MCM 100 Film Developer

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rayajko
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 5:39 pm
Location: western pennsylvania

MCM 100 Film Developer

Post by rayajko »

I was wondering if any of the forum readers have ever tried the film developer MCM 100, available from Photographers' Formulary, and the results you have had with various types of film.

Bob

Jim Appleyard
Posts: 80
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:33 pm

Post by Jim Appleyard »

I tried the homebrew version with terrible results. My highlights were burned out and I gave up on it. I know this isn't telling you much, but it may be othe only answer you get here.

Formulary's version may be different, but I don't think so. They may be able to recommend times and EI's for you and I remember those being hard to come by.

Come to think of it, all the devs I made with PPD were less than ideal.

I hope you have better luck and perhaps another reader will come by to help out.

pentaxpete
Posts: 100
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:19 am
Location: BRENTWOOD,Essex,(UK)

Post by pentaxpete »

I have always wanted to try this formula but the 'Meritol' was unobtainable. I think you have to make it as an'addition product' with PPD and Catchetol
Got COMPUTERISED and 'slightly Digitised Pentax K10D' but FILM STILL RULES !

rayajko
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 5:39 pm
Location: western pennsylvania

MCM-100

Post by rayajko »

You are correct. To replace the 'Meritol', the formula uses 7 grams of PPD AND 9 grams of catechol, both of which should be used with caution.

bowzart
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 10:14 am
Location: Anacortes, WA

Re: MCM 100 Film Developer

Post by bowzart »

rayajko wrote:I was wondering if any of the forum readers have ever tried the film developer MCM 100, available from Photographers' Formulary, and the results you have had with various types of film.

Bob
I have used this developer quite a lot. I build it myself from scratch as I do almost all of my developers. I love it. I used it with the old Kodak 2475 Recording film, and Kodak's Aero Infrared in 70mm, which I believe was the same film except for the infrared sensitivity. This may seem strange to most people but I loved the results. It had the look that one would have seen in Life Magazine, for example, in the 1950's or 60's. Fortunately, I have some of these films still in the freezer.

rayajko
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon May 07, 2007 5:39 pm
Location: western pennsylvania

mcm100 film developer

Post by rayajko »

Thanks for your input on mcm100 film developer. I'm going to try it on a variety of films this summer and hope to submit some info on what films I feel are best to use with this developer.

Bob

Jim Appleyard
Posts: 80
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:33 pm

Post by Jim Appleyard »

Some interesting reading about a similar dev., Edwal 12. Noteworthy is Paul Howell's statement about using 4 rolls for seasoning and cutting dev time by 30%. Perhaps that makes the difference.

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum37/5015 ... ience.html

bowzart
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 10:14 am
Location: Anacortes, WA

Post by bowzart »

Jim Appleyard wrote:Some interesting reading about a similar dev., Edwal 12. Noteworthy is Paul Howell's statement about using 4 rolls for seasoning and cutting dev time by 30%. Perhaps that makes the difference.

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum37/5015 ... ience.html
Thanks, Jim

Yes, I've been following that thread with interest. I should say I did yesterday, because I just found all of these groups in the last couple of days. Already, I'm wondering how I'm going to find time for all this. How does anyone actually shoot, with all the reading/writing?

I suppose I really need to try Edwal 12 and Edwal 20 both. The picture I'm getting of E12 doesn't sound much at all like MCM100, at least in my experience. The only common reducing agent is the ppd. MCM100, as I'm sure you are aware, contains no metol or glycin. I do have to wonder, though, whether I'm giving the MCM a complete chance to show itself, since I live in a place where it is very often overcast, sometimes deeply so. It is hard to imagine, though, that MCM could stimulate the kind of highlights that E12 apparently does, simply because it uses pyrocatechin which, in my experience, just doesn't do that; in fact, quite the opposite. It has a sort of auto limiting effect on development of high values.

It does seem to me that E12 may be very useful in a climate such as the one where I reside. I've ordered a bit of glycin from PF, and was planning on looking at Germain. I'll do some comparison of the formulae and see whether I might want to change that plan. Since I process film in my truck camper these days, I have other specific needs in a developer; E12 seems to be intended for tank line, and I certainly haven't got room for that. I've been using Beutler's quite a bit, and also FG7, because it is versatile and convenient. I won't be compounding on the road, so its mix from concentrate and dispose works well for me. It's a pretty good all-around developer, anyway.

I'm very impressed with the quality of the information I'm getting from these various forums. There is a great deal of thoughtful experience present; definitely a community where I seem to belong. That's great. I've been enjoying your posts.

Jim Appleyard
Posts: 80
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:33 pm

Post by Jim Appleyard »

Hey, try 'em all! It does take some time to learn to know what a dev can and cannot do. Plus, film itself has changed over the years since these PPD devs came out.

I just pass along info to be of help, but I don't intend to make up someones mind for them. I wish you luck with PPD and just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you. It might just be your favorite! J

bowzart
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 10:14 am
Location: Anacortes, WA

Post by bowzart »

Jim Appleyard wrote:Hey, try 'em all! It does take some time to learn to know what a dev can and cannot do. Plus, film itself has changed over the years since these PPD devs came out.

I just pass along info to be of help, but I don't intend to make up someones mind for them. I wish you luck with PPD and just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you. It might just be your favorite! J
I always hope to find a film that doesn't change. I doubt there is a chance of this ever happening, though. It's a bit irritating when you realize that you might test today, and the mfr might change their formula tomorrow, and when you develop the film - surprise! Testing can require numerous iterations, even if you learn to pare to the bone.

MCM 100 certainly DOES work for me and I'd certainly encourage anyone interested to try it. I don't think there is anything out there like it. I'm wondering, though if a ppd developer with a bit of glycin wouldn't brighten up these gray Pacific Maritime days.

Anyone ever tried adding a bit of glycin to MCM 100? If so, how much, and what happened?

Unfortunately, every time I mix up a new version, it requires another bottle of some kind. Since I am using my truck camper for film developing now, where are they all going to go? The densitometer won't fit in there either.

Another thing I've been wondering: Is there any information anyone's found or discovered regarding replenishing this stuff? No information has been included with the formula wherever I have seen it published, only the suggestion to add time. That's not something I like to do. I want the developer to stay the same. PPD is hard to dissolve, so I'd like to do a bigger batch at once and not have to repeat myself periodically, but storage is a problem. It seems to me that a good place to start would be to replenish to top up with the same formula, and I don't mind following and charting the trail it leaves, time permitting. If anyone has some experience that would help, I'd like to hear about it. Could save me some time.

Larry

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