And then I'll shut up and go buy the book. I also want to get that other book, something about darkroom cookbook, or something like that. Can someone give me the title? In the meantime, could someone explain why the advantages are seen more in the slower films, and whether it's still worth it to use for HP5+. My thinking at this point is that I would rather have one chemical like PMK and two films like HP5 and FP4. I know I will use the HP5 most of the time, but it will be an easy transition to use the FP4 when desired. Thanks again for the information. It's incredibly helpful. I can't wait to start my darkroom.

John Kilmer

-- John Kilmer (tcompton@citlink.net), May 04, 2000

Answers

The Darkroom Cookbook and (even better) The Film Development Cookbook. Steve Anchell is author of both (the film book has a co- author whose name I forget). I bought both last month from amazon.com.

I will have my PMK developer to try on Sunday at last (a friend is bringing it with him from Montana after getting it from Photographer's Formulary for me) but I plan on trying a bunch of different films to see how they work. I'll use XTOL or Rodinal for the films I like that don't work well in PMK, but from what I've read, almost any black and white film works alright in it. Supposedly slow films and t-grain films aren't as good but I've read a few articles from people that thought it worked great. If in doubt, try, I guess.

-- Jim MacKenzie (photojim@yahoo.com), May 05, 2000.

Hi John,

I haven't shot a lot of FP4, but I'll throw my two cents in here:

HP5+ and Delta 100 would probably be my choices if you want two seriously different emultions. I *really* like Delta 100 (at ISO 80)in PMK, most of my meduim format B&W is that exact combination. I shoot mostly nature, but I'd recommend giving Delta 100 a try with PMK, despite the T-grain emultion, I find that PMK gives a wonderful look. FP4 is a traditional emultion like HP5+, if you're going to throw another film in the bag, I'd recommend going with something that gives a different look.

I don't think the staining is significantly different in different speed emultions, PMK is almost all I use these days, and I've shot everything from Pan-F to Delta 3200 with it. I don't think Pan-F shows as much effect as the Delta emultions. HP5+ stains really well in PMK, and it's definitely worth using.

Paul

-- Paul D. Robertson (proberts@clark.net), May 14, 2000.

Thanks, Paul. It's good to know that you have solid, positive results with PMK and HP5 as that will be my main film. I still don't understand why some people say the benefits with HP5 are not nearly as pronounced as they are with the slower films. I would think between the high sharpness factor and taking a stain well, it would benefit greatly over other typical developers such as D-76, although the jury still seems to be out on XTOL. In any case, I'm ordering a bunch of HP5 film and a nice fat batch of PMK with GH's book. Should keep me busy for awhile.

-- John Kilmer (tcompton@citlink.net), May 14, 2000.