2024 Season - Crawley's FX 55 - Special Modification
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Here we explore a special modification to FX55 that was first discussed by Pat Gainer. I've been using this modification for some time and, in fact, have written about it and improved on it to get better negatives.
Let's see how to make this modification.
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Having rediscovered after 30 years the dark room. Watching your videos and reading your book I really get inspired to start 'stirring up' my own developers. I am keen to have an eco friendly alternative and this fx-55 sounds great. As I was poor at chemistry in school I will diligently need to follow your recipes. The challenge I have is finding the ingredients that have different names in Dutch or German. Food additives I found can be matched on E numbers. I am going to give this a try when I run out of my adox xt-3 that I understand is based on the unavailable kodak xtol and also based on phenidone and vitamin c
For chemistry in your region check out Fototechnik Suvatlar, email on my suppliers page of my website. They sell in English and German. Highly recommended.
Thanks for this modified version. It looks to be a better option than weighing a small amount of sodium ascorbate each time. However, I have a little over 1 litre of 1% phenidone, and this should last me approximately the rest of my life. Still, I have noted it in my little notebook for reference in case I am wrong.
Use your 1% phenidone to make the part B. 100ml, as part of your initial 150ml will be just the right amount of phenidone and then just dissolve the ascorbic acid and add the 30ml TEA finally making up to 200ml. Seems like you've already done some of the work :)
I have just prepared my first ever batch of developer! FX55 part A and the part B as described in this video. Have yet to test if it works ;-) some experiences to share: the recipe differs from the book ie there is 30 ml of TEA rather than 10 mg and temp is much lower. I found it very difficult to fully dissolve the ascorbic acid and needed to heat it to slightly above 50 C to make it happen. Phenidon dissolved very easily. On part A I did not get the announced change of color with sodium sulphite, so hope it is will work. I will develop a film but will not increase the development times as suggested in your book for the part B described there.
UPDATE: Yes I developed my first role successfully. Negatives look great
Fantastic! Good work!!
Just bought your book John. Can't wait to read it. So happy to see you back to making these amazing videos!
Thank for buying my book! That really helps. I'm very glad to be back.
Dear John,
Thank you for this new video. I have taken good note of the new process for preparing Part B formulated by Patrick Gainer. One important change concerns the temperature. In your book, you indicated 70°C. But I'm surprised that you no longer mention the importance of increasing the development time by 10-15%. In my (still very modest) experience with the FX-55, this is necessary.
Thanks for your comment. I'm glad you mentioned these changes. Let me explain whey I've change these parameters.
You'll have seen in an earlier video here on my UA-cam channel that I suspect that heating phenidone too high might lower its activity. I discovered this while trying to trouble shoot someones problems making a 1% solution. This might not happen with all forms of phenidone but, to be on the safe side I now recommend a lower temperature of "hand hot" or around 45-50C. This slows down dissolving the chemical but in my experience keeps it more potent.
To address the second point, I have changed the original Gainer formula for part B by increasing the amount of TEA to 30ml. This better balances the ascorbic acid in the final developer and cancels the need for longer development. It does mean re-evaluating your iso and development times but I think it's worth it to have more robust negatives.
I hope this explains the changes. I have a Errata page on my website where I have documented these changes.
@@PictorialPlanet Thank you John for this additional information. I look forward to following you during this year of experimentation with the FX-55. It's the developer I've chosen for its ecological qualities and performance. Luc
In December 2022, I made a similar solution consisting of: TEA 20 g, phenidone 1 g, ascorbic acid 12 g. I dissolved everything in glycol to a total volume of 150 ml. It still works well today. What worries me is that it quickly turned dark brown. I'll try your proportions. I believe they are better. I'm tempted to try dissolving it in 100ml.
It will be interesting to see if you can get the 12g of ascorbic acid in the 100ml total. That might be the hurdle to overcome.
I just dissolved it, easily, in 100ml. I noticed that increasing the amount of TEA from 20 to 30 ml slightly increased the activity of the developer. I also made twice as concentrated solution "A". I like concentrates in my micro darkroom.
@@PictorialPlanet
I will give the FX-55 a first try this weekend and just asking myself if I can increase the shelf life by putting part B in the fridge?
I have used the "Jobo alpha" developer (originaly made by Klaus Wehner as he wanted to build a developer similar to the old Agfa Atomal, which was discontinued because of it's harmfull ingredients).
The Jobo alpha / "Wehner developer" also consists of two parts with part B also containing phenidone and polypropylene - as far as I know. They recommend to keep the solution B in the fridge. So maybe doing so will also improve durability of the FX-55 - Gainer mod ?
The Gainer mod B lasts years so no need to keep in fridge. There's no problem with durability with A or Gainer B. My new Gainer B formula (30ml TEA) is improved from the Gainer original and developing times are much nearer normal (no need for the 10-15% increase as in the old).
@@PictorialPlanetOK, I see. Thanks for that information - so it's the "Gainer-Finch modification" ;-)
Hi John thank you for this video. I have acquired all the chemicals to make FX-55, but I’ve been delaying to see what else you might do to the formula. Will you be making additional changes to FX-55 or should I jump in and get started? I’m hoping the FX-55 will produce more punch than BT2B.
I have one more video to make about using ascorbic acid with regular FX55. If you have sodium ascorbate then go ahead and use it as Crawley's original formula (1.3g sodium ascorbate plus 0.1g phenidone added to 1 ltr diluted A). This is my preferred way to use it. You will get much more control over your negative punch with this developer.
@@PictorialPlanet Hi John, thank you for your reply and the tip about sodium ascorbate. I have all the chemicals I’m prepared to a “mix-along-with-John”. Good to know that Part A will be unchanged! I am planning on moving towards more more eco-safe developers, and more modern B&W films like Delta and T-Max.
For future consideration I use the hybrid approach of developing B&W film then scanning to digital with a digital camera then sending the files out for printing after editing in my computer. I know I’m loosing some quality control with this method, but I don’t have space for wet printing and think I’m gaining dynamic range. I will be all eyes n ears when I hear you say “this technique will improve the dynamic range of your negatives”😀
Hi John. I made FX 55 a few days ago and I made this special modification yesterday. I have taken all my test shots and and about to develop the film. As I was reading through your website just now I noticed the update on the error regarding TEA should be 30g and not 10g as printed. As I crossed out the mistake and wrote over it in pencil I realized I had used 30ml of TEA and not 30g. As I watched this video again I see that's were I had got it from. So I take it that that this is correct, and safe to proceed?
Yes, 30ml or g is fine. You'll get wonderful negatives! Enjoy and thanks for your comment.
@@PictorialPlanet I went ahead and developed the film anyway as they were only test shots. WOW! These are probably the best negatives I have ever made. So clean, clear and sharp. I can't see me using my usual film developer any more for my Ilford FP4. Especially when I can get 200 ISO. I have also made a batch of Pyrocat HD and can't wait to finish my 120 rolls of Ilford Pan F50 later and develop them tonight. (I just have to make an alkaline fixer). Your videos and book are an awesome resource to have in the darkroom. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all.
This is great. I'm going to try it next time. I think that will simplify things and I assume this liquid part B will help the phenidone and ascorbic acid to last longer than they would last in powder form?
You assume correctly. The liquid B, in propylene glycol, lasts years.
John, I have made 200 ml. FX-55 part B just after the posting of your video. By this time, the (B) solution has become dark brown in colour and honey like in consistency. I prepared 100 ml. of working solution, which was golden in colour. Then I dropped a film leader of PanF + in it, which became quite black on the emulsion side by 13 minutes. Is my solution B alright?
Yes, mine is brown now too. It's the TEA that makes it brown. No problem.
A little off topic question, in these days of raising costs and in my case a very limited pension, is there a long lasting Fixer.
Good question, Stephen. The longest lasting fix I know would be Ilford Hypam but I haven't tested any specifically. I've had Hypam last three or four years in partially opened bottles. Just don't refrigerate it! It crystallises and is spoiled.
I am in the same boat as you. Just coming up to state pension age and the US company we wrok for has made me redundant. Film photography will have to take a backseat for a while.
I had a sealed bottle of DDX from ten years ago. It had crystallised so badly.@@PictorialPlanet
@@PictorialPlanet Thanks John, I've never tried Hypam (or if I have it would have been forty or fifty years ago) always picking Ilford Rapid and accepting reluctantly it's lifespan. The tip about not putting it in the fridge is a great one, as I would have done just that after putting it in vacuum stoppered bottles. Going to make a bold note in my log book, once I find it, how does an A4 hardback book become totally lost, when in theory it never leaves the Darkroom.
@@lensman5762 so sorry to hear about your redundancy, what devilish bad timing.
Thanks so much for this video! I love ur content and am very looking forward to ur FX-55 year since that’s my standard (and favourite) developer. (Thanks to you showing it to me :) )
My Question: Can one use this Variant of FX-55 with exactly the same developing times as the standard one? I’m asking since i have dialed in all my films for that.
There may be differences. I would try it with your dialled in times. Fortunately, because you have your own times a slight tweak should see you right there again.
okay thank u very much. Ill give it a try as soon as my sodium ascorbate gone bad. @@PictorialPlanet
...im keeping the ascorbate in small containers (film canisters) in my fridge with some lighter gas on top of the ascorbate. Seems to keep very well, cant see any differences in activity after a year.
@jhasi7974 As I think about it I wonder, if you have spent time getting your developing times right and are using FX-55 as you standard, if you shouldn't just keep doing what you are doing. It would make sense for you to do that and therefore have no changes to your workflow. I'm always pleased when someone has taken the time to perfect their times as you have. I personally use the sodium ascorbate version (dry chemical) and have no problem. This really suits people who like to simplify more. So, you are happy with FX-55? What do you like best with it?
@jhasi7974 that's a really good idea, I'd not thought to do that!
I guess the TEA somewhat diminishes the "eco friendly" quality of fx55? (I'm also guessing that this is what Nik&Trik are doing for their two-liquid fx55)
Good point. I'm not sure how un-eco it is and if anyone knows I'd love to hear.
Triethanolamine, or TEOA, is an organic compound with the chemical formula N(CH2CH2OH)3. It is a colourless, viscous liquid. It is both a tertiary amine and a triol. A triol is a molecule with three alcohol groups. Approximately 150,000 tonnes were produced in 1999.[3] It is a colourless compound although samples may appear yellow because of impurities.
@TristanColgate it seems, from some quick research, that TEA is pretty safe to use. It's used in skin care to balance the PH and is It is readily biodegradable, is non persistent in the environment, and has low toxicity to aquatic organisms. No worse than part A.
@@PictorialPlanet that's great news! I was sure I'd read in some 510 pyro articles that TEA was toxic (maybe just if digested then?). I figured the final volume in the developer solution here is going to be minimal, so not a huge concern, but good to know re: aquatic and and non-persistent!
If you have TEA and ascorbic acid and phenidone you can make PC-TEA and forget about the glycol and the 2 bath developer ;) PC-TEA last forever also
It's not as good a developer as FX55, not nearly as good.