Benjamin
Hello,
Does anyone here use the paper developer mentioned and can give me a guideline for the correct development time for baryta paper (Foma, Ilford, MCC)? Most manufacturers generally specify a development time of 2–3 minutes (regardless of the developer). However, I have read in Roger Rüssing’s book ‘Vergrößern’ that N113 develops fully after just 1.5 minutes. The information in the Calbe data sheet was rather vague (45 seconds to 3 minutes for all types of photographic paper, but: baryta paper 1–1.5 minutes). Is this a particularly fast paper developer?
TR
Hello, up until now I’ve always gone by the image development time. With Fomabrom in N113, that was about 15 seconds – I can’t remember exactly. So I developed for at least 1.5 minutes (using the factor method).
However, I’m familiar with the problem of slow developers, which is a nuisance when making test prints. That’s why I often work with a ‘stronger’ developer solution. It also keeps for longer.
Morte
Hello,
I always develop baryta paper in Adotol Konstant for 3 minutes and PE paper for 90 seconds. Incidentally, I almost exclusively use Fomabrom or Fomaspeed paper.
If the exposure time exceeds 30 seconds, I make a fresh batch. That takes a while, though, as it’s very economical and keeps for a long time once prepared.
With baryta paper, you’re sure to get something after 1.5 minutes. (Note: Bruce Barnbaum, for example, develops in Kodak developer for 6–7 minutes!) You don’t have to make the most of it, of course, but it would be a shame not to. I get very nice results with the combination mentioned. I can even say I love it! ;)
Incidentally, I also enjoyed reading Roger Rüssing’s book and find it very useful. However, one mustn’t lose sight of the fact that it was written primarily for amateurs, or rather the run-of-the-mill holiday snappers who were so common back then. For them, he wrote a thorough guide to the darkroom. As a photographer with an artistic and experimental approach, one can certainly stretch his instructions a little. ;)
