Microphen & Perceptol

[clcolucci58]

Thought I would give these two developers a try and I notice that they both contain the same chemical make up. What is the difference between the two if there is a deference. Or am I not seeing something here🙄

Regards,
clc

 

[john_s]

Microphen is a speed enhancing developer with the resulting increase in grain, but still a very good speed/quality ratio. Perceptol is at the other end of the range: speed reducing and very fine grain.
The chemicals in developers tend to be pretty standard: it's the proportions that make most of the difference. Also IIRC Perceptol, like Kodak's Microdol-X, has sodium chloride to give the low grain look. Some ingredients don't appear in MSDS lists because they might be harmless or in very small amounts.

 

[varjag]

Microphen:

Sodium Tripolyphosphate 3.4 gms
Sodium Sulphite anhyd 100.0gms
Sodium Metabisulphite 0.65 gm
Hydroquinone 5.0 gms
Phenidone 0.2 gm
Boric Acid 2.7 gms
Borax 6.8 gms
Potassium Bromide 1.0 gm
Water to make 1 Litre

Perceptol:
Sodium Tripolyphosphate 3.5 gms
Metol 5.0 gms
Sodium Sulphite anhyd.100.0 gms
Sodium Chloride 30.0 gms
water to 1 Litre

Doesn't look terribly similar to me.

 

[clcolucci58]

Microphen:



Sodium Tripolyphosphate 3.4 gms
Sodium Sulphite anhyd 100.0gms
Sodium Metabisulphite 0.65 gm
Hydroquinone 5.0 gms
Phenidone 0.2 gm
Boric Acid 2.7 gms
Borax 6.8 gms
Potassium Bromide 1.0 gm
Water to make 1 Litre

Perceptol:
Sodium Tripolyphosphate 3.5 gms
Metol 5.0 gms
Sodium Sulphite anhyd.100.0 gms
Sodium Chloride 30.0 gms
water to 1 Litre

Doesn't look terribly similar to me.

What you have for perceptol is pretty much on both developers boxes
Clc

 

[varjag]

It can't be, for one they have different developing agents. Metol for Perceptol, phenidone/hydroquinon for Microphen.

I don't even remember them writing composition on the packages, usually it's just mixing instructions.

 

[Fotohuis]

Indeed speed enhancing (Microphen) and ultra fine grain (Perceptol) which means you have to over expose your film with at least 1 F stop when using any ultra fine grain type developer in a 1+0 dilution to have a minimum of grain.
Other ultra fine grain type developers: CG-512/Rollei Low Speed, Windisch W665, Harvey 777, MCM 100, Microdol-X.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Indeed speed enhancing (Microphen) and ultra fine grain (Perceptol) which means you have to over expose your film with at least 1 F stop when using any ultra fine grain type developer in a 1+0 dilution to have a minimum of grain.
Other ultra fine grain type developers: CG-512/Rollei Low Speed, Windisch W665, Harvey 777, MCM 100, Microdol-X.

But it's not really overexposure, is it? The ISO speed determined with one developer is not necessarily the ISO speed in another. HP5+ can exceed ISO 650 -- close enough to be called ISO 800 -- in Microphen but drop to ISO 200 or less in some fine grain developers. ISO speeds are normally determined with middle-of-the-road developers such as ID11/D76, but (for example) Fomapan 200 is pretty much identical to Ilford FP4+ in any given developer: true ISO 80-200.

Cheers,

R.