Ilford Developers

[Argentum]

Just been told that Ilford, who had all their chemicals made by Champion are now having them made by Tetenal. Don't know when it happened but if correct, and I have no reason to doubt it, then it would be wise to check film development next time you get a new supply of film developer as you know how these things change unexplainably...

[Ag-Bromide]

Just been told that Ilford, who had all their chemicals made by Champion are now having them made by Tetenal. Don't know when it happened but if correct, and I have no reason to doubt it, then it would be wise to check film development next time you get a new supply of film developer as you know how these things change unexplainably...Out of curiosity, from whom?
I heard a while ago that Champion no longer make Paterson chemicals and their manufacture moved to Germany. Ilford is now the official distributors of Paterson products, so they might also be linked to the same chemical manufacturer.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/pressroom/article.asp?n=101

[Mike O'Pray]

I suspect that Ilford/Harman are unlikely to announce it as such but may respond to a specifc question on the other site whether Simon Galley posts announcements and may feel he has to say something about such a change if specifically asked.

I'd be amazed if any change of chemical manufacturer prompted an official warning to check dev times. It would be a nightmare in the transition period to give enough information to enable the customer to work out whether his DDX, ID-11 etc was Champion or Tetenal. Then there's the problem of revising files on the site etc

I am not saying that times won't change as I have no idea how difficult it is to ensure total consistency but I'd have thought that Ilford will have checked that the new Tetenal chems are pretty well identical to the current ones.

Any other outcome would certainly give problems which wouldn't be good for Ilford/ Harman.

Mike

[Rob Archer]

When Ilford switched from producing chems themselves to outsourcing to Champion, I didn't notice any difference, certainly with their powdered devs and DDX, so I would hope that a switch to Tetenal would be the same. Tetenal are a long-established company with very high-quality products of their own. (e.g. Neofin Blue & Red).

It will be in the interests of both companies to maintain consistency.

Rob

[Ag-Bromide]

I'd be amazed if any change of chemical manufacturer prompted an official warning to check dev times. It would be a nightmare in the transition period to give enough information to enable the customer to work out whether his DDX, ID-11 etc was Champion or Tetenal. Then there's the problem of revising files on the site etc

I am not saying that times won't change as I have no idea how difficult it is to ensure total consistency but I'd have thought that Ilford will have checked that the new Tetenal chems are pretty well identical to the current ones.
Mike
The processing chemistry would be made to specific formulas under strict QC procedures, so there shouldn`t be any need to revise technical data sheets as you say Mike.:)

[Argentum]

The processing chemistry would be made to specific formulas under strict QC procedures, so there shouldn`t be any need to revise technical data sheets as you say Mike.:)

I would hope not. But worth checking / watching out for.

[agenoria2]

Ilford are having chemicals made at a variety of sources depending on the market they are being sold in.

It's not cost effective shipping large quantities of liquid chemicals any more. Paterson chemistry is now made by Calbe, which is the old the chemistry division of Orwo/Agfa.

Champion (which was itself once May & Baker in the UK) switched production from the UK to Spain also now manufactures all Kodak's chemistry. There may have been a conflict of interest, or as happened with Paterson the quantities were too small.

Mac