2024 Season - Crawley's FX-55 Developer Long Term Test - Part 1

[@tonyhirst3628]

Missed your presence, John, good to see you back. KZbin was beginning to bore me to tears.

[@PictorialPlanet]

🤣

[@paiute6911]

Bought “The Art Of Black And White Developing,” I have been reading and making notes for some time now. Today I just developed my first two rolls of film. Right now as I am writing this comment they are drying. I can’t wait to see the finished result. Thank You for making such a great guide it has enabled me to enter the hobby with ease.

[@heatonize]

Buying that book is a smart decision and you'll be glad you did as you gain more experience

[@RoelQva]

The greatest youtuber is back!

[@PictorialPlanet]

That made me chuckle 🤭

[@ambientlandscapes]

John, thank you for making such wonderful videos. This developer plus the meticulous testing gave me such a wow moment today pulling my negatives out of the tank.

[@PictorialPlanet]

I'm glad you're seeing benefits in this great Crawley developer!

[@lensman5762]

Nice to have you back to talk about photography related topics. I am sick of the You Tube and all those newbies with their new digitals and the one with the Red circle.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks and good to see you here!

[@msam927]

Ha sido una gran sorpresa verlo de nuevo por aquí. Muy contento y agradecido de que vuelva a estar con nosotros en KZbin.

[@PictorialPlanet]

I can't understand but thanks for your comment 🙏

[@TristanColgate]

After seeing your "last of the great developers" video on fx55 I got intrigued. Nik&Trick currently have a 2 liquid version available, so 8 gave it a try. Just two rolls do far, a HP5 120 test toll (15m), and an FP4 half frame roll at 9m30s. Very pleased with both. I can see this becoming my standard developer

[@PictorialPlanet]

That's great, Tristan!

[@raybeaumont7670]

Good to see you John. This sounds like lots of fun - I'm already looking forward to seeing some results. Please keep up the good work. Best wishes from South Wales.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks, Ray!

[@canescens]

I think it's hard to praise this developer enough. I use it with Eastman Double x, I'm now at 17 minutes and I think it can use even more time, but not sure. I had some surprising negatives with it and I look like a better photographer :-0. The developed emulsion looks very matte and cristal like.

[@erchata]

Hacia tiempo que no veia videos del gran maestro del laboratorio y la fotografia, una cosa si pudiera activar el traductor podria seguier el video gracias un saludo desde BARCELONA ESPAÑA.

[@PictorialPlanet-]

The translator is on but takes a while to work :)

[@PictorialPlanet]

Please say a BIG HELLO to Barcelona, Spain! We love you and Gaudi ❤️

[@CBerryman57]

This is great John. After your earlier videos on FX 55 I decided to use it exclusively because of the chemistry and environmental safety. My first results with HP5 and Ortho 80 were above expectations, (the grain of Ortho 80 was so fine that I had trouble seeing it even at high enlargement) despite not having the ISO right, so i am going through your process for setting ISO. Prior to seeing your videos I was paying minimal attention to developing, with all my focus on printing. But now that I'm getting better negatives to work with I'm really so happy with my photography. Thank you. I haven't been a patreon up to this point but I will become one now.

[@PictorialPlanet]

I'm very grateful for this comment. I'm really happy you at seeing the positive results of your work. You will only see improvement from now on!

[@POPROX66]

Cool. Looking forward to upcoming videos. You, John, are one of my photography mentors!

[@PictorialPlanet]

And you are my friend!

[@AustenGoldsmithPhotography]

Nice to see you back John ! Will you be testing this with other films ? Delta 400 & 100 , tri x ?

[@PictorialPlanet]

You bet!

[@neutrinissimo5118]

I've been using FX-55 for a while now - really like it for pretty much anything (only I can't use it until the end of June because I don't have the supplies where I'm staying right now, unfortunately).

[@PictorialPlanet]

My fingers are crossed that you get the chemicals!

[@BlackLabAdventures]

I always enjoy your informative videos! I have begun using FX-55 myself. While I have only developed a couple of rolls of Ilford HP5 400, I was VERY pleased with the results. So much so that, like you, my number one film choice is Ilford FP4+ 125; that may change to solely being HP5! Thank you again for all that you share!

[@PictorialPlanet]

I'm really liking your latest photographs with FX55 and E72. I copy your KZbin channel here so others can follow your journey if they like. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4a6dK1ojqZ-rMUsi=eGaEVWLxZ7jg-3zT

[@WBBPhotography_Maine]

@@PictorialPlanet, If you could see the color of my cheeks right now......they are "blushed" with color! You are a kind and generous soul, John! If anyone takes the time to read down through the comments, I am here to emphasize, and underline, your excitement about using FX-55 film developer (And, using E-72 paper developer as well.). I am a person who prefers using "eco-friendly" developers; both for film and paper. For this reason, I am a long-time Caffenol film developer user. I have achieved great success using Caffenol (The Caffenol CH recipe) with Ilford FP4+125 film. So much so that, I do not have any other film developer in my home! (Plus, it is pretty cool to walk into my local grocery store and walk out with the ingredients that I need to develop my film with!). A stumbling block for me has been developing Ilford HP5+400 film with Caffenol. While results have been "acceptable", they have not been as good, and consistent, as Caffenol CH and FP4+ 125. It was with your recommendation that I give FX-55 a try. I decided, "What the heck, let's jump right into developing HP4+ with FX-55!". It took me three "test strips" of film to find a developing time that worked best for me; yielding a broad range of tones. That time was 12:00 minutes @ 68F. When I did my FX-55 developing test, I wanted to keep as much of what I had been used to doing with my Caffenol development, the same; agitation scheme, stop bath (Plain tap water.), fixing time, rinsing, and hanging up to dry. I intentionally did not want to change any variables that had already given me great results. I just wanted to substitute Caffenol for FX-55, and to put it up against HP5+. FX-55 worked so well that, I couldn't help myself from sneaking back into our guest bathroom to take another look at the HP5+ film strips (35mm) hanging in the shower there! I was like a little kid, filled with excitement, the night before Christmas! A, "Man, I don't believe this!", mantra was repeating itself inside my head! Having "nailed" FX-55 and HP5+, I know that it will be very easy for me to do the same with FX-55 and FP4+. The REAL test for me will be, testing FX-55 and Ilford XP2 Super 400. I have had wonderful success with developing Ilford XP2 Super 400 with Kodak HC100 (Dilution "H"), PROVIDED that the film was exposed using an ASA rating of "100". VERY nice results! (Ilford has an article on their website about developing XP2 with HC100.). I could ramble on farther with equal enthusiasm as I have for FX-55, for the use of Chris Patton's E-72 "eco-friendly" E-72 paper developer! But, I have wandered far enough off of the path for now! (But, BOY-OH-BOY, E-72 works VERY WELL with the 5x7 paper negatives that I shoot in my large format camera, and for printing out film negatives in my darkroom!). Thank you again, John! Barry

[@RBain]

I’m a few months late catching up… but fancy joining in on the fx55 journey too.

[@siddharghyamukherjee987]

I was awaiting eagerly for your new video. Thank you.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thanks 🙏

[@liveinaweorg]

Welcome back! Looking forward to this :)

[@PictorialPlanet]

Thank you!

[@user-qm8sx8ne8g]

Yes I'd like to echo what tony hirst has said about your return and it's great that we can look forward to an depth examination of what this developer is capable of

[@AndrewHenderson]

Nice to see you back John 👍

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers, Andrew! Good to see you too.

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers, Andrew! Good to see you too.

[@davidlohrentz752]

I've not tried stand development with FX55, but I have experimented with 1+9, 4 inversions at 3 min intervals, and 1+19, 4 inversions at 3 min intervals. They both turned out well, but I think the 1+9 minimal agitation worked better. HP5 at ISO 800, 25:00, 4 inversions at 3 min intervals = surprisingly minimal grain, good tonality and very decent shadow detail. I've even gone as far as ISO 6400 with HP5 and gotten shadow detail.

[@PictorialPlanet]

That's good to know

[@PictorialPlanet]

David, when you say 1+9 do you mean the normal dilution from stock to working or do you mean diluting the working solution another 1+9?

[@davidlohrentz752]

@@PictorialPlanet normal 1 part A plus 9 parts water.

[@siddharghyamukherjee987]

Just seen this video for the second time. One suggestion, if you please, would you try FX 55 as divided developer in your experiments?

[@phillipmaus9634]

Nice to see you again here :-) Do you think FX-55 will be suitable for use with a rotary processor or is it more (like Rodinal) a developer for inversion agitation? Phil

[@PictorialPlanet]

That's a really good question, Phil. It's something I will have to try. When I do I'll document my findings with a video so stay tuned.

[@phillipmaus9634]

Maybe I will have a look if I can find a supplier here in germany for all the chemicals needed. I just built a rotary processor for my old Jobo 1000 tanks so I would like to try it. I will mainly use it for the so called "Wehner-developer" (created by Klaus Wehner and based on the Atomal formula, but it is also available now as "Jobo alpha"). But FX-55 looks very interesting too. @@PictorialPlanet

[@PictorialPlanet]

German supplier on my website

[@stevenwhite921]

Thanks for sharing John

[@PictorialPlanet]

Cheers, Steven!

[@wilbertvandenberg3158]

Hi John, good to see you back. Can you post a link to the video comparing FX55 with Pyrocat?

[@PictorialPlanet]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jauXp6OLj7WtpNUsi=iOGFrLKIy-0hH_4e

[@wilbertvandenberg3158]

@@PictorialPlanet Thanks.

[@davecarrera]

Ah, there you are 🙂

[@cornwestern1689]

I think to compensate for ascorbic acid in place of sodium ascorbate one would be better off using more potassium carbonate than the original formula rather than bicarbonate which is likely to bring down the pH of developer even more. \

[@PictorialPlanet]

Stay tuned... I have a better idea

[@theoldfilmbloke]

My experience is 'Disappointment' !! Always THIN negs -- I heard what you said about the Sodium Bi-Carbonate not being 'pure' enough if bought in a shop for baking -- that is what I have BUT it seemed to work OK for FX-15 .... Secondly I mixed my Phenidone in a 1% solution of Propylene Glycol -- do you think my MATHS may have been wrong - how much to add for the Part B -- I added 10mls of the 1% solution.

[@PictorialPlanet]

So you never got to the bottom of that then? I assume your 1% was correct strength. 10ml would be right for 1 Ltr working strength. Did you try just measuring and adding 0.1g of dry phenidone to the working strength A instead of using the 1% solution?