P-phenylene Diamine

I received a four gallon case of 777 panthemic developer last week ans was able to do a little film testing with Delta 100. So far I find a IE of 80 with development time of 7'30"
with 15 sec initial agitation then 3 inversions per 30 sec @ 24 C. The results were outstanding - extreme acuity, superfine grain. smooth tonality, excellent highlight and shadow detail.
By the way, what were the specifics of your development of TMY ?

In 1940, Morris Germain, ARPS, Published a little book titled: Darkroom Handbook and Formulary. On page 86 under "Other Finegrain Formulas" is the following:

"Finegrain Developer"

"The following is the author's own finegrain formula. Many of his friends and former students are using it with consistently good results."

Distilled water (125 deg. F) 665 ml
Metol 7.0 grams
Sodium Sulfite, anhydrous 70.0 grams
Paraphenylene Diamine (base) 7.0 grams
Glycin 7.0 grams
Distilled water, cold, to make 1000 ml

"Use without dilution at 65 deg. F. Developing times: Slow film 10 minutes, fast film 15 minutes. Developing time can be changed to meet individual requirements. For replenisher, use the same formula. Enlargements of 15 to 25 diameters, dependent on the film speed, can be made without showing grain. Its keeping qualities are practically inexhaustible."

Gee Tom where were you during the debate on Photo.net- just kidding? Everyone was looking for just such a source as it was speculated Morris was the father of the 777 formula. Thanks for the info!

garryl said:

Gee Tom where were you during the debate on Photo.net- just kidding? Everyone was looking for just such a source as it was speculated Morris was the father of the 777 formula. Thanks for the info!

Click to expand...

Thanks, garryl!

First, I had to find (and buy) the reference. Morris Germain's "Handbook" is a very interesting little book. It is one of the LITTLE TECHNICAL LIBRARY books published in 1940 by the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company.

Tom Hoskinson said:

In 1940, Morris Germain, ARPS, Published a little book titled: Darkroom Handbook and Formulary. On page 86 under "Other Finegrain Formulas" is the following:

"Finegrain Developer"
"

Click to expand...

yep, this is it. I am letting you all know I haven't abandoned this thread. I have been using this developer for a couple weeks now. I still have to get my act together and do the testing on Classic200 from J&C. So far it looks great with a development time of 7 minutes at 78 degrees. Yes, I work rather slow, I did get the 4x5 Classic200 out of the fridge yesterday and will do the BTZS tests, maybe tonight. Work has it's nasty habit of getting in the way of fun so sometimes it takes awhile.

The other films I have an idea of testing this with are HP5 (for my 2x3 sheet film) and Efke25 (for 4x5). I plan on standardizing at 75 degrees as this is well within the useful range of the developer and it easy to get to that temperature summer or winter around here.

And yes, as reported, the stuff smells odd but good.


tim in san jose