Hey Chris:
Let me add to the deep appreciation. I'm probably somewhere like one of your teen students in current stage - less acne, less distraction, etc. but maybe (geezin') older and more rigid in other ways. Teens can be fearless in good ways, too! But that aside, this PMK stuff looks marvelous. But I'm put off by the toxic bit. Sounds intense? I worry 'bout what we throw down the drain, much less inhale or otherwise come into contact with. Too early for me to deviate into a developer that I think you post is great, but a tad finicky too. For now I'm curious, but keeping my distance. But still curious. The handling issues can probably be overcome, but then there's the finicky part. Sounds like something for the Advanced Class. Is that right? I've used HC-110 and DD-X (Ilford) successfully so far, and have a bottle of Rodinal that I'm saving for "down the pike", so I'm admiring from afar from now... and likely sometime ahead. Will collect info meantime (almost bought the book on PMK, but didn't).
If you're just getting started with film developing, I'd probably wait on trying PMK.
Toxicity isn't such a big issue as long as you buy the liquid kit. Its also sold in powder form, and some users buy the bulk chemicals and make their own. Dry chemicals are very easy to breathe in as the dust becomes airborne, and inhaled chemicals absorb into the bloodstream much more efficiently than liquids that get on your skin (and wearing nitrile gloves eliminates that problem).
Even though danger from PMK toxicity is easy to avoid, the developer is a difficult and finicky one to work with.
Go ahead and try Rodinal, though. It is actually a pretty easy developer to use. I learned to develop film when I took Photography class in high school 25 years ago. My high school photo teacher was a huge Rodinal fan, and that was the only developer he had his students use.
I don't teach high school anymore. I was actually a literature teacher, not a photo teacher (I have a masters degree in literature). One day in November, 2013 I was teaching and the right side of my body went numb and stayed that was for several hours. A stroke! I have not been well since then. Some days, I am tired and can't do anything but sleep. The right side of my body is weakened, and I walk with a limp.
So, I stepped down from being a fulltime teacher and worked a couple more years as a substitute teacher on the days I felt well. Last year, when working as sub, I witnessed a school employee bullying a blind middle school student whose father was also a teacher. I called him and told him what I saw, and the school system fired me for 'causing trouble' by talking to him.
So, I am retired. I make my living teaching lessons and selling prints. I miss my students; I run into kids I worked with, both as a fulltime teacher and as a sub, all the time and they always tell me they miss me.
