panthermic B&W film developers

Anyone know of any panthermic (not fussy about temperature) B&W film developers currently available commercially besides Diafine?

AB55 and 777 seem to be history (as commercial products) as far as I can tell.

I've heard of a developer called DiLUXOL ULTRA FINE which I think may be panthermic but I know next to nothing nothing about it. Anyone know?

Published formulas would be fine too if anyone knows of any.

777 is still available from BPI (Bluegrass packaging).

^ Thanks. I couldn't find pricing/ordering info for BPI but I see that Photographers Formulary carries it.

BobD said:

^ Thanks. I couldn't find pricing/ordering info for BPI but I see that Photographers Formulary carries it.

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You have to call them. They don't keep it in stock all the time. If there's demand they'll make up a batch.

BobD said:

Anyone know of any panthermic (not fussy about temperature) B&W film developers

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777 is quite fussy about temperature. Also about agitation. By 'panthermic' is meant that it can be used effectively over a wide range of temperatures (60-80 deg. F, at least), not that its effects won't vary quite a bit with even a small temperature change.

Someone else beat me to the punch first. Panthermic in this sense is markettd to mean it produces similar visual results over a wide range of temperatures. It does need it's time varied to suit the temperature it is used at though.

I use one that is a home brew. Not necessarily true to the original, but I like how it works and looks like.

I only use it when I am in a phase of regularly shooting and processing at least a few new films every week. It needs to be fed regualrly to keep it's activity in line. It works best as a replenished developer.

The one I use also needs to be used above 72F to be said to be panthermic, because the glycin poops out at lower than that.

I mix it per information on Harvey's 777 found at the unblinking eye site.

700mL very hot (50c+ distilled water) 7g metol, 7 g paraphenyldiamine, 70g sodium sulfite, 7 g glycin, water to 1L.

I mix it 2L at a time, and feed one litre as replenisher into the other at a rate of 45mL per 80sq in.

I store 250mL of the overflow from the working solution to avoid the need to ripen the stuff the next time I mix from scratch.

Ripening is the act of fogging and then processing 2x 35mm 36 exposure films to let the bromide and iodide in them leach into the solution to provide it's restrianers before processing any 'real films' with a just mixed all fresh batch.

Well, since I don't have the developer I also don't have its instructions or info on
it's behavior regarding temperature variance from the manufacturer.

There is a developer noted on the interweb as "Panthermic 777" which I presumed
was the same thing and I also presumed was actually panthermic since that is its
name but maybe it isn't. There is also a "Harvey's 777" noted which I think is
what BPI calls their product but it's not noted on their web site so ...?

BTW, BPI has been quoted (in various forum posts by members of the forum, not
by BPI directly) as saying that the formula in the Unblinking Eye article is nothing
like their developer which they also say contains no glycin.

So, again -- I don't know. The Photographers Formulary 777 appears to be the
Unblinking Eye formula based on the data on their site.

Also, as I understand it, the minimum quantity you can buy from BPI is 5 gallons
which is significantly more than I want to buy to try it out.

So, for now I guess I'll stick with Diafine.

Frugal Photo used to sell just single gallon bags, which is what the 5 gallon pack is. Just checked, looks like they no longer sell it. Also the Unblinking formula isn't the same as the packaged from BPI. I have no idea what is in the stuff the Formulary sells.

BobD said:

Well, since I don't have the developer I also don't have its instructions or info on
it's behavior regarding temperature variance from the manufacturer.

There is a developer noted on the interweb as "Panthermic 777" which I presumed
was the same thing and I also presumed was actually panthermic since that is its
name but maybe it isn't. There is also a "Harvey's 777" noted which I think is
what BPI calls their product but it's not noted on their web site so ...?

BTW, BPI has been quoted (in various forum posts by members of the forum, not
by BPI directly) as saying that the formula in the Unblinking Eye article is nothing
like their developer which they also say contains no glycin.

So, again -- I don't know. The Photographers Formulary 777 appears to be the
Unblinking Eye formula based on the data on their site.

Also, as I understand it, the minimum quantity you can buy from BPI is 5 gallons
which is significantly more than I want to buy to try it out.

So, for now I guess I'll stick with Diafine.

Click to expand...

What BPI sells is labelled Defender Panthermic 777, which was invented by Harold Harvey in the late 1930's. Hence the popular name "Harvey's 777". But it's the same developer no matter what you call it.