I must have been feeling brave last night and processed 3 sheets of film at the same time. My experience with Pyrocat HD over the last couple of years has taught me a great deal about how it works when using minimal agitation/semi stand techniques. I altered my normal single sheet dilution to be sure I would have enough develper for each image. The three images were also similar in subject brightness range (SBR) and were all exposed similarly. The negatives turned out fine and should be quite printable. One is a little thinner than the others but it had less overall contrast and was shot in more open lighting conditions but with deeper shadows.
Below my Pyrocat HD dilutions for 1-4 sheets using an SP445 tank and minimal agitation. I always develop at 70 degrees.
Presoak is 5-6 minutes, 2 minute initial agitation + 3 intervals with 20 seconds of agitation.
Normal time/agitation intervals for me are a range from 7 minutes to 8:30 minutes x 3 depending on SBR.
Example: 7×3(20) = 21 Minutes with agitation at 7 minute intervals + the initial 2 minutes for a total of 23 minutes.
– Counting down agitation points would be start = 23mins(2min init), 14:10(20 seconds), 7:10(20 seconds), dump at 10 seconds to go.
Sheets | Dilution (A : B : Water in mls) |
1 | 3 : 2 : 495 |
2 | 3.2 : 2.8 : 495 |
3 or 4 | 4 : 3 : 495 |
I am not attempting to conform my negatives to a particular density, but rather seeking to keep tonal values similar to the scene so they are easy to print. With extreme SBR having low contrast or high contrast I alter time if expansion or contraction is needed.