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  #1  
Old 22nd November 2021, 06:48 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Default Bromophen v Multigrade for neutral papers

Other than the words subtle or very subtle warmth in connection to Bromophen v MG developer there seems to be very little in the way of useful information

Has anyone here got prints that they could show or refer me to that demonstrates this subtle warmth

I fear I am in the category of printers on whom such subtlety may be wasted in that I will not see it but anyone's experience of the two developers in terms of differences that are clear enough to show in a print would be welcome

Thanks

Mike
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Old 23rd November 2021, 10:16 AM
Paulographic Paulographic is offline
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For myself I prefer Bromophen for it's speed of development, it reminds me of Ilfospeed which I used as a student when you had to make the most of your allotted slot in the darkroom, one minute instead of two in the dish. Mixed 1:3 it's fast, in warm conditions or for more control I'll mix 1:4 or 1:5.
As for it's supposed warmth I can't say I've noticed. If I want warm tones I use warm tone paper and developer. I tone my neutral print warm anyway.
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Old 23rd November 2021, 01:52 PM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is online now
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Multigrade developer was introduced because there can be slight colour.tone shifts with MG papers at different grades, so should give more consistent cool tones.

Ian
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Old 23rd November 2021, 02:34 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Thanks both. Your replies seem to confirm my suspicions that the "subtle" warmth will be too subtle for me to notice although overnight a vague memory came into my mind that someone- it may have been Rob Archer - mentioned that a greater dilution of 1+5 or even 1+7 did produce more warmth.

Usually this kind of a lower dilution is said to work longer exposure and shorter development time but as I say the memory on exactly what was said is too vague

If it was Rob then he may see the thread and reply

Thanks

Mike
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Old 23rd November 2021, 02:58 PM
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MartyNL MartyNL is offline
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Bromophen has become my developer of choice over MG but more on the grounds of longevity and convenience. As a powder, it has a longer shelf life, as a stock solution, it has a longer shelf life and when diluted at 1+3 it also has a much longer working life.
The convenience, is that my 16x20" Nova processor holds 4 litres,1+3 and I believe it's cheaper.
I find, it's a very robust, clean and consistent paper developer and I almost always print fb.
Any warmth is slight and in my case an added advantage.
Here's a pic I uploaded recently to a 6x12 thread on photrio and I believe was processed since switching to Bromophen. The paper could well be Ilford WT fb glossy, my favourite.
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Old 23rd November 2021, 03:43 PM
John King John King is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MartyNL View Post
Bromophen has become my developer of choice over MG but more on the grounds of longevity and convenience. As a powder, it has a longer shelf life, as a stock solution, it has a longer shelf life and when diluted at 1+3 it also has a much longer working life.
The convenience, is that my 16x20" Nova processor holds 4 litres,1+3 and I believe it's cheaper.
I find, it's a very robust, clean and consistent paper developer and I almost always print fb.
Any warmth is slight and in my case an added advantage.
Here's a pic I uploaded recently to a 6x12 thread on photrio and I believe was processed since switching to Bromophen. The paper could well be Ilford WT fb glossy, my favourite.
That picture has lovely tones I would not have thought that a change of developer would make such a difference.

However I like the tones that MG Developer produces on the MG5 and I find that it's life, undiluted is very very long. I usually buy a 5 litres bottle and decant it into 500cc screw top bottles and each 500cc makes 5 x 100cc smaller bottles each of which is enough for an average evenings printing.
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Old 23rd November 2021, 05:45 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Thanks Marty, your pic certainly isn't the cold black look but short of seeing two prints side by side, a Bromophen one and MG dev one, it is very difficult to work out how clear the difference is

Mike
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Old 24th November 2021, 04:03 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MartyNL View Post
Bromophen has become my developer of choice over MG but more on the grounds of longevity and convenience. As a powder, it has a longer shelf life, as a stock solution, it has a longer shelf life and when diluted at 1+3 it also has a much longer working life.
The convenience, is that my 16x20" Nova processor holds 4 litres,1+3 and I believe it's cheaper.
I find, it's a very robust, clean and consistent paper developer and I almost always print fb.
Any warmth is slight and in my case an added advantage.
Here's a pic I uploaded recently to a 6x12 thread on photrio and I believe was processed since switching to Bromophen. The paper could well be Ilford WT fb glossy, my favourite.
Nice print Martin

Martin
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Old 24th November 2021, 04:15 PM
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MartyNL MartyNL is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie View Post
Nice print Martin

Martin
Many thanks, Martin. It's great when it works but I certainly don't find 'seeing' in 6x12 easy. I would say most of my shots work better/stronger when cropped, unfortunately.
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Old 24th November 2021, 09:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
Thanks both. Your replies seem to confirm my suspicions that the "subtle" warmth will be too subtle for me to notice although overnight a vague memory came into my mind that someone- it may have been Rob Archer - mentioned that a greater dilution of 1+5 or even 1+7 did produce more warmth.

Usually this kind of a lower dilution is said to work longer exposure and shorter development time but as I say the memory on exactly what was said is too vague

If it was Rob then he may see the thread and reply

Thanks

Mike
It may well have been me, although it was a while ago. I usually use it at 1:5 nowadays as it does give a little more warmth and still gives full blacks with a 3 minute development time. I find it works really well with Ilford Warmtone papers. I did try it a 1:9 but it still didn't give full blacks even after 5 minutes. Worked quite well for high-key images though. It's a great developer and the 5l packs make it good value for a skinflint like me! If I want even warmer tones I use home-brewed ID78.
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