Moersch SE6: Two Questions

Yesterday I tried Moersch SE6 Cold Blue developer for the first time. Two interesting things occurred:

1) With Adox MCC 110 the results were fabulous. However, I can't tell any difference whatsoever when I had 0 Finisher Blue, 6 ml Finisher Blue, 12 ml Finisher Blue, and 18 ml Finisher Blue in the developer (I used 1200 ml of working solution), with the exception that the higher amounts of Finisher Blue lead to a slightly less dense image and need a bit of compensation. None of the prints have any blueish tint at all, although they definitely are cool/cold tone.

Where is the blue tint? Will it come out in selenium?

2) While I had the developer already mixed, i thougtht I would try it with Slavich Unibrom 160 as well. I tried two times and both times the paper came out completely white...it didn't develop it all all. At first I thought maybe the SE6 was exhausted, so I tried another Adox 110 print with it and it worked fine - came out beautifully.

I can only think that somehow either my Slavich went bad and won't develop anymore, or is it possible that SE6 and Slavich are not compatible?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

I do not use that developer but I have "discovered" the MCC paper lately and love it. I have no idea what happened to your Slavich but I do believe that the MCC image tone is not going to be as cold as you will get with some other papers. One of the reasons I really like MCC is that it is pretty warm - not over the top warm tone like some warm tone papers but more warm blacks than cold blacks. The impression that they are cool at all surprises me considering that I would guess based on my developers and this paper that the coldest it would get is neutral.

I seriously doubt that you will actually get "BLUE" with any paper but I could be wrong as I said I don't use this developer but I have never ever seen a paper developer that actually produces the color blue - cooler blacks yes - actual color blue - no.

Ps I know you are going for cold but IMO the MCC is wonderful looking in plain old Dektol.

RB

Hans,

I have seen much cooler tones with D-72 1+1 compared to Moersch SE6.

Tom

Tom Kershaw said:

Hans,

I have seen much cooler tones with D-72 1+1 compared to Moersch SE6.

Tom

Click to expand...

Tom,

I don't mean to argue with you on this as I have never ever used SE6. I just want to clarify something and if I am way off feel free to discuss.

My recollection is that D72 and Dektol are for all intents and purposes pretty much the same thing when used at similar dilution. I do not find that Dektol is the least bit "cold" when used with MCC relative to other "cold" developers that I have tried it with. Actually none of them that I have could be described as "cold" with MCC. Of course I use Dektol at 1+2 because I am way to cheap to use it at 1+1.

One question for you re: 1+1. As I will never try this because I am cheap and don't really like super cool tones (for my work I like neutral bordering on the warm side with clean whites) Is D72/Dektol noticeably cooler with MCC at 1+1 vs 1+2 - my gut tells me it probably is not but like I said - have always used 1+2.

I do know Dektol can be quite cool when used with paper that trends that way but not with paper than does not (Based on using it for 25 years)

RB

RB,

I've not actually tried MCC in D-72 1+1 yet, instead processing in a standard PQ universal type developer, agreeing with you that Adox MCC is not going to produce sustainable cooltones in direct development. However, when processing ILFORD Cooltone RC paper, D-72 does produce much more of a blue-black tone compared to the SE6 paper developer.

I have been using D-72 at 1+1 dilution mostly because a more concentrated solution of D-72 should be able to produce cooler tones, and also because Richard J Henry recommends 1+1 for tonal distribution and D-max; - would need to check references.

Tom

I've been using MC110 for quite awhile and one of my issues is that it doesn't really tone in selenium the way say, Oriental or Bergger does. Those papers get a hint of blue in the cold blacks that I really like. When I couldn't get Bergger for awhile I moved to the Adox and thought it was fine but was disappointed in toning results.

I had planned to try toning at a higher dilution but have yet to do that. I had heard about the Moersch from a friend who is going to try the SE6 and Blue finishing combo that you mention to try to get better results. For my part, I've gone back to Bergger now that it's available again but want to keep Adox in the mix. I'll try the combo you mention and will try Adox in a higher dilution than 1/20 for selenium. I've been using Neutol Plus (RIP) and Clayton Ultracold.

I have used SE6 but not with the finisher blue. With MGWT I was amazed at how well it cooled it. There is a hint of blue. I would imagine the finisher blue would produce a more "blue" tone on a warmtone paper. Also, how long are you developing for? You need atleast 3 minutes with SE6.

Moersch Blue Finisher is a bentotriazole additive. It not only slightly cools image tone, but, first and foremost, it is a restrainer. The reason your Slavich paper is not developing is likely that it is more affected by the amount of restrainer in the developer than the Adox. There is probably nothing at all wrong with it.

Higher amoungs restrainer in your developer normally results in your needing to expose and develop longer. The amount of each depends on the paper you are using. Slavich apparently needs a lot more of both.

Your Slavich will do just fine in a developer without so much restrainer.

Best,

Doremus Scudder