Thanks Tim for sharing your experience with various films in Pyrocat-HD.
My stash of Fujifilm Neopan400 in 35 and 120 is getting low, and I'm
considering my next film. Here at the end of the Earth there isn't a
huge range regularly available, and I'm a bit leery about the lesser
known makers, so the choice is Ilford and Kodak. HP5+ and FP4+ are not
cheap but are around half the price of Kodak's films, and since I'm used
to 400 speed films, HP5+ seems the obvious choice.
I've often read that people find HP5+ to be a low contrast film, and
I've thought that all they need to do is develop more. I've done some
simple Zone type tests of HP5+ developed in Pyrocat-HD and using a
densitometer have produced some normal looking graphs exhibiting a good
straight line from around Zone_3 upwards. This using very like your
system of EMA in a generous amount of dilute developer.
Your comment about HP5+'s lack of mid-tone separation caught my eye. Is
that something that should be apparent from the H+D graph, or is it
something more subtle?
Obviously the thing to do is take some pictures (when my printing
backlog is dealt with) but I'd be interested if you have any thoughts
about this.
Cheers, John
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*On 29/03/2023 3:14 pm, Tim Daneliuk (tundra) wrote:*
I have been developing in Pyrocat-HD for the most part for the last 3 years
or so. I wanted to take a moment to capture my findings on how various films
stain with this developer. The stain is particularly useful in controlling
dynamic range and grain, so finding film that stain well is desirable when
using this developer.
Keep in mind that I have been primarily developing in highly dilute concentrations
for long periods of time with minimal agitation (Semistand and Extreme Minimal
Agitation). If you develop more conventionally - recommended strength agitating
every 30 seconds or using a roller processor - you may get somewhat different outcomes.
Acros II 100 ***** 120
Adox CHS 100 II *** 6x9 sheets
Agfapan APX 100 ** 120, 4x5
Efke KB 100 ***** 35mm
Efke PL 100 M ***** 6x9 sheets
FP4+ ***** 120, 6x9 sheets, 4x5
Fomapan 200 *** 35mm, 120, 4x5 (Note 2)
HP5+ **** 120, 6x9 sheets
Plus-X *** 35mm, 6x9 sheets (Note 1)
Shangahai GP3 ** 220, 4x5
Tri-X ***** 35mm, 120, 220, 4x5
Note 1: Plus-X in 6x9 was very old and outdated film that just hated Semistand
and showed plenty of bromide drag
Note 2: Fomapan 200 in 120 is acknowledged by the manufacturer to be
dodgy. I do not recommend it for anything - it seems to have
trouble with emulsion spots falling off during development.
Foma made good on this and sent me equivalent other product
to make up for the faulty 120. They say they're working on the problem.
All the films stained somewhat. A lower stain level does not mean inferior
images. The lowest stain score - APX 100 and GP3 - are both fine grained
ASA 100 films and delivered very good images notwithstanding the lower
levels of stain.
If I had to pick one film and live with it - if I could get it in all relevant
formats - it would be the Efke. The stuff is just amazing in Pyrocat-HD
and shows strong edge effect from dilute minimum agitation. Sadly, it is
no more. I have enough in the freezer for some time and then that's it.
Back here in reality, once my current stash of all the above is gone, I will
likely retreat to two emulsions as daily drivers: Tri-X and FP4+. Both
stain really well and both show good edge effects in extended, dilute
development.
I am not a fan of HP5+. To my eye, it looks low contrast and lacks mid-tone
separation even after extended development. This may be selection bias because
I know Tri-X so much better. If I had the same miles on HP5+ I might feel differently.
The Adox CHS 100 II gets an honorable mention here because it tries real hard to
be the new Efke ... and almost succeeds.
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