Response to about Pyro

It's been nearly ten years since I used a pyro formula other than PMK. I did use ABC Pyro briefly, with pretty good results, and also the W2D2 formula. Everyone seems to agree that PMK is the best formulation they have found, primarily because it offers higher speed and more even staining. The older formulas could sometimes give inconsistent results. According to Hutchings, with older formulas the staining took place during development and all sorts of variables could affect it, but Hutchings claims (and this has been my experience) that PMK stains AFTER development, so the staining action is very consistent. I have read other people claim that PMK provides more stain than other formulas, but (looking through some of my older negative) I seem to have gotten pretty good stain from W2D2 and ABC. I mostly photograph out-of-doors in Texas, Mexico, and the Southwest where the sun shines and the tonal ranges almost always exceed 7 stops. PMK allows me to capture and reproduce the full tonal range of my subjects--good shadow detail and unparallelled detail in the high values.

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