Developer for Efke PL100 4x5 sheet film

[Eric Rose]

I use PL100 exclusively for 4x5. Probably shot 100's of sheets of the stuff. The best developer I have found is PyroCat-HD using semi stand technique. For average scenes I too rate it at 50asa.

[nworth]

I've used both D-76 (mostly) and Rodinai; with this film. Both work well. I think I like Rodinal a bit better, but I don't really like the film that much. I had a fair stock, so I used it.

[holmburgers]

The film is appealing because it's so cheap, and especially so if it's gifted... ...but I'm gonna use it almost exclusively for making separation negatives and so it's good for testing that, especially at a minimum of 3 negatives a go.

I plan to even cut some up into 4x5" sheets to make testing a little more economical. I'd like to experiment with other developers, but I'm trying to standardize on HC-110.

I'll try to get some densitometer readings and more info as I sort this out.

Thanks guys

[snederhiser]

Hello;
Not much has been posted about the exposure of the film. I would shoot at recommended rating and use a skylight or light yellow filter with exposure correction. How accurate is the shutter that you are using? This is an old school emulsion and would think that extra time in the developing tank would be in order. 10 min in full strength D-76 would be my starting point and adjust from there. The only film I used that was thin was Agfapan 100, but still gave a good printable negative. Steven.

[ntenny]

I went back and looked at some of my old negatives developed using this regime, and I think it may be true that they're short on density in the highlights specifically. The *average* density looks good, but I don't really see any bulletproof Zone MCMLXXXVI highlights. They were taken in fairly soft lighting, though, so I'm not absolutely sure that this is a trait of the film vs. something specific to these images.

-NT