FX39 and/or FX37

[Kevin Caulfield]

I'm considering mixing up my own developer for the first time ever. I'd like something close to FX39. I know there are some older posts regarding FX37 recipes, etc. Could people please share their experiences of FX37 recipes, and how similar it is to FX39? FX39 is becoming much more difficult to buy here in Australia.

[JLP]

FX-37 is one of my favorite developers for TMY in LF. I expose TMY at Iso 500 and get well defined shadow details. I mix it 1+5
I have no experience with FX-39
FX-37 is not a fine grain developer, i have used it for 35mm TMY but that is not a good choice. For LF where grain is not an issue it is hard to beat the increased speed you can get from this developer.
Mixed it also last a long time, i have had a bottle semi full but filled with Argon for about a year and it is still working fine.

[Kevin Caulfield]

FX-37 is one of my favorite developers for TMY in LF. I expose TMY at Iso 500 and get well defined shadow details. I mix it 1+5
I have no experience with FX-39
FX-37 is not a fine grain developer, i have used it for 35mm TMY but that is not a good choice. For LF where grain is not an issue it is hard to beat the increased speed you can get from this developer.
Mixed it also last a long time, i have had a bottle semi full but filled with Argon for about a year and it is still working fine.

Thanks. Which recipe do you use? The one posted by Gerald Koch?

This one?

Distilled water (50°C) ................. 750 ml
Sodium sulfite (anhy) .................. 60.0 g
Hydroquinone ........................... 5.0 g
Sodium carbonate (anhy) ................ 5.0 g
Phenidone .............................. 0.5 g
Borax .................................. 2.5 g
Potassium bromide ...................... 0.5 g
Benzotriazole, 1% ...................... 5.0 ml
Distilled water to make ................ 1.0 l

Thanks,
Kevin

[JLP]

I have used the one listed at http://www.jackspcs.com/fx37.htm
Looks very similar!

[Kevin Caulfield]

I have used the one listed at http://www.jackspcs.com/fx37.htm
Looks very similar!

Yes, just a little extra sodium sulfite in that one.

[ooze]

A couple of weeks ago, I mixed my first batch of FX37, albeit with the wrong amount of Benzotriazole; 50 instead of 5ml (from an incorrectly published formula). The medium format TMX looks OK. I haven't printed them yet though. On the other hand, 35mm TMY is definitely grainier than ID11 (1+1). I made comparison prints and decided I definitely prefer the look from ID11.

[John Wiegerink]

FX-37 is one of my favorite developers for TMY in LF. I expose TMY at Iso 500 and get well defined shadow details. I mix it 1+5
I have no experience with FX-39
FX-37 is not a fine grain developer, i have used it for 35mm TMY but that is not a good choice. For LF where grain is not an issue it is hard to beat the increased speed you can get from this developer.
Mixed it also last a long time, i have had a bottle semi full but filled with Argon for about a year and it is still working fine.

My findings pretty much mirror the results above only I was using 120 film (Acros and Tmy2). The speed increase for me was very small, but was there. I also tried it with some well outdated 35mm HP5+ and it did much better than I expected. It seems to be a little like Xtol in that it is a "clean" working developer. At least it seemed that way for me. My batch is gone, but I will be mixing more to try with some 120 Arista EDU 100 (aka Foma). I'm really curious to see how it works with this older style film. JohnW

[Kevin Caulfield]

Thanks for the input. I just mixed up my first batch and developed a test roll. Awesome!

[Mick Fagan]

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, what film, what speed and which developer?

The suspense is killing me!

Mick.

[Kevin Caulfield]

Mick, Acros 100, rated at 100, in FX37, for 5 mins at 20 C.