Perceptol

Pete B

Pete B

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I'm going to try Perceptol for the first time. When I mix up my D76, I leave it 24hrs before use (something to do with its pH). Do I need to do this with perceptol?
Pete
 
I bought a package, too. Have to say it's Barry Thornton's book that turned me towards looking at this. I read some say that there's a similarity between this and D23... but D23 seems to have so many variants and isn't in Kodak's production any more so... who cares?

The package i have makes up to 1 Liter (1000 ML). Given that supply about does 2 rolls of 120 or 3 rolls of 35mm in a Paterson 3-35mm roll tank, and that 1:2 means about 2 liters of actual "stuff", the only think I'm wondering about is whether this is one-time usage? Since one-shot usage would do about 6 rolls of 35 or 4 of 120, I'm thinking one-shot use might run a tad expensive. What do folks actually do? One shot?
 
I use 1+2 (100ml + 200ml) per film in a Patterson. Only ever one shot
Unlike Erik I do leave until the next day after mixing the stock solution.
 
I do one shot.
I think you'll have 3 litres of actual stuff at 1+2.
I'm thinking i'll get at least 9 rolls with my stainless tanks.

I keep the stuff in an old glass wine bottle with a Vacuvin cork. I have a small pump to suck the air out of the bottle every time I use some Perceptol. Oxygen is very bad for all developers.
Click to expand...
I also do this.
Pete
 
D-23 differs from Perceptol in a couple of ways. First, it maintains the film's ISO speed. Second, you can mix it cheaply from just two chemicals, metol and sodium sulfite. It keeps well, can be replenished, and can also be used 1:1 or 1:3 to tame contrast.
 
I was also inspired by Erik and I tried the perceptol / t-max 400 combination on a sunny week in Milan last year visiting my family and I was indeed very happy with the results.

I still have a box of perceptol and I hope I will soon have the time again to go back on shooting.

Here a couple of examples (m6, elmar-m 50 2.8, t-max 400 @ 200, perceptol stock or 1+1 I think)

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Pete shows us your results!

Giulio
 
Giulio: Love the 2nd shot of the sleeping child. In particular, what I'm finding I really love are the "colors" of B&W developed at relatively low contrast. You can have a high contrast object in the shot - something big and dark, but if you have these beautiful grays, it's just a color shot where the palette doesn't go all RGB on you. And here, the palette complements the sleeping subject. First class job! Nice, sharp and you make me want to go back and hang the 50mm on my M (I'm generally a 35 kind of a guy).

For myself, I'm increasingly turning down the contrast once scanned rather than up. Who knew?

FWIW, while I'm aware that D23 and Perceptol aren't the same - even though I've used neither, I've seen a fair number of folks on the web lump these two together. Not sure why. Anyway... thanks! Keep the photos coming! And if Erik is a regular user... and has a gallery of shots somewhere... point me in that direction (the Flickr group has very few shots btw).
 
Erik: Followed a couple of links to your shots with your 50mm and they're great btw. Saw at one point that you were prodded for your workflow - specifically on scanning. I'm not sure that happened to the satisfaction of the crowds, but I have a different question... given that the subject here in this folder/pocket is film and developing. As an Ilford FP4 and HP5 kind of guy myself, I've seen Perceptol used for both but the recommendation tends to favor slower speed... is this right? I don't think it's a restriction by any means so much as a "best with...".

I'm also curious how you came to Perceptol by which I mean to ask in two parts: 1) what other developers did you use beforehand, and 2) do you use other developers, too? and if so, how do you differentiate which one to use in your creative process? For my own part, my interest was piqued by Barry Thornton's work and discussion of his use of 30% of the time in Perceptol (1:2) and the other 70% in Dixactol / Dixactol Ultra / Exactol. There's an article on Exactol he wrote where he came to these decisions seeking to stay in 35mm with a much beloved Leica M but ultimately threw in the towel and bought his Rollei SL66. I'm kind of following along... love my Leica M and have seen some great images from Pyrocat-HD, but while not giving that up by any means, have begun to "play" with a Bronica SQ-A to see what this MF thing is about and whether I like the 6X6 format. So Thornton's logic seems to appeal to me... and his results definitely... though it would probably be better to reverse that order.

In a nutshell, I'm curious about your path as well. Like your results...duh, and would love to hear a few words from you on the subject - if you have the time, inclination, etc. ...even if it's just a link. Thanks!
 
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Perceptol Keeping Properties: If I mix this stuff up in one of those brown, opaque jugs I have, how long will it keep if I am NOT fastidious about it? Yes, we can be fastidious, but heck, I go through about a roll or two a week... so this isn't going to be long.

Perceptol Mixing: Instructions say 104 F degrees. This is basically a slight bit above the "hot" setting on my tap water. Will this do? or do you guys do this on a stove or in a microwave? The thing is how LONG do you need to keep it at this temp to mix? And if it is slightly above this, does it make a difference? Does it help or hurt? To come back to the word "fastidious", I'm wondering how finnicky Perceptol is about how you mix it? and I wonder this because I'm a guy who has always bought his chemistry pre-mixed in liquids ("just add water to make") up until this point. Thanks!
 
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I mixed mine at 40c and it all dissolved.
The perceptol pdf says it will keep with no air for 6 months. If air in the bottle, much less - I can't remember exactly but I think it said a week
Pete
 
Erik:

Thanks for the background. Helpful. Are you a mono-developer with Perceptol, or do you ever use something else? I see it will develop just about anything btw... so that's good. MassiveDevelopment chart show 3 full pages! which is more than most others.

I do keep (randomly) running into the idea that D-23 + some other ingredient is pretty much what Perceptol consists of... but couldn't find the citation.
 
roscoetuff said:
Erik:

Thanks for the background. Helpful. Are you a mono-developer with Perceptol, or do you ever use something else? I see it will develop just about anything btw... so that's good. MassiveDevelopment chart show 3 full pages! which is more than most others.

I do keep (randomly) running into the idea that D-23 + some other ingredient is pretty much what Perceptol consists of... but couldn't find the citation.
Click to expand...

R,

Your post led me to inquire about D-23. I found this link: http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/DD-23/dd-23.html.

Interesting to note the variations of formulas and the comparision to D-76. Also interesting the Divided D-23 article by Ed Buffaloe for controlling a compensating effect.

Cal
 
Cal: Yeah... doing some readin' myself. Here's one for you, too: http://metolsodiumsulphite.tumblr.com/ where he bases his times off Perceptol. The two seem paired in a lot of web traffic, but definitely differ. Here's a note on the legacy of Perceptol as Ilford's equivalent to Kodak's Microdol (X) and that as the successor to D-23. "One of those things that makes you say, 'Hmmmm'.": http://www.apug.org/forum/index.php?threads/d23-vs-ilford-perceptol.30468/


Erick: Again, thanks as always here.
 
My problem is always my scanning. Also, for some of the shots there was bright sunlight which gives my shots unwanted contrast. Scanning is not a process I enjoy and I envy Erik's and Giulio's commitment and technique. I don't want to upload these to flickr so I'll see if I can upload them straight to the forum.
Pete

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