I have
been developing Ilford FP4+ 120 format in PMK Pyro for ten minutes for quite some time, without an afterbath.
With my latest use of this developer I decided to change part of the
process, instead of inverting the tank every twenty seconds I changed
it to every fifteen seconds to see if this increased the density of
the negatives. My reasoning is that previous negatives have looked a
bit on the thin side. Yes you are right! I could have increased the
developing time but wanted to find out how much influence agitation
has on the process.
FG 1 Film FP4+ |
When changing or
adapting a method that works well, it is better to change one aspect
of it at a time so that it makes it easier to judge whether it is an
improvement or not. So what did I do introduce a re-bath of the film
in the developer after the fix. The after bath is part of the full
process when using PMK pyro that completes the staining. Up to now I
have not felt the need to do this but was curious to see how much
stain would be added and if it improves the print quality. I did this
for the two minutes suggested which I agitated for thirty-seconds at
the beginning and ten seconds one minute later.
FG 2 Film FP4+ |
There has been a marked difference
in the density and the colour of the staining on the negatives. The
picture marked Fg 1 shows the negatives developed with the afterbath,
they have a yellow-brown look to them. Fg 2 shows negatives
without the bath and they have a purplish look to them.
These results
would suggest that an increase in agitation has just as much effect
if not more on the density of the negative than an increase in the
process time. The afterbath also produces a significant change in how
much stain is deposited which is supposed to help in making these
negatives easier to print. I have found that even without the extra
staining I have been producing some wonderfully toned photographs. I
have not printed this latest set of negatives yet but hope to do so
soon.
Related Posts:
FP4+ PMK pyro method update.
PMK Pyro developer part B
PMK Pyro working solution
Related Posts:
FP4+ PMK pyro method update.
PMK Pyro developer part B
PMK Pyro working solution