Sandy King (sanking@hubcap.clemson.edu)
Tue, 02 Feb 1999 21:41:23 -0400
Bob Maxey wrote:
>The problem with this is there is no way to make generalized comparisons
>between several different types of developers and a single film. Developers
>are compounded to yield different results.
I agree with this completely, and the logical conclusion is that the term
*better* is subjective, in that *different* in this context clearly implies
multiple users seeing different results. You seem , however, to contradict
your own logic with your comments on Pyro.
>The discussion about Pyro developers also leads me to ask why so many
>people use it when there are better materials out there. It is interesting
>to experiment with, but it is simply not suited to everything. Remember,
>Pyro went away for the most part when better materials were developed.
So what does *better* mean? Why are other developers better? Are
contemporary color papers better than dye transfer? Better than color
carbros? Are silver gelatin prints better than platinums? Better than
carbons? Given a specific criteria the answer to these questions could be
either yes or no, but this would not be the reason dye transfer, color
carbro, platinums and monochrome carbons have all but disappeared. They
disappeared primarily because the new materials were easier to use, and
more convenient and cost effiecient.
The same is true of Pyro. Pyro was replaced by other developers because it
was difficult to control the stain (and still is), since the degree of
stain depends on a number of factors (amount of preservative, exposure to
air, temperature and type and intensity of agitation). It was (and is)
difficult to control all these factors precisely. Consequently the
intensity of the stain, which has a very large impact on printing quality,
can vary significantly, making it difficult to obtain uniform results. It
appears that not even Hutchings understood all of this when the first
edition of his book on Pyro came out because he did not there adequately
take into account the excessive oxidation that results from rotary
processing.
Sandy King
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