Developers for film and paper

Pictorial Planet

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Developers for film and paper

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Prints made with this Universal developer are of surprisingly high quality.
This photograph was made from FP4+ negatives developed in Ilford PQU (below) and the print I'm holding was developed in it too.



Here is a developer for film and paper - yep both! Great for those who want to save time and money having just one dev. Why have two developers when only one will do :) Enjoy!!

General Purpose (PQ*) Developers for film and paper.
                                                           
                                                             Ilford PQU / ID-62            
          Water                                             600ml                 
          Sodium Sulfite (anhyd)               50.0g          
          Sodium Carbonate (anhyd)           60.0g                  
          Hydroquinone                               12.0g                  
          Chloroquinol                                      -                    
          Phenidone                                     0.5g                    
          Potassium Bromide                       2.0g                
          Benzotriazole (1% solution)**       20ml                   
          Water              to make                 1 liter                  
           
          Dilution for film                             1+19 or my preferance 1+29 for longer development times                   
          Dilution for paper                          1+4 to 1+9                      

* Note the absence of Metol in these formulas. Those with an allergy to Metol will be happy. PQ means Phenidone/Hydroquinone.

** If you can't obtain Benzotriazole add an extra gram of Potassium bromide. The image will be warmer.

It's worth noting that the requirements to develop film and paper are subtly different. Paper needs more contrast and grain is not much of a concern compared to film that needs softer contrast and finer grain. The above developers will not give you the quality of results that you'd get from specialist developers for film and paper but, nevertheless, the results are surprisingly good. Give it a try, it might be a surprise.

Development times:

FP4+ 1+29 9 minutes Ilford agitation.
Watch the video below to see this developer made and the results.
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