my first 2 bath development using pyrocat

[Willie Jan]

I took a photo in my stillife-studio. the range was about 11 stops of light.
next i developed it with a 2 bath to see what happens.

What you see is a scan of a printed photo. It's no scan of a neg.

5 min. in A and 10 minutes in B.
Should I agitate the B component continiously?
I see strokes in the areas.

For as first attempt i did not expect this to go that well.
Are there any pitfalls when using this technique??

 

[pgomena]

I had a similar experience the first time I tried this exact process. Agitation is the answer. I use it for roll film. Presoak 5 minutes in water, agitate first minute in A, followed by at least two more agitation cycles, dump A (you may save it for re-use!) and add B. Agitate B vigorously for first 10-15 seconds, gently on the remaining cycles. Make sure your film has plenty of room to move in the canister. The vigorous first agitation in the B solution is the key. Then 5 minutes in water, vigorous agitation at first, then gentle again for remainder of cycle. This sorted out my problem with uneven areas in sky and other unmodulated tones.

Peter Gomena

 

[Willie Jan]

I had a similar experience the first time I tried this exact process. Agitation is the answer. I use it for roll film. Presoak 5 minutes in water, agitate first minute in A, followed by at least two more agitation cycles, dump A (you may save it for re-use!) and add B. Agitate B vigorously for first 10-15 seconds, gently on the remaining cycles. Make sure your film has plenty of room to move in the canister. The vigorous first agitation in the B solution is the key. Then 5 minutes in water, vigorous agitation at first, then gentle again for remainder of cycle. This sorted out my problem with uneven areas in sky and other unmodulated tones.

Peter Gomena

Hi,
thanks for your help.

I did not presoak, because I do not want water absorbed by the film, but A. That's what I read on the net...

Ok, So when I pour B in i have to shake it for 15 seconds. Do I have to keep agitating the remainder 4.5 minutes in B or just for example 2 inversions each 30 seconds?

 

[sanking]

Hi,
thanks for your help.

I did not presoak, because I do not want water absorbed by the film, but A. That's what I read on the net...

Ok, So when I pour B in i have to shake it for 15 seconds. Do I have to keep agitating the remainder 4.5 minutes in B or just for example 2 inversions each 30 seconds?

The pre-soak is useful with many modern thin emulsion films but is not needed with most traditional grain films.

The main consideration with both Solution A and B is to get the film in the solution as quickly as possible, and agitate vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Any delay in beginning agitation can cause problems.

After the initial agitation I recommend agitation for 10 seconds every minute. If you get any streaking or uneven development with this routine, try continuous agitation. However, the main cause of uneven development is failure to begin agitation as soon as the film hits the solution.

Sandy King

 

[pgomena]

The first time I tried the divided method, I was pouring solutions in and out of approximately 1 liter stainless steel tanks. Part of my solution was to start a more complicated method of using several larger (approx 2 liter) tanks open in the dark. I move the film on the reels from solution to solution so that I can get the film into each bath quickly and agitate thoroughly by lifting and rotating the reels with a stainless lifter wire. I put a light-tight lid on the tank with the film in it so I don't have to have the lights on all the time. Now I can develop 4 rolls of 120 at a time without unevenness. The tanks are available very cheaply used these days.

Peter Gomena

 

[Willie Jan]

Thanks Sandy & Peter,

I am going to do a 2nd test with this information.
Now I must wait for some sun....

Willie Jan.

 

[Manuel Orellana]

I have been absent for a while I hope I am posting this in the correct way.
Hi everyone,
I have few rolls of acros 120 rated at 160 that I would like to develop in Pyrocat HD following Sandy King protocol published in the large format forum in 2014 using intermittent agitation in reels. I was wondering what would be the dilution and developing times.
Thank you kindly for you time.

 

[Willie Jan]

normally i develop my acros 120 1:1:100 for 12 minutes rated at 100 at 20 degrees celc.

So when you underexposed 2/3 stop, i would expect about 17% extra time (normally 25% for 1 whole stop).