Pyro Developers Question.
 

Is there any advantage or quality difference to using a pyro developer instead of a normal developer such as D-76 or Xtol?
Developers like Pyrocat-HD, WD2D and PMK get mentioned a lot on the internet photo sites.

Yes there can be advantages and an increase in quality how much depends on the way you work and the developer you choose.

Pyrocat HD gives finer grain, better sharpness and more tonality than D76, although originally designed for LF negatives it's also used for 35mm &120 negatives.

In addition the negatives are extremely easy to print from, with excellent highlights and shadow detail.

It's also a better developer for making negatives for Alt processes.

Ian

If it gives finer grain as well as better sharpness than D76, then it must be good.
Will I actually see these differences with FP4 Plus and T-Max 400?
What dilution and times for the small Paterson-tanks?

You'll mainly notice better sharpness, and ease of printing.

15mins @ 20° C at 1+1+100 normal inversion agitation is a good starting point with most films except Fomapan. That was my time for a roll of FP4 last week which is perfect.

I used to use Tmax 1000 & 400 with Pyrocat and it;s a great combination, but I switched to Delta 100 & 400, and HP5 in LF because Tmax is so hard to find in many places now but Ilford films are everywhere.

Ian

Thank you for the dilution, temperature and time. Do you use a pre soak or not and is the normal agitation at 1 minute intervals as with regular film developers?

No pre-soak, normal agitation, once a minute, half strength stop bath or good water rinse, and an un-hardened fixer like Hypam or Ilford/Kodak Rapid fixer.

Ian

QUOTE=Darkroom User;886505]Thank you for the dilution, temperature and time. Do you use a pre soak or not and is the normal agitation at 1 minute intervals as with regular film developers?[/quote]

That keeps things simple and I use Ilford rapid fixer any way. Thank you Ian.

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I am new to the darkroom and my questions concerning pyro are genuine. I had read on various sites about pyro developers including WD2D, PMK and Pyrocat-HD. If these developers offer little or no advantage over standards like D76, ID11 or XTol, then I will choose one of those instead.

Please help me to learn, rather than post replies that come across as being sarcastic.

I really do want to try to understand what is good darkroom practice, such as choosing the right processes and materials. I have many questions that I want to post here on photobanter.