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Steve Smith
11th December 2012, 07:43 PM
Last night I wanted to develop a film. I loaded it onto the reel and got it into the tank then realised I had run out of Ilford Perceptol which I have been using recently.

As this film was just for a camera test rather than anything specific, I decided to just develop it in anything - which in this case meant I was going to use some weak paper developer.

When I went to get the paper developer, I found on the shelf next to it, my two bottles of Prescysol which I bought about four years ago. There was just about enough in each bottle to make up 600ml and it was jet black!

I wasn't expecting much but it appears to have worked perfectly. I will have to buy some more now that I have used it up!


Steve.

Miha
11th December 2012, 08:16 PM
I've heard many great things about Prescysol (a name hard to spell :s) and now after your experience it looks like it also belongs to a group of Rodinal/Ilfotec HC/Kodak HC-110 never-go-bad developers :)

Adrian Twiss
16th December 2012, 08:39 PM
I've heard many great things about Prescysol (a name hard to spell :s) and now after your experience it looks like it also belongs to a group of Rodinal/Ilfotec HC/Kodak HC-110 never-go-bad developers :)

Strictly speaking not so, I once used some very dark precysol and ended up with a blank film for my trouble. Looks like you got lucky Steve.

Mike O'Pray
16th December 2012, 08:49 PM
Strictly speaking not so, I once used some very dark precysol and ended up with a blank film for my trouble. Looks like you got lucky Steve.

Or you were unlucky Adrian. I know this sounds like I am being flippant but I am not. I now wonder which it was.

There are, I think, quite a few users of Prescysol here and it would be useful to know their experiences of its longevity.

Mike

peterlg
17th December 2012, 04:12 PM
bought Prescysol ef in November 2011, tried it with good results. I've only developd half a dozen film in it since then so the bottles are still over three quartes full and they are clear in colour, as if fresh.
Peter

Tony Marlow
21st December 2012, 02:37 PM
I use Prescysol and try to work within the six months timescale reccomended by Peter Hogan. I fill the part A bottle up with Tetenal protection spray after every use and store in the dark. I have not used much beyond six months old but the colour has always remained a pale yellow and has always worked OK. Peter hogan does like to use fresh chemicals (just ask him about Nova tanks, then duck!) so he would be on the conservative side with his six months but I would be wary about comparing it to Rodinal for life-span
Tony

Mike O'Pray
21st December 2012, 05:42 PM
On looking at Peter's site and even accepting that he is being conservative with 6 months, it would appear that Steve may have been lucky to have got usable negs from dev that was as dark as it was.

So I agree with you Tony, anyone buying it thinking that it has the longevity of Rodinal might be disappointed and of course Peter makes no such claim. In fact he clearly warns users to be wary after 6 months and to watch for the sign of it darkening considerably which may be key to its life except for lucky individuals on the Isle of Wight :D

Mike

Steve Smith
21st December 2012, 07:32 PM
The laws of physics are different over here.


Steve.

Steve Smith
31st December 2012, 10:09 AM
Last night I wanted to develop a film. I loaded it onto the reel and got it into the tank then realised I had run out of Ilford Perceptol which I have been using recently.

Just to show how stupid I can be, last night I went to put something away in a kitchen cupboard and found my Perceptol.... along with an almost full bottle of fixer!

The laws of physics are different over here.

But the laws of stupidity and forgetfulness are the same as everywhere else.


Steve.

Tony Marlow
31st December 2012, 10:19 AM
Just to show how stupid I can be, last night I went to put something away in a kitchen cupboard and found my Perceptol.... along with an almost full bottle of fixer!

You think that's bad? I spend half my life looking for things I have put in a safe place. I have given up worrying about my memory loss and just accept I am daft, saves a lot bof stress.

Tony

MikeHeller
31st December 2012, 11:46 AM
I spend half my life looking for things I have put in a safe place. Tony

Tidying up is a dangerous business and always leads to losing things. It becomes a pain if you then spend money replacing the missing item - like Leica lenshoods and filters - ouch! Mind you, it can also be fun findng things that you thought long gone - I am still hoping to locate my first camera - a Brownie Twin-twenty with flashgun - I am sure I tidied away into a box 20 years ago.
Mike

Steve Smith
31st December 2012, 03:56 PM
Tidying up is a dangerous business and always leads to losing things.

Not always. On Christmas morning my son tidied up and discovered our dining room table just in time to serve up dinner.

And a few weeks earlier my daughter tidied her room and discovered a floor which we had forgotten existed.


Steve.

Jollybox
11th August 2013, 11:37 AM
..It has been said that ones memory is the second thing to go.... I forget the first thing to go...