Erin - I primarily use Pyrocatechol based developers. It gives a brownish stain on most film, is extremely economical has the tanning effect that leads to quite a degree of compensation allowing v contrasty negs to be easier scanned/ printed. The negs look quite thin, but this is misleading as the stain becomes part of the image forming density and adds to the image)
It is utterly easy to use, although can be a bit finicky if your water source isn't too clean.
You can buy it as "precyscol", "pyrocat HD", "DiXactol", "Exactol Lux", "Windisch" and a few other formulations. I think the photographers formulary sell all of these (they used to at least).
They other type of Pyro is Pyrogallol/ Pyrogallic acid (PMK, Rollo Pyro, ABC Pyro, WD2D+ etc). I've not used this, but I have printed from negs developed in it and can say it is great - I don't think it is as forgiving as pyrocatechol from what I understand. And I also understand it is more damaging to the environment/ toxic, but you might want to investigate that further. It gives a more yellowy/ greenish stain, although has the tanning effect giving the compensation. It does have a higher grain result compared with pyrocatechol, so if chunky grain isn't your thing, you might want to try the catechol devs if you are going down the pyro route.
Many people say they can't tell the difference between ID11/ d76 and pyro negs, but I can personally say I do, The control I have over highlight tones is way beyond anything I've managed with standard developers. The negatives print amazingly easily, and the edge sharpness/ acutance is extremely sharp compared to other types.
others are bound to disagree though. I suppose the final result has to be the deciding factor - if you are happy with your current results, then why change?
L.
