Beutler's; Has Anyone Experience Using It?
Dan Quinn
developing. The low sulfite metol formula I've used depends upon the
sulfite for it's alkalinity. Sulfite reduces the sharpness of the
image.
From what I've read Beutler's or similar developer will deliver the
absolute maximum in sharpness while maintaining film speed. Does
or has anybody actually used the stuff? Dan
Garry D. Lewis
> absolute maximum in sharpness while maintaining film speed. Does
> or has anybody actually used the stuff? Dan
Back in 1975, I ran tests of FX-1 vs. Rodinal vs. Neofin Blue ( the
commerical version of the Beutler's formula) vs Acutol. The sharpess
(using Adox KB-14) was
FX-1. The Neofin Blue and Rodinal (1:100) were second place tied. Last
place, though not by much, was Acutol. Of course, these are subjective
judgements.
Garry
John Hicks
>
>From what I've read Beutler's or similar developer will deliver the
>absolute maximum in sharpness while maintaining film speed.
It was identical to Rodinal 1:100 (TMX, Acros) in all ways I could
see or measure.
---
John Hicks
Norman Worth
although I preferred FX-1 (that dates me). The Beutler developer is a
classic compensating formula, with low sulfite and high dilution. The
compensating developers limit contrast by becoming exhausted while
developing the highlights while fully developing the shadows. The result is
compressed highlights, somewhat compressed midtones, and full shadow detail.
This isn't always what you want, and it doesn't give great results with all
films. It's not recommended for high speed general purpose films like Tri-X
or HP-5, but it may be fine with EFKE or Agfa 25. You will need to
experiment to get the right exposure- development combination, but the
developer is very cheap.
"Dan Quinn" <dan.c...@att.net> wrote in message
news:b379902d.03041...@posting.google.com...
Brian Weiss
The Neofin Blue/Beutler's formula is the traditional developer that
was used decades ago for the Adox 14 now known as Efke 25 films.
Herbert Kanner
dur...@hotmail.com (Brian Weiss) wrote:
I used Neofin Blue for a while when living in England. It was then,
like all Beutler developers, promoted as an accutance developer. It
produced exaggerated Mackie lines which gave the impression of extra
sharpness. I was using it, as recommended, with a relatively slow film,
an Ilford ASA 50 film (Pan F, I think), but rated at 100. Ultimately, I
gave up on it; English winter skies demanded a faster film and I shifted
over to Tri X developed in the usual D76. However, before giving up on
Beutler, I tried mixing my own from the formula in the books. My memory
says it was just Metol and Sodium Carbonate, but possibly there was also
Sodium Sulfite. The accutance effect was so pronounced that the prints
looked ludicrous. I subsequently learned that the the commercial
versions of Beutler develoopers contain secret trace ingredients that
tame the behavior.
A couple of years ago, out of sheer curiosity, I again bought some
Neofin Blue. Unlike the version I had bought around 1970, the developer
was not in a sealed glass vial the tip of which had to be broken off by
scratching it first with a file. It was in a stoppered vial. The
instructions were completely different, which made me wonder if it was
still a Beutler developer. The big difference was in agitation. In
order to get the accutance effect, agitation has to be kept down to a
minimum, and the new instructions did not require this.
Herb
Herb
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In addressing email, replace deadspam.com by acm.org.
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Herbert Kanner <kan...@deadspam.com>
Alfred Lorona
The original Willie Butler Neofin Blue formula is:
Water at 95 deg F. 16 oz
Elon (Metol) 1/2 gram
Sodium Sulfite, anhydrous 2-1/2 grams
Sodium Carbonate, anhydrous 2-1/2 grams
Potassium Bromide 0.1 gram
I have used essentially the same formula for many years but with the Sodium
Sulfite reduced to 2 grams and eliminating the Sodium Carbonate and the
Potassium Bromide altogether. I ended up with essentially a greatly reduced
D23 type developer which gave me near identical results but was cheaper.
Ciao, AL
Dan Quinn
Then Beutler Lite might be 1gr metol, 5gr sulfite, in 1ltr H2O. Or
perhaps D23VLS, very low sulfite, would be apt.
I've used a low sulfite metol D23; a gram of metol, 2.5gr sulfite,
in 375ml H2O. That is a high metol formula.
The very low ph of low sulfite metol developers, concerns me.
I think the ph may be so low that it does not reduce the little
exposed areas. That's a loss of film speed. Metol may be some-
what selective, the more so at low ph.
I may up my EI with carbonate. FX-1 may be a good
starting point. Dan