Old R09 and new Rodinal

Bill:

Having just completed a series of tests on Paterson developers and several Ilford and Fuji films, I have concluded that a great deal of 'matching' is necessary. For instance, although Paterson does not recommend Acutol with Fuji Neopan 1600, I found this combination FAR better than this film with FX-39, which is far too potent for this fairly contrasty film. On the other hand, FX-39 is splendid with Delta 400, which does not reach full speed in Acutol. FX-39's extra potency also lifts the contrast of this fairly flat film a bit.

Given the quite varied range of films available, no one developer is suitable for all of them. Some people use only one film, and I could never do that given the variety of work I do. For them, perhaps, one developer would suffice, but even with one film, there are advantages to using several different developers for different purposes.

The Paterson range provides exactly what I need.

Hi to all.

The correct formula is reported in BIOS/ CIOS and FIAT reports of the end of WWII on IG.Farben.

The reports are not easy to find and also the indexes are not "user-friendly" but for those who want the correct formulation, this is the ultimate resource and the correct one, since the producer will never disclose the actual formula but at least you will have the formula that was in fact produced during those times.

Cheers !

Pedro