Film developer test – 510 Pyro vs Kodak HC110 + chat with James Lane!

The whole world seems to be talking about 510 Pyro… but is it any good?

(links to everything mentioned in the vid at the bottom of this)

If you do your own black and white film developing you’ll definitely be aware that there are lots of BW film developer choices out there. You’ll know Rodenal, D76, ID11, HC110 and probably lots of others. And you might have already heard of one called 510 Pyro.

UK based photographers have the wonderful facebook group UK Film Photography and Darkroom (if you’re not already a member, go join it now, it’s great), set up by James Lane of Zone Imaging. If you’re a member on there then you will definitely have heard of 510 Pyro, because it gets discussed on there quite a bit.

I’ve been a member of that FB group for a while, but I’ve so far resisted the urge to dive in to the world of 510 Pyro. I was pretty happy for about five years developing all my black and white films in Kodak’s wonderfully adaptable and easy to use HC-110. I’ve experimented with Fomadon, Perceptol and a few others, and been largely happy with the results, but had no reason to jump on the 510 bandwagon… until now!

You know me, I’m really not one for a bandwagon. If everyone else is looking one way I have to be difficult and look the other way to see what everyone is missing. But I do usually come around, I’m not just being bloody minded.

So I bought myself a bottle of 510 Pyro and gave it a go. And, I confess, I’m pretty impressed with the results. Images look clean and grain is definitely reduced. Highlights come out well, and overall the negatives look good.

As usual though… I need to know how it works. I think I understand a little about how films develop. Something to do with silver, right? I wanted to know what was chemically different between what I have been happily doing for five years, and what I am now being told is a better way of doing things.

So I caught up with James Lane, who make 510 Pyro over here in the UK. The formula was devised by mad-scientist and all round film photography legend Jay de Fehr. But James Lane is now making 510 Pyro in sufficient quantities to sell commercially. That in itself is a pretty exciting thing. I love that there are still innovations happening, and new products coming to market. A sign, if one was needed, that film photography ain’t disappearing in the near future.

A few links for you:

UK Film Photography and Darkroom Facebook Group -   / filmphotographyuk  

James Lane’s photochemicals web page: https://zoneimaging-photochemicals.co.uk

James Lane’s film developing web page: https://www.zoneimaginglab.co.uk

Places you can get 510 Pyro:

International – Silverprint UK: https://silverprint.co.uk

Process Supplies: https://www.processuk.net

Firstcall: https://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk

Parallax Photographic: https://parallaxphotographic.coop

And 510 Pyro coming soon to… (sort it out Paul)…

Analogue Wonderland: https://analoguewonderland.co.uk