Pyrocat HD stand develop in tank

What film (medium format) is better to use for stand development in tank by Pyrocat HD ?

How do you do that?

What do you think about it?

Regards

In my opinion staining developers like Pyrocat are a poor choice for stand development. Due to the very low level of preservative (sodium sulfite) present in the highly dilute developer it is very sensitive to aerial oxidation. This can lead to reduced activity, dichroic fog, mottling and unpredictable results. The only recommended technique approaching stand development is for intermittent agitation.

Stand works, but semi stand is better. I've used semi stand on traditional silver rich emulsions and the newer Delta/TMAX films and both work well.

In addition there is the criticism of stand development per se. This technique is designed to reduce the contrast of a high contrast subject. It was never intended as a general purpose technique. Books on the Zone System describe its correct use. Its use with normally lighted scenes will result in a low contrast image.

To answer the question in the OP, the article on Pyrocat-HD in unblinkingeye mentions the problem of dichroic fog with some fast films.

If you do semi-stand, it works fine. Longest I have developed for was 22 minutes without any sort of issues. The film printed as expected.

A lot of films work great with PCat, and I can recommend Fuji Acros as a personal favorite and always a great performer in general, regardless of developer.

Funny u should mention acros cuz that was the one film i have had problems with...i assume semi stand in a tank!!!

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Gerald C Koch said:

In addition there is the criticism of stand development per se. This technique is designed to reduce the contrast of a high contrast subject. It was never intended as a general purpose technique. Books on the Zone System describe its correct use. Its use with normally lighted scenes will result in a low contrast image.

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As with so many topics on these forums, many posters are correct, but their experiences with a given topic are incomplete.

While the above statement is true, it is incomplete. I can attest that the lowest of contrast situations can be expanded due to edge contrast enhancement. And so in a nutshell you now have why the process has become my only form of film development since I discovered it's possibilities 9 years ago, has nothing to due with sharpness and everything to do with the creative possibilities the process affords a photographer with an imagination.

Very simply, in the hands of someone who knows the extraordinary possibilities of this process, I'll make this bold statement. Film speed is maximized, at box speed or higher, the process inherently compresses contrast and with proper dilution / agitation technique the impression of edge contrast is so exaggerated as to swell contrast from a literal scene of 3 zones to a full black to white AZO chloride print.

I can make these statements because I have the prints to back up these bold statements and the years of trial an error in perfecting the process. THerefore, and apologies to those who have serious interest, I have little time to debate, I have and will engage in meaningful dialogue with those who understand the entire process and it's possibilities. Unfortunately, there are those on the forums, (none present in this thread) that will dispute just about anything for reasons I don't understand, therefore many times they win out due to the louder voice. SAD!

Michael R 1974 said:

Pasakaru: Gerald's points regarding the risks are very important so take them seriously. Stand development may require some experimentation on your part so I suggest some practice and refinement before using it in the field. With Pyrocat HD specifically, probably best to start by reading what Sandy King has to say on unblinkingeye.com and following his suggestions for stand, semi-stand, reduced agitation with this developer.

Generally speaking when it comes to stand development, a pre-soak before development seems to be preferable. The after-development processes shouldn't require anything special. Another general recommendation, as Gerald pointed out, is to stick with slow to medium speed films (say ISO 100 or less).

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thank you all for your comments, of course I take it in a serious way, I need practice and that is what I'm going to do...however, experiment is what I have in mind to do.

There's a myriad of things you can do with stand or semi-stand development. I use it both to obtain compensating control in high contrast situations and to enhance mid-tone contrast where that is aesthetically appropriate in flat scenes.

I use Pyrocat-HD diluted 1:0.7:160 on HP-5+ for anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes depending upon the contrast I want. I agitate vigorously for the first minute and then gently for 10 seconds at 1/3 the time and 10 seconds at 2/3 of the standing time. Try it. You'll like the results.

I use Pyrocat HD and TD3 for full stand development for all of my 200 and slower films. I have not tried it with my 400 films so I can't comment on those. Pyrocat for 1 hour, TD3 for 1.5 hours. I do an initial 45 second agitation and then leave it alone. My results are superb.

Steve Sherman is correct in his statements.
In the 1930's and 40's when i was learning photography, Total Development was still used by many people. This was especially true of companies that processed and printed the many types of roll film for drug stores and other outlets. The company where i worked used Total Development for all but "Special Processing" orders. we used D-23 in a very deep tank. We did not use any of the pyro developers. Film was loaded into the tank just before closing and removed the first thing next morning. As varied as you can imagine the exposures were, an overwhelming majority printed reasonably with our semi-automatic printer.

I use the method for 3-5 hours for all extremely low contrast situations. When using a pyrocatechaol or pyrocatechin developer I do cover the developer to prevent excessive oxidation. It works as well with modern films as it did with those wonderful old emulsions.