Thanks for your comments, RS and DJ.(posted 8346 days ago)I was rushed when I made the post and I really didn't state my question properly. I meant to question whether there was an appreciable difference, with respect to grain, between properly formulated developers using metol or phenidone. I didn't mean, necessarily, MQ or PQ. In fact, specifically, I'm thinking in terms of developers that do not have hydroquinone at all.
For example, let's take the Pyrocat-HD formula. As I understand it, the original formula called for 1g sod. bisulfite, 5g catechol, 0.2g pot. bromide and 0.2g phenidone / 100ml water to form the "A" solution. I have seen metol suggested as substitution for phenidone. I believe I read 1g of metol instead of 0.2g phenidone. (From my own experience, however, I think it would take 2-3g of metol to achieve the same activity, but let's assume for the sake of discussion that 1g of metol = 0.2g of phenidone.)
So my question is: Has anyone used Pyrocat-HD, or any other developer where phenidone or metol has been replaced by the other (assuming a substitution that amount yields an equally balanced formula). Then, comparing those two formulas, what differences--if any--were observed in terms of grain and/or sharpness. Also, did phenidone provide enhanced shadow detail over metol, as is commonly believed?