Tmax 100 and PMK -- is this right?

DrPablo · Jun 13, 2007

The massive development chart gives an extremely concentrated PMK suggestion for developing TMax 100 (exposed at EI 100). They suggest 10+20+100. That is 10 times as concentrated as is used for other films. This must be a typo, right??

Amund · Jun 14, 2007

That really sounds like a typo.....
How are you doing with your 8x10`s and PMK now Paul? I almost feel bad for luring you into it, seeing the troubles you`ve had till now :rolleyes:

David A. Goldfarb · Jun 14, 2007

That looks like a typo to me.

What is the attraction of PMK for TMX? The main reason to use PMK over other pyro developers or non-pyro developers for that matter, to my mind, is the grain masking effect, and TMX is already very fine grained and doesn't really need it.

noseoil · Jun 14, 2007

I would be inclined to look at TMX, Acros & Delta to see about times. This does look to be a typo, as I can't imagine a film needing this type of concentrated mix. Still best to do your own testing with any film / developer combination to get things right. I would compare the three developers and see what looks to be a good starting point, perhaps an average? tim

DrPablo · Jun 14, 2007

No particular attraction, David. It so happens that I'm out of xtol and my only developers handy are PMK and Technidol. But I shot some fairly high contrast scenes with it and thought PMK would help compensate in the highlights.

Amund -- no need to feel bad. I feel like I can probably get this to work, I just don't have an optimal setup.

One problem I've had with the PMK is that I've been using water that is much too warm. I finally got a thermometer, and found that the 'cool to the touch' tap water I'd been using was really close to 80 degrees, and the cold water by itself was more like 68. So I'm going to try again at 68 -- I bet that will give me much better results.

PhotoJim · Jun 14, 2007

You won't get very much image stain with TMX and PMK, but it will work.

pgomena · Jun 14, 2007

Try 10+20+1000, (yes, the 100 must be a typo) 9 minutes, 70 degrees F (21C). Agitate constantly first 30 seconds, two inversions on the 15 seconds for the remainder of the time. This is for a diffusion (cold light) light source.

Peter Gomena

Amund · Jun 14, 2007

DrPablo said:
No particular attraction, David. It so happens that I'm out of xtol and my only developers handy are PMK and Technidol. But I shot some fairly high contrast scenes with it and thought PMK would help compensate in the highlights.

Amund -- no need to feel bad. I feel like I can probably get this to work, I just don't have an optimal setup.

One problem I've had with the PMK is that I've been using water that is much too warm. I finally got a thermometer, and found that the 'cool to the touch' tap water I'd been using was really close to 80 degrees, and the cold water by itself was more like 68. So I'm going to try again at 68 -- I bet that will give me much better results.

Aha, 80 degrees! That explains a lot...

PepMiro · Jun 14, 2007

I use PMK with TMX when shooting high contrast landscapes because of its compensating effect in the highlights

Ian Lascell · Jun 14, 2007

Since T-Max is so sensitive to temp variations, use whichever temp is easiest to maintain for the entire development time.

In the Book of Pyro, Gordon Hutchings reports good results with processing at 80 degrees with PMK, as long as it is not for minus development.

Normal development for T-Max at 70 degrees he recommends 12 minutes.
Normal development for T-Max at 80 degrees he recommends 9 minutes.
These are starting points, of course.

And he says for each degree of increased developer temp, decrease development time by 4%.

He also suggests letting the mixed developer stand for about an hour before using in order to increase stain when developing T-Max 100.

I highly recommend the Book of Pyro as a very useful reference for all things PMK.

DrPablo · Jun 14, 2007

Thanks, Ian.

My trouble with PMK at 80 degrees was with FP4+ and HP5+. They seem to take up the stain much more readily than Tmax 100, so I wonder if it's more of a problem with those films.

Ian Lascell · Jun 15, 2007

Hi Paul,

I know FP4 and HP5 stain wonderfully in PMK. Perhaps only outdone by Bergger 200. It sounds like you are saying you don't want much stain effect. Or are you just saying that at 80 degrees the stain effect is too much with these 2 Ilford films? I've never heard anybody say their negatives stain too much.

DrPablo · Jun 15, 2007

The stain is overwhelming, actually, even in the least dense areas.

noseoil · Jun 15, 2007

General stain is always the issue with PMK. It is a good developer for some things, but there is quite a bit of stain in the shadow areas, which causes a reduction in contrast and a general "muddiness" in these values.

c6h6o3 · Jun 15, 2007

General stain is always the issue with PMK

General Stain = FOG and there's plenty of it with PMK unless the film you're using is Ilford's Pan F+. It gives good image stain in PMK with virtually no fog stain. If I were developing large format negatives, I'd use some other developer. If I didn't have any other developer I'd wait until I did to develop the film.

Tmax 100 and PMK -- is this right?

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