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Old 28th July 2022, 04:49 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Default FX55 Developer - a surprising speed -Pictorial Planet i

John Finch now has 2 videos on the above Crawley developer. One explains how to make it and the other tests its speed

It's the second one of testing its ability to achieve box speed that intrigued me and seemingly John Finch. With his slight variation on his usual method for a film speed test he concludes that with FP4+ he achieves a speed of slightly more than 200 in FX55

There was to my eye clear evidence that 200 and a bit more can be achieved. He thinks it may be closer to 250 but will test again in another video

It's an interesting video and for anyone interested in FX55 in combination with FP4+ it is well worth a look

Here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIdQ5CZsFVA

Mike
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Old 9th August 2022, 08:26 AM
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I made up FX-55 from the Formula -- I found I got very 'Thin' negs on FP4+ at 8.5 mins and had to give 10 mins. then John reckoned my 'Phenidone' may have 'Gone Off' so I tried adding DOUBLE the amount if 1% Solution -- still trying with FX-55 !!
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Old 9th August 2022, 10:31 AM
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Is there any way to test if phenedone is working as it should other than making up a developer and developing a film to a known dev. time and comparing the results?
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Old 9th August 2022, 10:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pentaxpete View Post
I made up FX-55 from the Formula -- I found I got very 'Thin' negs on FP4+ at 8.5 mins and had to give 10 mins. then John reckoned my 'Phenidone' may have 'Gone Off' so I tried adding DOUBLE the amount if 1% Solution -- still trying with FX-55 !!
The only time I used a stock solution of phenidone I was similarly disappointed. I had used alcohol, food grade which contained a small percentage of water which allowed the phenidone to deteriorate fairly quickly. I have read that a better way is to dissolve it just before use in alcohol, or use propylene glycol as a solvent.
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Old 9th August 2022, 12:59 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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So far my take from FADU is that whether its speed increasing quality is as good as John Finch's test said it is remains unknown as the real test is being able to make it work properly

Do I take it that your method of making it replicates that of John Finch?

Thanks

Mike
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Old 9th August 2022, 10:59 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I had another look at his video and his negs were certainly not thin.

It would look as if the only problematical part of making FX55 is the phenidone and there if you dissolve it in glycol it lasts a long time and you need very little of it per film

Incidentally in his third video he confirms that further test confirmed that he was getting a speed of 200 out of FP4+

Yes it isn't quite as simple as making D23 and it does seem to have more grain but once made, then adding the two parts looks relatively simple and certainly with FP4+ you get 2/3rds of a stop more in speed

Mike
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Old 21st March 2024, 10:51 AM
MrclSchprs MrclSchprs is offline
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John Finch started a new series on FX-55. In one of his videos he shows how he makes the liquid Gainer variant. Essentially, it is the Gainer's recipe, but the double the amount of TEA. I've copied him and tested this version of FX-55 myself. I've got a real speed of 50 when using Fomapan 100, but found some serious speed enhancements when using FP4 and HP5, respectively 200 and 640. For both films two thirds of a stop more. I'm impressed!
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