Pyrocat-HD & TMax 100

Alan9940 · Jun 17, 2006

Hi All,

Sorry if this question has been covered before...I did a search on "Pyrocat-HD" and read many posts, but couldn't find any specific time/temp recommendations for this film/developer combo. I typically use a Jobo to process all my film and have read Sandy King's Pyrocat-HD article on unblinkingeye. Therefore, to get down to specifics: I will be processing 4x5 TMax 100 in a 3006 Expert Film Drum at the slowest possible agitation rate, per Sandy's recommendation. Being that I live in the southwest of the USA, for most of the year it's somewhat difficult to keep chemistry temps in the "normal" (68 degree) range.

Based on this developing critieria, can anyone provide some starting times/temps for TMax 100? If you have data on developing at 75-80 degrees F that would be great; if not, I'll use my usual method of tossing an ice block into the water bath and run at lower temps.

Thank you.

Tom Hoskinson · Jun 17, 2006

Alan9940 said:
Hi All,

Sorry if this question has been covered before...I did a search on "Pyrocat-HD" and read many posts, but couldn't find any specific time/temp recommendations for this film/developer combo. I typically use a Jobo to process all my film and have read Sandy King's Pyrocat-HD article on unblinkingeye. Therefore, to get down to specifics: I will be processing 4x5 TMax 100 in a 3006 Expert Film Drum at the slowest possible agitation rate, per Sandy's recommendation. Being that I live in the southwest of the USA, for most of the year it's somewhat difficult to keep chemistry temps in the "normal" (68 degree) range.

Based on this developing critieria, can anyone provide some starting times/temps for TMax 100? If you have data on developing at 75-80 degrees F that would be great; if not, I'll use my usual method of tossing an ice block into the water bath and run at lower temps.

Thank you.

I got excellent results with Kodak TMAX 100 Rated at EI 100 and developed Semi-Stand in 1:1:100 Pyrocat (p-aminophenol) for 16 min at 71F (~21-22C).

My comparitive test results with Pyrocat-HD (i.e.the Phenidone version) indicate the same time, temperature and agitation technique will produce comparable results with Pyrocat-HD.

For continuous agitation, (as a starting point) reduce the development time by 35% to 40%. (thus a continous agitation time of 9 min 36 sec - a 40% reduction) at 71F) .

If your developer temperature is 75F, use a semi-stand developing time of 12 minutes or a continous agitation time of 7 min 12 sec .

If your developer temperature is 80F, use a semi-stand developing time of 9 minutes or a continous agitation time of 5 min 24 sec .

See this thread:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Alan9940 · Jun 17, 2006

Thank you, Tom, for the quick reply. This is exactly the info I was looking for...can't wait to get out in the field tomorrow with my 4x5 and see what "develops!"

Tom Hoskinson · Jun 17, 2006

You're most welcome, Alan! Let us know how it goes

sanking · Jun 18, 2006

Tom Hoskinson said:
I got excellent results with Kodak TMAX 100 Rated at EI 100 and developed Semi-Stand in 1:1:100 Pyrocat (p-aminophenol) for 16 min at 71F (~21-22C).

My comparitive test results with Pyrocat-HD (i.e.the Phenidone version) indicate the same time, temperature and agitation technique will produce comparable results with Pyrocat-HD.

For continuous agitation, (as a starting point) reduce the development time by 35% to 40%. (thus a continous agitation time of 9 min 36 sec - a 40% reduction) at 71F) .

If your developer temperature is 75F, use a semi-stand developing time of 12 minutes or a continous agitation time of 7 min 12 sec .

If your developer temperature is 80F, use a semi-stand developing time of 9 minutes or a continous agitation time of 5 min 24 sec .

See this thread:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I only use Tmax-100 in roll film, never in sheet film (because of the UV filtration), and I develop all roll film with minimal agitation (agitation every 2-3 minutes depending on total time). My times and EI are very similar to those of Tom for Pyrocat-HD.

I tested Tmax-100 one time with the 2:2:100 of Pyrocat-HD at 72F with rotary agitation. The sensitometry I did from the results suggests a development time of about eight minutes to reach the needed contrast for AZO 3 or VC silver papers.

Sandy

Alan9940 · Jun 18, 2006

Thank you, Sandy, for the additional info. Yes, I am familiar with the UV filtration of TMax 100 and the issues at hand. But, since this is my first experience with Pyrocat-HD and I had some old TMax 100 living in the bottom of my fridge I thought I'd use this old stock up playing with this developer. Perhaps, though, this film won't show me the best Pyrocat has to offer? In the end, I'll probably go with TMax 400--always nice to have that extra speed with LF, anyway--based on your articles, various past posts I've read on this forum, and the images of a couple photogs I know using the TMax 400 / Pyrocat combo very successfully.

I'm curious...do you, Tom, or anyone else on this forum have any experience with Pyrocat and Ilford films? Many years ago, when PMK was my developer of choice--gave it up when I went to rotary processing--I used it mostly with Ilford films; primarily HP5+ and Delta 100. The Ilford films seem to take the stain better than most Kodak films. Thinking back on it, though, and knowing what I know now there was quite a bit of general stain. I remember getting some quite lovely medium format negs developed in WD2D, but didn't stick with this soup long enough to really get to know it. Anyway, just curious about the Ilford films.....

Thanks, again. What a GREAT group!

Tom Hoskinson · Jun 18, 2006

Alan9940 said:
...I'm curious...do you, Tom, or anyone else on this forum have any experience with Pyrocat and Ilford films? .....

Yes Alan, the films I am currently using are Kodak TMAX 400, Efke 25 and Efke 100. However, I also use several Ilford Films which include HP5, FP4 and PanF. In my experience, they all work well with Pyrocat.

I find that all of these Kodak, Efke and Ilford films exhibit good image stain and tanning when developed in Pyrocat. In my experience the levels of fog and general stain are low with all of these films when they are developed in Pyrocat.

Alan9940 · Jun 18, 2006

Tom Hoskinson said:
Yes Alan, the films I am currently using are Kodak TMAX 400, Efke 25 and Efke 100. However, I also use several Ilford Films which include HP5, FP4 and PanF. In my experience, they all work well with Pyrocat.

Thanks, again, Tom. I'll be running some 4x5 TMax through the Jobo tomorrow morning. I realize there may be some tweaking of the development time, but the ones you gave me should get me in the ballpark, and provide something reasonable to look at. If all goes well, I have some 35mm Efke 25 and 50 on hand that I'll run through Pyrocat to see what this combo will yield for small (5x7) prints.

Have a great day!

Alan9940 · Jun 19, 2006

Tom Hoskinson said:
You're most welcome, Alan! Let us know how it goes

Hello Tom,

Ran my very first batch of 4x5 TMax 100 through the Jobo this morning using your suggested development time for Pyrocat-HD. Understanding that I'm new to this film/developer combo, the negs look pretty good to me. If you don't mind, I have a couple of more questions:

1. I used the Photo Formulary TF-4 fixer for 6 mins, and, when drained from the tank, the fixer revealed that normal pinkish color (sensitizing dye) that we've all come to expect from this film. Do you use hypo clear?

2. This question may sound a little odd, but... I've been shooting LF for about 30 years and pretty much know upon looking at a neg after it has dried whether it's over/under-exposed and/or over/under-developed; albeit using typical developers like Xtol. I don't currently have a wet darkroom available to me so I can't proof these negs or otherwise get any solid idea of what I'm really looking at. Without going into a lot of detail...and, I'm sorry if this sounds really dumb!...but, what should a properly developed Pyrocat-HD neg look like? I remember back to my PMK days that the negs looked a little on the thin side because the stain added density when printed. These Pyrocat negs look a little closer to normal, though the densest areas (Zone VIII to IX) do still look--for lack of a better word--translucent. Does the brown stain of Pyrocat negs work like other Pyro developers?

Thanks, again, for any information provided.

Tom Hoskinson · Jun 19, 2006

Alan9940 said:
Hello Tom,

Ran my very first batch of 4x5 TMax 100 through the Jobo this morning using your suggested development time for Pyrocat-HD. Understanding that I'm new to this film/developer combo, the negs look pretty good to me. If you don't mind, I have a couple of more questions:

1. I used the Photo Formulary TF-4 fixer for 6 mins, and, when drained from the tank, the fixer revealed that normal pinkish color (sensitizing dye) that we've all come to expect from this film. Do you use hypo clear?

2. This question may sound a little odd, but... I've been shooting LF for about 30 years and pretty much know upon looking at a neg after it has dried whether it's over/under-exposed and/or over/under-developed; albeit using typical developers like Xtol. I don't currently have a wet darkroom available to me so I can't proof these negs or otherwise get any solid idea of what I'm really looking at. Without going into a lot of detail...and, I'm sorry if this sounds really dumb!...but, what should a properly developed Pyrocat-HD neg look like? I remember back to my PMK days that the negs looked a little on the thin side because the stain added density when printed. These Pyrocat negs look a little closer to normal, though the densest areas (Zone VIII to IX) do still look--for lack of a better word--translucent. Does the brown stain of Pyrocat negs work like other Pyro developers?

Thanks, again, for any information provided.

Yes indeed it does.

Pyrocat-HD & TMax 100

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