Pyro for a beginner.

[cahayapemburu]

I'm sorry, I don't know chemistry. I know it's been a year since I made up my stock of 510 pyro, and it's still good, and I know a very dilute working developer lasts at least an hour. I was told by the designer that I don't have to worry about spoilage, so I don't. At the rate I'm using my stock, I hope it lasts a very long time.

[JBrunner]

However, both Pyrocat-MC and 510 Pyro contain ascorbic acid, which slows down the rate of oxidation and lengthens the useful life of the working solutions compared to pyrogallol and pyrocatechin formulas that do not contain ascorbic.

Sandy King

Sandy,

Does that make the 510 as suitable to for roller development as Pyrocat-MC, or is there something more at work with the pyrocatechen based formula?

Thanks,

J

[cahayapemburu]

I'm not Sandy, and I don't know pyrocat, but I use 510 pyro with my Jobo as my standard. I've never had anything but stellar results.

[sanking]

Sandy,

Does that make the 510 as suitable to for roller development as Pyrocat-MC, or is there something more at work with the pyrocatechen based formula?

Thanks,

J

When I tested 510 Pyro about 1.5 years go it appeared to work well with rotary development. Beyond that, and for personal reasons, I am going to decline to draw any comparison of the Pyrocats with 510 Pyro.

Sandy King

[JBrunner]

When I tested 510 Pyro about 1.5 years go it appeared to work well with rotary development. Beyond that, and for personal reasons, I am going to decline to draw any comparison of the Pyrocats with 510 Pyro.

Sandy King

Thanks Sandy,

I understand.

Best,
J

[mikebarger]

The only pyro I've used is 510. But I suspect with all pyro's, or any developer for that matter, being able to adjust one's procedures to maximize the strengths of a particular developer is the real key to success.

In the army I had to use D76, and only used it as the instructions recommended. Later a friend introduced me to HC110 and I loved it. Worked out exposure, time, temp, and dilution and got to a point I had a pretty good idea what would end up on the negative. Thanks to Fred Pickers help.

Now I've been working with 510, continuous agitation for 4x5 and semi stand for 120, and I'm still working on exposure, time, temp, dilution to truly feel comfortable at understanding what the outcome will be.

I guess as a hobbyist, this is the part of working in the darkroom I really enjoy. Plus, not being the brightest bulb on the blimp, I can't imagine having four or five developers on the shelf to try and master at the same time.

For the OP, I guess I'd recommend picking one pyro, any of them, and try to learn everything you can about it and how well it works with your style.

Sorry for the ramble, snowing to hard to do much else.

Mike