The Darkroom Cookbook Forum

First of all, congrats on the new 4th edition!

On page 76/77 there is a formula for Carbonate solution but it doesn't specify which type of carbonate. Is it potassium carbonate or sodium or sodium carbonate?

Thanks

Mark

Very good point. Generally "carbonate" is meant to mean sodium carbonate. However, I can see where this could be confusing. I'll make a note to correct that in the 5th edition!

Speaking of which, though it will be at least 3 years before Focal will consider a 5th ed. everyone on this forum should start thinking about what they would like to see in it or share with other photographers.

In the DCB I write of the photographers from an older generation who shared their techniques and formulas in the DCB. But there have been more innovations in the darkroom in the last decade than I witnessed in the first 30 years of my career.

Photographers such as Harald Laban (who comes immediately to mind), Patrick Gainer, Bill Troop, and countless others, have done great things with developers, formulas, and alternative techniques. I will confess to not being up-to-date on all of these new formulas, innovations, and techniques.

Please feel free to either post ideas, techniques, or formulas for the 5th ed. on this site or send them to me in a private message.

markbau wrote: First of all, congrats on the new 4th edition!



On page 76/77 there is a formula for Carbonate solution but it doesn't specify which type of carbonate. Is it potassium carbonate or sodium or sodium carbonate?



Thanks



Mark




I actually have some of Wynn Bullock's developing formulae in an older book on printing/developing I received when I purchased my first darkroom. I'll try to scan or copy those in a repost them in the next couple of days.

In this case sodium carbonate. You can try using potassium carbonate but it may shift your tones to the warm, depending on the paper you are using. Mono or anhydrous makes no difference as you add the carbonate in increments until you achieve the desired results. I don't have the book in front of me right now, but Wynn Bullock's favorite paper developing formula was Ethol LPD.

Steve,
You requested suggestions for the next edition of the Cookbook; I'd like to request more/better info on "Perfection X-R".
And maybe suggestions for subminiature format (Minox, 16mm) format film/developer combinations?
TIA,
Terry

There is a brief discussion of Perfection XR-1 in the new edition of the Film Developing Cookbook. The formula is proprietary so the exact formulation is not known, but we do give two patent formulas that are very close. It's in Chapter 10, page 128. We forgot to put it in the Index.