would have occurred anyhow.

Finally, providing the formulas adds to the comfort level. With manufacturers closing up shop and dropping products left and right, knowing that a formula (or even just a close cousin to it) is available online means that investing in learning the subtleties of a new product won't be in vain, even if the product disappears from the market.

Click to expand...

Glad to see this, Ryuji!

Great news!

Ryuji said:

I agree. (But at the same time I am not the one who's doing the sales/marketing/all other business.)

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I disagree. The claim that the products are the "best" is a statement of fact. Of course, facts are open to dispute, but life would be boring if we limited our ability to express ourselves to purely descriptive language. Everyone is free to disagree.

The products have been formulated to maintain or surpass existing standards of quality and archival properties, and have lower toxicity than other commercially produced photo chemicals. By this measure, Silvergrain products are the best. Of course, photography is a creative business, and I am not disputing the qualities available in other products, many of which may also be the "best" for particular applications or effects. What is the best for me may not be the best for someone else, etc... etc... At the end of the day this is a press release, and its purpose is to raise awareness about the products: there is no intent whatsoever to make unjustified claims and I trust that people will pardon the sales patter and try the products for themselves.

See my post on the EXOSURE FORMUM. I hope I didn't miss something on you website.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are ahead of schedule and the SILVERGRAIN products are now shipping!

The special discount prices will remain available until next Tues (May 30th).

--Jon