I almost hesitate to write this, but I think someone has to and because I've grown accustomed to being flamed, it may as well be me.(posted 8931 days ago)It seems from the postings on this and other darkroom forums, that those who dislike pyro, or at least, find no benefits, are 'followers' of the Phil Davis 'Beyond The Zone System.' I've studied the writings and methods of Phil Davis for years, begining with the first edition of his BTZS book and including the 'interview' in View Camera where he and Gordon Hutchings discussed film developers. In that interview, Davis admitted that he finds little difference between film developers and, even more telling, he no longer takes pictures, preferring to make endless measurements instead.
It is my belief that the BTZS method is an agonizingly complex and tedious system just to use an incident meter. 'Wonder Wheels' and a 'densitometer' kluged together with a spot meter and cardboard are a colosal waste of time and energy! The Zone System is just not that complicated.
In my personal experience, of the few BTZS adherents I've known, few ever actually take pictures, and NONE ever produced a photograph that anyone would pony up cash to buy!
So, anyone who is curious and adventurous enough to try PMK, I say "Pay attention to those, like Ed Buffalo and Mark, who have success with pyro. Ignore the 'advice' of those who have negative comments on it." They have either tried it and failed, or have never tried it, just read about it.