Advice needed on Moersch Finol, Alkaline Fixer, etc.

Hello Everybody,

I have been visiting here on and off for the last few months. Only in the last few weeks I am trying to be more regular as I finally realised that I prefer analogue.

Since then I've bought a few 35mm films, Neopan 400, Rollei RPX 25, RPX 400, Retro 80S, and Ilford HP5 Plus - and I have a few developers now - Rodinal (R09), SPUR Acurol-N, SPUR HRX. Now I need your help in the following matters:
(1) Moersch Finol: Should I buy it for for 35 mm? From various posts in forums and my limited understanding it seems that Finol is not so suitable for 35mm. I mainly wanted to a stain developer, and since I'll be buying now from Germany. I may get a chance to acquire a MF camera soon. So in case I cannot, I don't want to end up with a less used developer.
(2) Moersch ATS Alkaline Fixer: It seems to be good value for money and does not use acid for fixing (which, iiuc, is good for the negatives). Should I get it or something else?
(3) Please advise me what wetting agent I should use.
(4) With the possibility of a MF camera, I would also like to buy a few 120 Rollei rolls from Maco Direct. Could you please advise me which Rollei ones I should get. I like grain but not too much, and I mostly into landscape and nature photography.

Reading so many things over the internet I am somewhat confused. Hence I need your advice. Thanks for reading.

Bests,

Ashfaque

PS: I have not introduced myself to the forum yet. I will be doing that shortly.

Buy Moersch Tanol or Tanol Speed for 35mm. If I am not wrong , Finol is for paper. Tanol and Tanol Speed is for staining also.
You dont need wetting agent .
Prepare yourself to pay 40 euro or more for postage of 8 euro developer

Buy ATP 1.1 from Rollei , it is the best.

You should get moersch fixer for moersch developer.

Visit their site and look to the film list and developer times , if you dont use from their film list , it would be difficult to find the times , dilution and temp.

Check your film and asa setting with tanol or tanol speed , if you dont do it as suggested , you mess the results.

Mustafa, Finol is for film.

Ashfaque, the best advice I can give you is the settle down on one film and one developer. Rodinal is plenty good, Finol would be fine too, Tanol, Pyrocat, RolloPyro, whatever; it doesn't matter which one. There is no magic to be had in switching chemicals, "you" are the big wild card in the process, not your materials, not the chemicals, not the camera, not the lenses. Just pick one and stay there.

Don't sweat this decision much, or heed specific advice, unless you can tell us exactly what characteristics you are trying to adjust/get.

Worry about the big stuff; focus well, expose well, get really good/consistent at you processes. This will improve your work more than any change in materials or chemical, period.

Ashfaque said:

(2) Moersch ATS Alkaline Fixer: It seems to be good value for money and does not use acid for fixing (which, iiuc, is good for the negatives). Should I get it or something else?
(3) Please advise me what wetting agent I should use.

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Any (fresh) fixer is good for films : films wash so easily an acid fixer is not a problem. So you may start with Tetenal's Superfix+
As for a wetting agent I'd recommend Ilfotol. It's the best I've used.

Mustapha, Mark, and Pat: Thanks a lot everyone for your time and words of encouragements. I really appreciate it.

Mustapha: Thanks for the tip about seeing what film examples are posted on Moersch's website. I remember the Moersch's website mentioned to use Tanol Speed for certain films. Here are the relevant quotes:

.... Films that I have not listed are not suitable for this developer. All major brands have been tested. If your preferred film is not in the list, you can spare yourself the trouble of making your own test series. ...
...This developer is not suitable for high speed films like Delta 3200. For films that have a tendency to develop a dense base fog (Tri-X, Rollei Retros and IR) Finol is the better choice. ..."

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Moersch on Tanol:

...This developer is especially interesting for large format negatives. ...

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But there is no such thing mentioned in the Finol page. Hence I thought about possible suitability of Finol with 35 mm. Perhaps later, since Mark has motivated me a big time.

Mark: Thanks a lot for your kind words. They are very re-assuring for anyone to try and to learn from experiences. You sound quite like one of my thesis supervisors.

I have another confusion regarding hypo clearing agents (HCA) and wetting agents (WA). I am possibly nitpicking. So I apologise if I sound too pedantic. My understanding is that
- HCA removes any acidic elements (not sure about the chemistry term) from films that may have been retained from acid-based fixer.
- WA helps the water droplets to be away from the film and thus helps to reduce those nasty spots.
- But, in general, should I use both HCA and WA or just WA?
- My question is should I be using HCA if I am using an alkaline-based fixer? Is there any harm using HCA with any alkaline-based fixer (- just in case I forget)?

FYI, I will be using distilled water for everything, including the final wash, except washing after developer - my 'stop bath' step.

Bests,

Ashfaque

Ashfaque said:

But there is no such thing mentioned in the Finol page. Hence I thought about possible suitability of Finol with 35 mm. Perhaps later, since Mark has motivated me a big time.

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It is very common for large format users to want developers that provide very sharp negatives. It's a format vs print size thing, rather than a developer thing. For example for a 16x20 the grain in the print is 4 times larger when printed from 35mm film than it would be with 4x5 film.

So, if you are working with say D76 or ID11, for a large format negative you might use a 1:4 ratio mix because it reduces the solvent effect and gives a slightly sharper result. For 35mm you might use 1:1 or even straight to minimize the grain.

This doesn't mean that specialty developers or 1:4 D76 doesn't work for 35mm films, it just means that the masses may prefer slightly less prominent grain, or whatever characteristic, than the specialty developer normally gives.

Have fun whatever you pick.

@ Mark: Thank you again for the detailed explanation.

When you fix films or papers, you are left with products of fixing which you need to wash out of the film or paper.

HCA converts those products of fixing to a more water soluble version, so it shortens wash times and helps ensure proper washing.

For film, it isn't absolutely necessary, but if saving water is important, it is very useful.

You have a good understanding of the role of wetting agents, but WA isn't a good abbreviation for them . Some might read WA as referring to "wash aid" - HCA is one of several available wash aids.

Thank for the clarification re HCA and WetAg, Matt. I would definitely like to reduce my water consumption, purely for environmental reasons.Using acronyms has become a habit of mine. I blame economics for that!

Bests,

Ashfaque