Pyrocat?

EASmithV · May 26, 2009

What are the advantages of Pyro developers? And what exactly is a staining developer?

And what is the best Pyro Incarnation to start with first?

Valerie · May 26, 2009

http://www.unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Pyrocat/pyrocat.html

This may help.

EASmithV · May 26, 2009

Is it true that Ansel Adams used Pyro devs? What kind were they? An older formula of the above, no doubt?

Pyro can come in a single bath developer right? Does it keep in full bottles as well as D76 stock? Is it re-useable or one shot?

What kind of dilution is 1+1+100? Is it for 2 bath?

sanking · May 26, 2009

I think Adams did not use pyro, other than in his early years.

My understanding is that Edward Weston used pyro extensively, the the old Kodak Pyro ABC formula.

The 1+1+100 dilution is for Pyrocat. Pyrocat is provided in two stock solutions, Stock A and Stock B. A small amount of A and B is mixed together with a large amount of water to form the working developer. This is done just prior to developing as the mixed solutions go bad within a relatively short period of time (several hours). So what this means is One Part A + One Part B + 100 Parts of water to form the working solution.

Sandy King

EASmithV said:
Is it true that Ansel Adams used Pyro devs? What kind were they? An older formula of the above, no doubt?

Pyro can come in a single bath developer right? Does it keep in full bottles as well as D76 stock? Is it re-useable or one shot?

What kind of dilution is 1+1+100? Is it for 2 bath?

trexx · May 26, 2009

There is generally a part A and a part B used single shot,single bath. 1 part A 1 part B 100 parts water. The A keeps a bout 1 year and B forever, generally. PYRO and Pyrocat are not the same thing. PYRO is pyrogallol acid and pryocat is catechol. Both developers stain, and harden the emultion and are deliverd in A+B (+C) formulations With A the developing agent and B an alkali. Mixed one shot just before use and the life is short after mixed.

I like Pryo developers because they add density with the stain. And that stain can control contrast to some degree depending on VC paper, light source and developer used. These days I use mostly pyrocat MD, but have used various formulas in the past.

The Book of Pyro is a good place to start.

TR

EASmithV · May 26, 2009

I'm thinking about switching to Pyrocat HD, but as you can probably tell, I've never used a staining dev.

sidearm613 · May 27, 2009

Question for Sandy, what exactly is the different versions of Pyrocat? HC, MD, MC, etc?

Oh, and a general forum answer as far as stains go, different devs, different stains. Pyrocat stains differently from say, PMK. I'm not sure where WD2D fits in here, but I have heard good things about that

Paul Cocklin · May 27, 2009

I've fallen in love with Pyrocat-HD, though I use it at 2:2:100 mostly. Phenomenally easy to use, lasts forever in the glycol (until mixed) and gives a beautiful image imo.

hka · May 27, 2009

What happens if you change the ratio of 1:1:100 to 2:1½:100 or 2:2:100?
I use momentairly Pyrocat MC.
In other words I am looking for a little more contrasty negs.

Ian Grant · May 27, 2009

Increasing the strength of the Developer to 2+2+100 will give you the increase in contrast you're after, you'll need to find your own optimum development time. As an example I process most of my films for 15 minutes using Pyrocat HD 1+1+100 at 20°C, but when tray processing use Pyrocat HD at 2+2+100 for 9 minutes at 20°C to get the same contrast.

Ian

Willie Jan · May 27, 2009

EASmithV said:
What are the advantages of Pyro developers? And what exactly is a staining developer?

And what is the best Pyro Incarnation to start with first?

I am using pyrocat-HD which i make myself. This way i can rely on this for ages to come without having to worry about firms going bankrupt...

Advantages.. The point is that I did not find any practical information of pictures on the web which for example shows the difference in a pic developed in pyro and the same in rodinal. That's always the case with photography. Eveybody talks about it, but nowbody shows the results and more important the difference!

Tom Kershaw · May 27, 2009

One minor irritation is that I hear people referring to a rather generic 'pyro' as a coverall, without specifying which formula; PMK, ABC, Rollo Pyro...

Tom.

hka · May 27, 2009

Ian Grant said:
Increasing the strength of the Developer to 2+2+100 will give you the increase in contrast you're after, you'll need to find your own optimum development time. As an example I process most of my films for 15 minutes using Pyrocat HD 1+1+100 at 20°C, but when tray processing use Pyrocat HD at 2+2+100 for 9 minutes at 20°C to get the same contrast.

Ian

Thanks Ian,
That's very helpfull information. I wil give it a try.

mikebarger · May 27, 2009

If you want a one solution pyro, 510 pyro fits the bill.

Mike

EASmithV · May 27, 2009

Well, like all things, it's never fully understood until you try it yourself. I heard enough good things about it that I went ahead and I bought some Pyrocat HC from the Formulary.

Can someone please give me a little more detail about the staining action in staining developers? It sounds like it might be an interesting print developer, too.

keithwms · May 28, 2009

I like wd2d+ very much. It has the advantage of being just as suitable for silver printing on multigrade papers as for alt process.

For someone new to staining developers, let me admonish you to find out who is doing what with their negs. Some folks who use (and advocate) staining developers actually don't print much via silver gelatin straight from the parent neg... instead preferring to do alt process (Pt/Pd) and/or scanning to digital negs and such. So I'd advise any newcomer to find out how the developer is going to fit into his/her own workflow. When I did this research myself, I settled on wd2d+ as the best choice for me. And indeed I found the stain colour to be quite neutral to multigrade papers, and I also found the hardening property useful.

Pyrocat?

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