Pyro and FP4

[Donald Miller]

However when the 2 chems A+B are mixed in distilled water they are still clear with no noticable colour shift. Should I see a yellow tinge?

I am happy with the negs as they show good highliht detail and contrast and will print them tomorrow but just wanted to know what was normal with Pyrocat with other users. I get concerned when everyone speaks of the brown staining and I get pink. The fixer solution was fresh as was the HCA afterwards but I did not presoak the negs.

Phill

Phill,

I bought my chemicals from the same source. When the stock solutions are fresh I get basically no color in the tray solution. When they get a little age they will tend toward a pinkish/orange tan color in the tray. As film is developed the developer solution becomes more brown/black in my experience.

I did encounter a pink cast to a sheet of FP4 that I developed this morning. In that case the film was underexposed by a stop and one half and density was very thin. (I brush develop in tray). For the balance of the film that I developed at the same time the pink cast was not apparent. Pyrocat will give a very faint brownish stain to the low value densities (depending on silver density) and the stain effect becomes more pronounced as densities increase. However this almost needs to be measured by densitometer to fully appreciate the stain effect.

[sanking]

[quote="philldresser"]

When mixed together with distilled water the working solution turns yellow (others have gotten a pink colour in their working solution). I presoak for 5 minutes and always use fresh fixer. The brownish stain is quite obvious.

Francesco, Sandy
I bought the raw materials from artcraftchemicals in US and mixed according to Sandys instructions. However when the 2 chems A+B are mixed in distilled water they are still clear with no noticable colour shift. Should I see a yellow tinge?


Phil,

In my conditions I get a slight shift to an amber color when the A+B solutions are mixed with water. However, this may vary slightly according to age of solutions and alkalinity of water. If your negatives develop normally then your developer is ok, regardless of the color shift, or lack thereof.

Negatives developed in Pyrocat-HD will look either slighly brown in color, or sometimes almost neutral. However, the color pink is definitely not an artefact from either Pyrocat-HD or from any other staining developer. This is antihalation backing that has not been completely removed.

Sandy

[philldresser]

I developed my back up negs tonight with the following scenario
FP4+ presoaked in distilled water for 5 mins
developed in Pyrocat-HD 1:1:100 @20C for 13 mins (N+1) in BTZS tubes
stopbath 1min
fixed 5 mins
washed 25mins in running water.
The resulting negatives are superb. Lovely contrast and detail but the negs are definitely PINK. The presoak water was purple with dye and there is no sign of any dye left in the emulsion. I am happy with the negs but would like to know why I don't get the brown shift that you all enjoy.

Phill

[Francesco]

Hi Phil, well done! Amazing detail n'est-ce pas and a certain "glow" in the neg. The brownish tint is hardly noticeable using 1:1:100 dilution (my negs developed to this dilution do not show an obvious brown tint), perhaps even invisible to the naked eye. If you have a chance try the 2:2:100 (might I suggest 11 mins for N+1 using BTZS tubes) you should see a difference.

[philldresser]

I bought my chemicals from the same source. When the stock solutions are fresh I get basically no color in the tray solution. When they get a little age they will tend toward a pinkish/orange tan color in the tray. As film is developed the developer solution becomes more brown/black in my experience.

Don
Solution turned pink/tan after 1 hour in open air mixed 1:1:100

I did encounter a pink cast to a sheet of FP4 that I developed this morning. In that case the film was underexposed by a stop and one half and density was very thin. (I brush develop in tray). For the balance of the film that I developed at the same time the pink cast was not apparent. Pyrocat will give a very faint brownish stain to the low value densities (depending on silver density) and the stain effect becomes more pronounced as densities increase. However this almost needs to be measured by densitometer to fully appreciate the stain effect.

I think I need to try a more representitive subject matter as 70% of the neg is clear (black background). I will inspect the highlights undo my lupe now and see if I can see the stain better, and do some outside shots this weekend. Hopefully I can get to the darkroom nextweek to print.

Thanks to all who have taken time to respond

Phill

[philldresser]

Hi Phil, well done! Amazing detail n'est-ce pas and a certain "glow" in the neg. The brownish tint is hardly noticeable using 1:1:100 dilution (my negs developed to this dilution do not show an obvious brown tint), perhaps even invisible to the naked eye. If you have a chance try the 2:2:100 (might I suggest 11 mins for N+1 using BTZS tubes) you should see a difference.

Francesco
I'll give the 2:2:100 a try soon. I must say that the sharpness is VERY apparent. I also want to try stand development in this soup too.

Cheers

Phill

[philldresser]

Just for reference sake, that second batch have dried more tan than pink. Most apparent when I compared the 2 together.