Hi guys,
One of the advantages of staining developers is said to be that they can give you negatives which can be printed as well on silver halide paper as with alternative processes. The theory sounds plausible: a good part of the highlight density is built by stain, which on VC papers acts like a contrast filter, but for alternative processes acts like a UV blocking filter.
I've read Sandy King's excellent article on staining developers at Unblinking Eye, and on page 2 he says that "Pyrocat-HD is a better developer for making dual-purpose negatives, i.e. as for printing with regular silver papers and with AZO or alternative processes with the same negatives.".
OK, so far so good. I can't wait to try this myself.
However, on page 4 I see something completely different. Let's say, for instance, that I'm using T-Max 400 and want to make vandyke prints.
Optimum CI for silver prints is 0.47 to 0.52.
Optimum CI for vandyke prints is 0.85 to 0.95.
Looking at figure 19, I see that in order to get a CI of 0.47 to 0.52 measured by the visible light channel (good for silver halide prints, that is) the development time must be between 8 and 12 minutes at 71F, using the 1:1:100 dilution.
Figure 13 shows that a CI between 0.85 and 0.95 measured by the UV channel (good for vandyke prints, that is) requires a development time between 13 and 16 minutes at 73F, using the 2:2:100 dilution.
Now I'm confused. A negative suitable for vandyke prints seems to require a stronger dilution and a longer development at a higher temperature (or an even longer development at the same temperature, I presume) than a negative suitable for silver halide prints.
So I'm back where I started from: exposing a separate sheet of film for vandyke and developing it separately. :confused:
What am I missing? :confused:
Thank you.
One of the advantages of staining developers is said to be that they can give you negatives which can be printed as well on silver halide paper as with alternative processes. The theory sounds plausible: a good part of the highlight density is built by stain, which on VC papers acts like a contrast filter, but for alternative processes acts like a UV blocking filter.
I've read Sandy King's excellent article on staining developers at Unblinking Eye, and on page 2 he says that "Pyrocat-HD is a better developer for making dual-purpose negatives, i.e. as for printing with regular silver papers and with AZO or alternative processes with the same negatives.".
OK, so far so good. I can't wait to try this myself.
However, on page 4 I see something completely different. Let's say, for instance, that I'm using T-Max 400 and want to make vandyke prints.
Optimum CI for silver prints is 0.47 to 0.52.
Optimum CI for vandyke prints is 0.85 to 0.95.
Looking at figure 19, I see that in order to get a CI of 0.47 to 0.52 measured by the visible light channel (good for silver halide prints, that is) the development time must be between 8 and 12 minutes at 71F, using the 1:1:100 dilution.
Figure 13 shows that a CI between 0.85 and 0.95 measured by the UV channel (good for vandyke prints, that is) requires a development time between 13 and 16 minutes at 73F, using the 2:2:100 dilution.
Now I'm confused. A negative suitable for vandyke prints seems to require a stronger dilution and a longer development at a higher temperature (or an even longer development at the same temperature, I presume) than a negative suitable for silver halide prints.
So I'm back where I started from: exposing a separate sheet of film for vandyke and developing it separately. :confused:
What am I missing? :confused:
Thank you.
