Where can I buy some Pyrocat HD right now? (October 2022)

Moose22

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Been interested in Pyro for a while now, decided to try Pyrocat HD, and I can't seem to find any in stock except Adorama, and that's pickup only.

Bit too much of a drive from Southern California to NYC, so...

Anyone know where this stuff is in stock? Preferably who will ship it to me?

I did a duck duck go search and checked all my normal haunts. Only place I find anything is on ebay, some guy in Lithuania.
 

removedacct1

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Get it direct from Photographers Formulary: Pyrocat HD

I see the dry powders version is also currently in stock at B&H
 
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Moose22

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paulbarden said:
Get it direct from Photographers Formulary: Pyrocat HD

I see the dry powders version is also currently in stock at B&H
Click to expand...

Interesting -- it was out of stock last time I checked. And they'll ship. Thanks!

And, for some reason, when I searched for Photographer's Formulary all the returns were for resellers. Now I've got their site bookmarked. Rather get it straight from the source if I can.

Thanks everyone. I'da found it eventually, but you just saved me an evening of googling.
 
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Moose22

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OK, on the way.

So dumb, I love xtol. But what the heck, I want to see for myself what the differences are!
 

removedacct1

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Moose22 said:
OK, on the way.

So dumb, I love xtol. But what the heck, I want to see for myself what the differences are!
Click to expand...

I can show you the difference between Pyrocat HD and D-23 if you're interested. The difference is more extreme than what you'll observice when making a comparison with Xtol, but you'll get the idea. Be sure to view the image at full size (Click to enlarge once loaded)

This is the D-23 version
TMX 4x5 in D-23

and this is the Pyrocat HD version
TMX 4x5 in Pyrocat HD
 

GregY

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I've used much more PMK & Pyrocat than XTOL.....but i mostly photograph mountains, & staining negatives print much more easily with more detail in the highlights without blowing out, especially in scenes with a high range of values from shadow/ highlight. It's made my printing life way easier, since i started processing in Pyrocat. On a recent trip to Europe i had my film processed by a very fine lab, Atelier Publimod, in Paris. They use Bergger chemicals. ....They did a good job, but I can tell the difference when printing.
 
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Moose22

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Thanks for the samples. Very different than what I normally photograph, too, living in a very sunny climate my landscape work is often dealing with brightly lit and contrasty scenes.


And comments like GregY's are part of it for me. My lab uses Clayton76 and it's contrastier and granier than xtol, which is sharp and has grain that scans great. But the difference is very noticeable. It all kind of fascinates me and staining developers are a different sort of fascinating.

I scan, no darkroom right now, so the differences won't be that vital like analog printing. But I really do want to see with my own eyes, if even just for some dumb fun. And after taking the summer mostly off from photography I'm jonesing to use some of my medium format gear, so good excuse to do some different B&W stuff.
 

Alan9940

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Moose22 said:
Thanks for the samples. Very different than what I normally photograph, too, living in a very sunny climate my landscape work is often dealing with brightly lit and contrasty scenes.
Click to expand...

Since I live in the desert southwest with most days being what we refer to as "severe clear", you might say I deal with BRIGHT and contrasty scenes all the time. In my experience, I've found staining developers to be particularly beneficial under these conditions because you can give quite generous exposure and the high values won't blow out.
 
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Moose22

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Yeah, I'd looked at Bostick Sullivan. No pyrocat hd, but agree they are a good place in general.

Honestly I knew they were a brand, but didn't know photographer's formulary had an in house store. I was really happy to buy from them direct.


Yeah, that's one of the things I most think will benefit me.

The other is that I do music photography and some of the venues have... well, frankly the lights are cheap and terrible. The spot will be so much brighter than the fills that I have to be careful or either get a black stage or a blown out face on a singer. Another scenario where I will be interested in the differences.

Lots of places to experiment and have some fun with this. Might be carrying two cameras for a while.
 

GregY

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Moose, Photo Formulary is a cool place. They have a BnB place....& a darkroom w enlargers, including an 8x10"....if you stay for a couple of nights...use of the darkroom was included. They used to host workshops. They actually package the kits there. Bud & the staff are very cool & helpful. I've been able to swing by early on a Sunday morning and they had a box outside the door for me. Super useful when picking up gallons of fixer & developer. A very photogenic part of Montana in the Flathead lakes area.
 
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