I'm the sort of person that likes to see-for-myself that some process doesn't work (assuming it's safe to do so :-).

I've been experimenting with compensation development with PMK Pyro, with agitation intervals up to 2 minutes. Visual inspection of the negatives shows no problems, but I’ve not printed one yet. I might also add that I’m developing 5x7 sheets in a sealed container and use an unorthodox agitation technique of what I call shogging. This is a single hard up-down shake of the container followed by a period of complete rest – similar in concept to gas bubble burst.

If compensation development isn’t possible, how do the negatives fail? I though I might see uneven staining. My test negatives have large areas of continuous tone, which I thought would highlight any uneven development.

So the question is, has anyone even seen PMK Pyro compensation failure, and what does it look like? Any first hand experiences?

TIA – Doug

-- doug mcfarland (junquemail222@yahoo.com), February 04, 2001

Answers

Try printing the negs first. This way, you have the benefit of actually seeing your results before being told what to expect by someone else.

-- Dan Smith (shooter@brigham.net), February 04, 2001.

At the first time: how much less contrast do you want? I use PMK, and pyro responses very well to N-1 or N-2 development. If you need more, try with Pyrocat HD -catechol formula- with semi stand development. You can see this formula in www.unblinkingeye.com Claudio

-- Claudio Szarfsztejn (klaus@sicoar.com.ar), February 05, 2001.

Thanks Claudio - The problem I face is holding shadow detail while compressing N-1 to N-2. I often find that at these levels of compression the shadow details also compress too far for my style of photography (even with over exposure to compensate for the compression). Compensation on the other hand allows me to compress the contrast N-1 to N-2 while not compromising (as much) shadow detail.

PMK Pyro is not recommended for compensation process development because you normally have long periods of time while not agitating the developer. It is reported that this will cause some uneven development or staining. It's this uneven development that I question since I'm not seeing it.

I'm quite happy that, for some unknown reason, I don't see it :-)

doug

-- doug mcfarland (junquemail222@yahoo.com), February 05, 2001.

I was testing Pyrocat-HD semi-compensating development and accidentally mixed PMK for one of my tests. To my surprise, the results were nearly identical and the PMK negative was perfect. However, I have seen uneven development with PMK before--it manifests as strange blooms of higher density in large areas where there should be even gradation (like in the sky).

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), February 05, 2001.