For a long time I thought everyone in this thread was correct. Truly warmtone results on modern materials were impossible without rehal bleach or other toning methods and that I'd just have to live with the compromises that these methods came with. However, I've also always been one of those types that love to tackle what is widely regarded as impossible. So, I did a number of experimental developer formulations until finally landing on the lead of following old film developer formulas for ultra fine grain, rather than warmtone print developer formulas. PPD is pretty nasty so that was off the table for me, but other classic fine grain developers used normal developing agents but also had moderate pH, ammonium salts, amines, thiocyanate, and chloride salts. There was a lot of info about these old fine grain developers being too solvent and dissolving away image detail, so "they're only suitable for large format"... Well, prints are basically all large format, so as long as I can get a properly deep black, there is some potential there. First I made GVPX1 which worked, but was finicky for results and not suitable with many materials. Finally, I landed on the formula of GVPX2. A highly solvent MQ developer of only moderate alkalinity that is better balanced than GVPX1 and gives good results on many modern papers.
GVPX2 Formula:
* 700ml water
* "pinch" of sulfite
* 1.5g metol
* 30g sodium sulfite
* 50ml triethanolamine 99% (TEA, sourced from photographer's formulary)
* 15ml glycerol (used to reduce ammonia smell and keep ammonia in solution longer)
* 0.15g benzotriazole (can be increased to slow the developer without otherwise affecting results)
* 0.5g potassium bromide
* 1g ammonium thiocyanate
* 12g sodium metaborate
* 8g ammonium chloride
* Top to 1L with water
* Final pH ~9.75
Properties: Will smell strongly of ammonia during mixing and when being used for development. Will only smell mildly of ammonia when sitting in a tray idle. Solution is perfectly clear and has a very long shelf life. Estimated to be capable of producing 40 8x10 prints, or being left in the tray for up to 12 hours before any major change in activity. Developer will not change color when it goes off, instead it will only become slower, with weaker black levels, no ammonia smell, and a measured pH lower than 9.5. Should be put into a capped bottle between sessions. Will leave a silver scum on bottles and trays which can be easily removed using farmer's reducer
Usage: Use undiluted. Requires "seasoning" with 2-3 prints. Bottles with silver scum will work to season the developer without needing to waste paper, so always use the same bottle for this. Development time and contrast can vary with paper and exposure. Typically works best when developing "almost, but not quite" to completion with 1/4 stop or less of over exposure to compensate. 1m to 3m is the typical time. Shadows will be much more open when developed "almost" to completion rather than completely, as well as giving warmer highlight tones. Contrast can be modified seemingly in ways that can't be replicated solely by changing filtration on VC papers. Specifically midtone contrast can be modified by changing development times.
Papers tested:
* Fomaspeed 133 RC -- Skews to have somewhat cold highlights with cool brown shadows. Unique appearance
* Ilford Warmtone FB -- beautiful brown blacks, warm highlights, and subtle olive midtones.
* Ilford Coldtone FB -- Gives somewhat warm results with cool brown blacks, but black level seems to not become very deep unless developed for completion
* Ilford MGV RC -- Beautiful brown blacks, warm to almost yellow highlights, and warm brown midtones
* Ilford MGFB -- Very similar in appearance to MGV RC, but with black tones developing earlier, allowing for more contrast control by varying development time
* Fomatone Warmtone Classic FB -- Not suitable, will produce dichroic fogging. Aside from that, produces very reddish brown blacks but with highlight details etched away and a high contrast level, estimated to boost contrast by at least 1 grade.
* Kentmere RC -- Very fast to develop with only a subtle warmtone skew
Example prints, carefully scanned and color corrected for natural appearance under daylight conditions:
https://imgur.com/a/SqylvIe
There are other formulae, Kodak dropped their equivalent but suggest mixing two of their other toners to create something similar.
