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  #21  
Old 5th December 2020, 05:31 PM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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There was a time when I never considered using Perceptol. As a Stock solution or at a dilution of 1+1 it was considered to be a fine-grain developer. Something in it ate away the grain, and also ate away the sharpness. And it gave reduced film speed. I didn't need any of these qualities, so never used it.
Then I read Barry Thornton's book Elements. He really rated Perceptol , but in a more dilute form. He said a 1+3 dilution gave even finer grain, and increased sharpness. And put the film speed back up to near normal. He seemed to think it was the best thing you could use, but complained that nobody believed him when he said how good it was. He also said that 1+3 development times were very long, but you could safely develop at 24degrees C. to shorten the time. And you could reduce the dilution to 1+2 with no visual difference from 1+3, and this resulted in shorter development times. I think he quoted HP5 times at 12 minutes for the 1+2 dilution.
So naturally I gave it a try. I found that 35mm FP4 was gorgeous in Perceptol 1+2 or 1+3. And that HP5 was very good, but I preferred it in ID11 at 1+2, though there was very little difference. Further trials have convinced me that Perceptol 1+2 is slightly sharper than ID11 1+2. Both work very well as compensating developers, with bright-mid tones and no mid-tone compression. So I plan to use Perceptol 1+2 exclusively when my stock of ID11 runs out.

Alan
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  #22  
Old 5th December 2020, 08:24 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Alan, that's really good to know that you are getting those results with Perceptol at 1+2.

My impression of sharpness and grain at 1+1 is that with HP5 it is as sharp as ID-11 at 1+1, but with better fine detail rendering and significantly finer grain. I don't see any sharpness loss at 1+1, in other words. I have read that when the sulphite (which is the solvent in fine grain developers) gets below a certain concentration, the developer no longer acts like a solvent developer and the sharpness reducing action that using it full strength gives, is no longer in play. I can't recall the sulphite value, but perhaps it's in one of Thornton's books.

I will have to try it with FP4 at 1+2 and see how it works for me. I just know that I wasn't fond of how 1+3 looked wrt. to tonal depth, so I switched to 1+1 and am happy with that, at least with HP5 and PanF. TBH, I have struggled to find a good developer combo of any type to use with FP4...nothing I've tried has really clicked with me. Perhaps Perceptol at 1+2 is the answer. I will let you know how I get on with it. Thanks for the tip!
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  #23  
Old 6th December 2020, 08:48 AM
adrianlambert adrianlambert is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie View Post
Hi Adrian



Are you using a Jobo 3010 tank ?



If so, I use 250ml of ID11 at 1+1 (500ml total) and dump it at the end.



I value consistency over economy.



Running out of active developer prevents the films highlights from fully developing while increasing base fog.



Martin


Thanks Martin. As soon as I have my densitometer calibrated I’ll be able to report on these.


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  #24  
Old 6th December 2020, 08:52 AM
adrianlambert adrianlambert is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Clark View Post
And you could reduce the dilution to 1+2 with no visual difference from 1+3, and this resulted in shorter development times. I think he quoted HP5 times at 12 minutes for the 1+2 dilution.

Alan
Thanks.

Maybe if there’s no visual difference from 1+2 to 1+3 it’s worth trying 2+3?



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  #25  
Old 6th December 2020, 09:44 AM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Svend View Post
Alan, that's really good to know that you are getting those results with Perceptol at 1+2.

My impression of sharpness and grain at 1+1 is that with HP5 it is as sharp as ID-11 at 1+1, but with better fine detail rendering and significantly finer grain. I don't see any sharpness loss at 1+1, in other words. I have read that when the sulphite (which is the solvent in fine grain developers) gets below a certain concentration, the developer no longer acts like a solvent developer and the sharpness reducing action that using it full strength gives, is no longer in play. I can't recall the sulphite value, but perhaps it's in one of Thornton's books.

I will have to try it with FP4 at 1+2 and see how it works for me. I just know that I wasn't fond of how 1+3 looked wrt. to tonal depth, so I switched to 1+1 and am happy with that, at least with HP5 and PanF. TBH, I have struggled to find a good developer combo of any type to use with FP4...nothing I've tried has really clicked with me. Perhaps Perceptol at 1+2 is the answer. I will let you know how I get on with it. Thanks for the tip!
Good luck Svend. Try it with 35mm then the differences will show up more clearly in normal size prints.

Alan
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  #26  
Old 6th December 2020, 09:46 AM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adrianlambert View Post
Thanks.

Maybe if there’s no visual difference from 1+2 to 1+3 it’s worth trying 2+3?



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Hi Adrian, yes, of course, do whatever you need to satisfy your curiosity and learn how the thing works.

Alan
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  #27  
Old 6th December 2020, 02:11 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Clark View Post
Good luck Svend. Try it with 35mm then the differences will show up more clearly in normal size prints.

Alan
Will do Alan. I've been using it mostly with 120 films lately, as I haven't shot much 35mm in the past few years. That has to change, as I really miss the look of 35mm for certain scenes. And the quality of the prints from this format can be outstanding....makes me wonder why I bother with the big MF cameras so often.
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  #28  
Old 14th December 2020, 10:32 PM
adrianlambert adrianlambert is offline
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I went with a 1+2 ratio. The negs looked denser than I’d expected. Especially the Fomapan. I thought that was going to be really held back as I’ve been using supergrain which Robert Vonk reckoned was good for box speed exposures. Def not as much density in the shadows as the DD-X but not by that much. From the TMY2, the Foma200 and the HP5 I’ve settled on the HP5. And will be using DD-X for box speed and up. Hopefully no more than 640asa. And Perceptol 2+3 for 320asa and 1+1 for 250. The minimum quantity concerns that I had seems to have not been a problem at all. Bit gutted to be dropping Fomapan but I just can’t seem to get a sheet out of the DD without catching the emulsion somewhere. TMY2 sheets looked surprisingly thin with both DD-X and Perceptol 1+2. Maybe I fluffed the exposure a fraction but it’s proving harder to print than the others so it’s out too. I need to take my mind off of all this now and just make some good negs.


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  #29  
Old 15th December 2020, 12:21 AM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adrianlambert View Post
. The minimum quantity concerns that I had seems to have not been a problem at all.
What was the minimum quantity you used and with which of the films , Adrian

Thanks

Mike
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  #30  
Old 15th December 2020, 08:57 PM
adrianlambert adrianlambert is offline
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@mike I used 100ml and 200ml to cover the 270ml requirement. I devved tmy2 Fomapan 200 and HP5. Also the same films in DDX. The difference wasn’t as much as I’d expected. I’m waiting on a calibration target from Stouffler now which I expect will arrive in the U.K. late dec or early January so I can get my Ihara t500 calibrated, then I can see what’s going on with a little more clarity.


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