Tetenal Neofin Blau (Blue), anyone?

[Alan Johnson]

From the MSDS it contains both metol and phenidone. Crawley,BJP Dec 16 1960,explained why this combination gives a speed increase.Metol-phenidone-hydroquinone reduces overall contrast and allows the shadows to increase in contrast more by the time normal gammas are reached.

[RidingWaves]

Mine are at least 20, maybe more.

[Smudger]

I can confirm the Beutler connection : the older packs (glass ampoules) say on the box "nach W.Beutler".
No idea of age from the packaging,but the leaflet has no film younger than Ilford HP4 -can anyone date the introduction of HP5 ?
Interestingly, the M.D.C has a time for Fuji Acros in this stuff " Stock -6 minutes". Which would make it the most expensive developer ever..

[marcmarc]

I've heard great things about Beutler and I've been tempted to try and mix up a batch of either this or one of the variants listed in The Darkroom Cookbook. I'd find it hard to believe that Rodinal could be replaced, but I've read that Beutler gives even higher accutance. If the Tetenal kit as sold by Freestyle can give me the same or better edge effects as Rodinal 1+100 and give me a reasonable number of developed rolls, I may be inclined to give it a try. I shoot mostly Pan F+ and Acros 100 these days anyway which should work well with this developer.

[sandermarijn]

I'd find it hard to believe that Rodinal could be replaced, but I've read that Beutler gives even higher accutance.

I've used both and find that indeed Neofin Blau is a tiny bit sharper (to the eyes) and less grainy (surprise surprise) than Rodinal. In the end I preferred the tonality, price and ease of use (in that order) of Rodinal. Neofin Blau to me seems ideal for those wanting to extract the utmost of detail from a 35mm negative.

[Smudger]

The understanding so far is that NF Blue is a modified Beutler formula for Tetenal.
A little taste from the leaflet -"a surface developer" -halation and diffusion are greatly reduced,and negatives of the highest degree of definition obtained...the Neofin technique demands short exposures.The speed of the film should be rated 1 to 1.5 stops higher than the time indicated by the manufacturer.Delicate negatives are desirable ".
I think we could all concur with that sentiment.
In the absence of any specific advice, I plan to experiment with Fuji Acros,cross-referenced with Rodinal and Xtol ,replenished.

[Michael R 1974]

Didn't the original Neofin Blau contain catechol? I might be wrong about that. I'd have to go back to the books to be sure. Either way I wouldn't necessarily bother with current Neofin Blau. If you want maximum sharpness, use something like FX-1. For slightly less sharpness and better tonality, try FX-2, or Formulary's TFX-2 if you're using tabular films like Acros. Both FX-1 and (T)FX-2, and Beutler acutance formulas are significantly sharper than Rodinal (which contrary to popular belief is not a true "high" acutance developer, although it is somewhat sharper than mildly diluted solvent developers). These true acutance formuals are also different than Rodinal from a tonality perspective in that they are compensating by nature, give relatively high film speed and are capable of producing pronounced edge effects depending on how they are used.

So I'd just caution against viewing acutance formulas like FX1/FX2 or Beutler variants as potential substitutes or swaps with Rodinal. They behave quite differently. XTOL, replenished or otherwise, is a different type of developer.

[Gerald C Koch]

When I was in college, developing and printing my own film again, I didn't have much money. The Beutler formula was my main developer since it is about the cheapest of them all. My prefered film was Panatomic-X and this combo produced stunning results. It is important to avoid any over-exposure since this will negate the advantage of this developer.

[sandermarijn]

Here is the manual of Neofin Blau, for those who happen to be without. The times I tried worked out a bit long.

[ath]

[...] experiment with Fuji Acros,cross-referenced with Rodinal and Xtol [...]

see here: http://www.apug.org/forums/forum37/9...r-rodinal.html what I've found.