Opening up a thread to for the community to discuss their experiences with various kallitype developers. This is mostly for my own curiousity and to see if someone mentions something I think is worth while to try. I'm adding my own experiences below to start.
My experiences:
Of the two developers I've tried, I'm sticking with sodium citrate for now. It is far less combersome to use and doesn't have some of the consistency quirks of sodium acetate. The warm images it produces are a nice contrast to the cool toned silver gelatin prints I usually make. Though I am open to giving another option a try as sometimes the images are still a bit too warm for my liking. But, then again there are other options for toning.
--Sodium Acetate--
Sodium acetate will produce neutral black images once the developer has "ripened." Fresh developer will produce a brown image until about two 5x7-8x10" prints are produced. Replenishing used developer with fresh developer 1:1 will also produce an initial black-brown print. When toned with Pd or Pt, a neutral color print is produced. Pd being slightly more brown. There is slight highlight density loss during Pt Pd toning (accounted for in negative calibration). Toning color change is very quick when compared to sodium citrate.
the deeveloper appears improved when heated to about 105 degrees F. This improves dmax and dmax consistency. Heat will also shift the print to a slight brown-black. Too much heat appears to cause some staining issues (limited testing).
The developer produces a lot of sliver sludge that either needs to be filtered between prints or decanted after it settles to the bottom of a bottle. The sludge will build up on my plastic trays and needs to be scrubbed every few prints. Leaving too much sludge in the developer and on the tray will cause stains as it settles into the paper fibers.
Yellow iron stain is also difficult to clear from the paper after development. Various methods may be employed to clear the paper, but there are pros and cons (made a thread regarding clearing a short while ago). Clearing difficultly may be tied to developer age, getting harder the older the developer, perhaps an increase in pH? (lacking testing).
--Sodium Citrate--
Sodium citrate will produce very brown images once dry. When wet in the tray it is an unsightly orange color. The developer produces consistent results whether used or fresh and does not appear to benefit from heating. Dmax appears to be on par with heated sodium acetate developer.
Prints clear very easily after development with little to no yellow iron stain left prior to entering clearing bath. Sodium citrate developer will produce silver sludge, but the particulate is finer and the quantity is reduced when compared to sodium acetate. There is less risk of paper stains and less filtering/decanting of solution is required.
Sodium citrate prints toned in Pt or Pd are notably warmer than sodium acetate prints toned in Pt or Pd. Pd being slightly more warm than Pt. Toned sodium citrate prints are more neutral in color than untoned prints. There is moderate highlight density loss during toning, notably more than sodium acetate prints. I use negatives that are calibrated for toned sodium citrate prints. Prior to toning, my images will appear low contrast as highlight density loss is expected thus increasing contrast. Toning color change is much slower than sodium acetate prints.
Sodium citrate developed prints require twice as much exposure than sodium acetate prints for my setup. Sodium citrate prints have slightly smooth grain when compared to sodium acetate.
My experiences:
Of the two developers I've tried, I'm sticking with sodium citrate for now. It is far less combersome to use and doesn't have some of the consistency quirks of sodium acetate. The warm images it produces are a nice contrast to the cool toned silver gelatin prints I usually make. Though I am open to giving another option a try as sometimes the images are still a bit too warm for my liking. But, then again there are other options for toning.
--Sodium Acetate--
Sodium acetate will produce neutral black images once the developer has "ripened." Fresh developer will produce a brown image until about two 5x7-8x10" prints are produced. Replenishing used developer with fresh developer 1:1 will also produce an initial black-brown print. When toned with Pd or Pt, a neutral color print is produced. Pd being slightly more brown. There is slight highlight density loss during Pt Pd toning (accounted for in negative calibration). Toning color change is very quick when compared to sodium citrate.
the deeveloper appears improved when heated to about 105 degrees F. This improves dmax and dmax consistency. Heat will also shift the print to a slight brown-black. Too much heat appears to cause some staining issues (limited testing).
The developer produces a lot of sliver sludge that either needs to be filtered between prints or decanted after it settles to the bottom of a bottle. The sludge will build up on my plastic trays and needs to be scrubbed every few prints. Leaving too much sludge in the developer and on the tray will cause stains as it settles into the paper fibers.
Yellow iron stain is also difficult to clear from the paper after development. Various methods may be employed to clear the paper, but there are pros and cons (made a thread regarding clearing a short while ago). Clearing difficultly may be tied to developer age, getting harder the older the developer, perhaps an increase in pH? (lacking testing).
--Sodium Citrate--
Sodium citrate will produce very brown images once dry. When wet in the tray it is an unsightly orange color. The developer produces consistent results whether used or fresh and does not appear to benefit from heating. Dmax appears to be on par with heated sodium acetate developer.
Prints clear very easily after development with little to no yellow iron stain left prior to entering clearing bath. Sodium citrate developer will produce silver sludge, but the particulate is finer and the quantity is reduced when compared to sodium acetate. There is less risk of paper stains and less filtering/decanting of solution is required.
Sodium citrate prints toned in Pt or Pd are notably warmer than sodium acetate prints toned in Pt or Pd. Pd being slightly more warm than Pt. Toned sodium citrate prints are more neutral in color than untoned prints. There is moderate highlight density loss during toning, notably more than sodium acetate prints. I use negatives that are calibrated for toned sodium citrate prints. Prior to toning, my images will appear low contrast as highlight density loss is expected thus increasing contrast. Toning color change is much slower than sodium acetate prints.
Sodium citrate developed prints require twice as much exposure than sodium acetate prints for my setup. Sodium citrate prints have slightly smooth grain when compared to sodium acetate.
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