510-Pyro and PC-TEA

[wintoid]

Is anyone using either of these developers? They have some ingredients in common, so I'm planning to mix up some of each, but wondered if anyone had any good/bad experiences to report.

[Tom A]

I did try the 510-Pyro, Works well, but I have stuck to Pyrocat-HD for that look. The PC-TEA is interesting, haven't gotten around to do it, but check on Flickr for "neelins" pictures done with it. To many developers - not enough film for them, particularly as i insist on using only 5 reel batches!!!

[Freakscene]

PC-TEA works well. It gives a little more grain than Xtol, which I think is because it;s so much more alkaline.

510 pyro provided poor shadow speed (with associated low shadow contrast) in my trials.

I'll keep using Xtol as long as I can get it.

Marty

[DaveW]

I've used 510 Pyro for techpan (1:300) with nice results but I haven't compared it to any other results yet. I also used it with d100 (1:100, 9.5 minutes, normal agitation) and that seemed very nice as well. I am refining that particular time and process as we speak (well, am devleoping another d100 roll tomorrow with it). Some people do say that shadow detail is not great but I haven't seen that - will look for it on this roll.

[john_s]

I had the same experience as Freakscene: poor speed compared to any dev I've used.

[wintoid]

Thanks guys!

[wintoid]

Hmm PC-TEA seems to be very very sharp, but perhaps a little too much grain for my liking

[Mike Meal]

wintoid - have you ever tried Peter Hogans Prescysol? I used to use Pyro HD but switched to Prescysol a while ago and have'nt looked back. Very fine grain, sharp and shoot at box speed. Maybe worth a try?

[wintoid]

Hi Mike,

Yes I spent some time with Prescysol, and Pyrocat HD, and PMK too. 510 is new to me. Staining developers have a certain look, which I tend to reserve for special occasions.

In truth, I'm more interested in PC-TEA out of the pair. I was hoping for a cheap DDX, essentially :D

Simon

[Todd.Hanz]

I used 510 pyro for a couple batches, I just hate ordering all the ingredients and waiting for them to come in when I can run down the street and pick up Xtol in a few minutes. I remember it being very fine grained with Acros with nice shadows and well controlled highlights. A few samples with different lighting for comparison, the first two shot with a Rolleiflex, last two with a Mamiya 7II, all on Acros 100:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/rffgallery/gallery/489/U489I1245464191.SEQ.0.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/81/247447692_007102f991_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/100/269031064_068f28a2ff_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/120/250932463_5cbeb800fd_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/100/250932455_97a1ed54d7_o.jpg

after posting these I wonder why I gave up on 510 pyro, maybe I should rethink that decision ;)

Todd

[wintoid]

Those are stunning, Todd :D

[Freakscene]

Acros has a lot of incorporated development accelerants that help keep the shadow speed up. There are also several different types of TEA available which have wildly variable pH. My TEA was analytical grade, while most commercial grade products have more MEA and DEA in the product and generally have higher pH. This greater alkalinity will produce a more active developer. Todd, your shots are way better than anything I got with 510 pyro and I stuck with it for a good while.

Marty

[Todd.Hanz]

I ordered my chemicals from "Artcraft" after some discussion with Jay de Fehr over on photo.net ( http://photo.net/black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/00GjtZ ) a few years back. I don't know enough about it to comment as eloquently as others here, I just shoot it and soup it ;)

Todd

[Todd.Hanz]

BTW, I found Jay's blog with some info on it if anyone is interested: http://pyrostains.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=6

good reading,
Todd