pyrocat developers (e.g. prescysol)

[audible]

i just developed a 35mm roll of tri-x in peter hogan's prescysol ef, which i understand to be very similar to pyrocat-hd

will only get around to making prints later in the week, but from what i see on the negative and from my scans, it does what it promises - very well-behaved highlights, nice accutance effects, controlled grain.

based on these very preliminary impressions, and given that the solutions of this type seem very easy to use, i'm wondering why pyrocat type developers aren't more commonly in use, and more widely in distribution?

 

[eric]

I don't know the answer to your question: "aren't more commonly in use, and more..." but I do have my suspicions. One reason, is if you are shooting 35mm, most people don't want grain. Pyro developers increase grain. But it also increases accutance. So it'll seem much sharper.
Here in SoCal, I really like it with delta type film cause I can shoot @320 Iso in sunny conditions, use PMK, and control those highlights.
Most people who do use pyro type developers are probably medium and large format users which means they make their own developers. I just get the 2 bottles for PMK from Formulary and lasts a long time.

 

[audible]

thanks eric. the part about people mixing their own makes sense. just wondering why kodak, ilford etc haven't done their own version, since it has very different properties from the rest of their developers.

i don't live in the states or the uk, so getting hold of pyro developers is... troublesome and expensive, so i guess that's the reason i ask.

as for the grain... i don't find prescysol grainy at all actually. i made some prints today and the grain is finer than in d-76 and more pleasant than in t-max developer. it seems the stain from the pyro helps mask grain when printing...

if i'm not wrong, pmk uses pyrogallol (spelling?) and prescysol and pyrocat hd use pyrocatechol... there are some differences, e.g. colour of stain affects how they work with VC papers

 

[wintoid]

I love Prescysol EF, and Tanol which is similar, but both have a certain look. I don't want all my photos to have that look, but sometimes it's the only thing that will do. The amount of detail Prescysol EF extracts seems amazing (non-scientific, subjective opinion).

 

[f/stopblues]

Hey guys, speaking of staining developers..

I bought a bottle of Pyrocat-HD and the non-acidic TF-4 fixer last year. I have yet to touch the stuff. I tend to get standardized on one developer and don't stray til I need it to do something else for me.

In any case, if anyone wants a Pyrocat-HD kit to make 10 liters and a bottle of TF-4 fix to make 4 liters, send me a PM and you can have it for the shipping cost. *It is over a year old so I don't make any promise about its integrity!*

Here's the listings on Photo Formulary:
Pyrocat-HD
TF-4 fixer

Happy developing!

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I'd take it, but I can't do Pyro right now, even with gloves. Doctor's orders. Sucky.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Oh, and the fixer should be more than fine. I have some I've been working on for a while, half used, and it still works wonderfully.

 

[audible]

I love Prescysol EF, and Tanol which is similar, but both have a certain look. I don't want all my photos to have that look, but sometimes it's the only thing that will do. The amount of detail Prescysol EF extracts seems amazing (non-scientific, subjective opinion).

yes, it does have a certain look, though i'm not sure how to describe it. i'm going to shoot a few more rolls and see how i feel about it.

so, what do you use when you want a different kind of picture?

 

[wintoid]

I find Rodinal is a very different look to Prescysol (and great too).

 

[mrtoml]

I don't find negs in prescysol particularly grainy. In fact one of its properties is supposed to be grain reduction as the silver grains are replaced by the stain. I recall that this is why the late Barry Thornton used to recommend staining developers:

http://www.awh-imaging.co.uk/barrythornton/tanning.htm