Arista “Premium.”

Dusty Negative · Nov 20, 2021

Arista Hypo Wash
Arista Premium Hypo Wash

What makes a premium hypo wash better than plain-‘ol hypo wash?

And, on that note, does anyone care to comment on these two different Arista lines of chemistry in general? I’m intrigued, and curious to have a back-up should the Great Yellow Father ever fully retire.

MattKing · Nov 20, 2021

With respect to those two examples, the "premium" version appears to be much more concentrated, and packaged to make much higher quantities of working solution. It is likely that the "Premium" version is marketed to higher volume users.
For another slightly related example, the Arista Premium reels add extra features that are missing from the Arista "Classic" reels, so the higher price and "Premium" label makes sense.
You could always reach out to Freestyle and ask - Arista is the brand they own and distribute.

Dusty Negative · Nov 20, 2021

michael_r said:
They are the same wash aid, just the “premium” is more concentrated.

Thanks Michael.

Dusty Negative · Nov 20, 2021

MattKing said:
You could always reach out to Freestyle and ask - Arista is the brand they own and distribute.

That's optimistic, Matt, given the top-secret world of photographic rebranding these days, but -- fair enough. I'll call them on Monday and see if they'll clarify their PREMIUM v. non-PREMIUM lines. Won't cost but a dime.

MattKing · Nov 20, 2021

Actually, Arista and Arista Premium are both Freestyle's brands and they are distributed by them through a wide variety of retail outlets. So they are the ones who actually have made the decision to offer two lines of product, and are likely to be in the best position to explain how they differentiate them.

pentaxuser · Nov 21, 2021

michael_r said:
They are the same wash aid, just the “premium” is more concentrated.

Yes but what a marvellous word "Premium" is. It means top notch, the best, cannot be beaten. It has almost a Hollywood allure to it. It is the exciting uncle that arrives for Xmas with a new glamorous partner with fantastic tales that intrigues the rest of the family

"Concentrated" is the "dull as dish water" word and in contrast represents dull old Uncle Harry who tells dull but truthful tales, full of facts and no pizzazz and who will not perform any magic tricks since these replace truth with illusion. Truth is like nasty but effective medicine- always best served in small doses and only in emergencies and even then .......

pentaxuser .

gone · Nov 21, 2021

Yes, just call them. There's Freestyle, and then there's everybody else. Freesytle is run by pros, and if they don't know they'll find out and call you back. I've had nothing but great experiences w/ these people, unlike the right coast people (learned my lesson, only buy from Freestyle now).

Dusty Negative · Nov 21, 2021

momus said:
I've had nothing but great experiences w/ these people, unlike the right coast people (learned my lesson, only buy from Freestyle now).

That SCREAMS OUT for elucidation. I’m from California, but been a Right-Coaster for twenty years now. ¿¿Qué pasó??

Dusty Negative · Nov 21, 2021

pentaxuser said:
Yes but what a marvellous word "Premium" is…It is the exciting uncle that arrives for Xmas with a new glamorous partner with fantastic tales that intrigues the rest of the family
pentaxuser .

None of my uncles were the least bit exotic.

But, I think I follow you. ;-)

pentaxuser · Nov 21, 2021

Dusty Negative said:
None of my uncles were the least bit exotic.

But, I think I follow you. ;-)

Yes just a plea for more honesty and accuracy on my part in this game we call "Life" The problem with becoming accustomed to forms of illusion over truth is that it can, in the "nth" degree be fatal. I cannot get out of my head the scenario of the reporter who has been trained to be perennially up beat and cheerful, speaking in constant hyperbole who is reporting from the deck of the Titanic to his "Always look on the bright side of life" company Any deviation from the company's mantra is, he knows, career death at best. He has been so used to reporting that way that he cannot quite grasp the truth any longer despite having to lean at an angle on the deck to disguise the ship's angle.

pentaxuser

Dusty Negative · Nov 22, 2021

Per Freestyle customer service:

“Arista [non-Premium] is similar to Kodak products.”

“Arista Premium has no metol.”

The tech folks were not in yet, so I left it at that.

MattKing · Nov 22, 2021

Dusty Negative said:
Per Freestyle customer service:

“Arista [non-Premium] is similar to Kodak products.”

“Arista Premium has no metol.”

The tech folks were not in yet, so I left it at that.

I hope there is no metol in the Arista washaid !

Dusty Negative · Nov 22, 2021

MattKing said:
I hope there is no metol in the Arista washaid !

Yeah…I expect there’s a bit more info to be had here, but the Rep was kind enough to hunt someone down for the answer (at 8:30 PST) prior to the main crew coming in.

For now, I’m very content with Sprint chemistry (outside of their film developer. Not enough grain for my taste) but Arista seems like a great “local” backup plan.

Dusty Negative · Nov 22, 2021

Ok. I called back. (Had to).

In-store rep this time said Premium is a higher-quality line, while the non-Premium was essentially a student line. Additionally, the Premium was re-branded Clayton, while the non-Premium was of unknown (to him) origin.

There you have it.

faberryman · Nov 22, 2021

Dusty Negative said:
Ok. I called back. (Had to).

In-store rep this time said Premium is a higher-quality line, while the non-Premium was essentially a student line. Additionally, the Premium was re-branded Clayton, while the non-Premium was of unknown (to him) origin.

You could call back and go for two out of three.

pentaxuser · Nov 22, 2021

Dusty Negative said:
Ok. I called back. (Had to).

In-store rep this time said Premium is a higher-quality line, while the non-Premium was essentially a student line. Additionally, the Premium was re-branded Clayton, while the non-Premium was of unknown (to him) origin.

There you have it.

I'd stop there. If you were to talk to the same rep again or any other rep and its gets any better than the above explanation, do please ask the person what's the latest news on the deck's angle

pentaxuser

Dusty Negative · Nov 22, 2021

faberryman said:
You could call back and go for two out of three.

I'll take a base hit at this point.

Dusty Negative · Nov 22, 2021

pentaxuser said:
I'd stop there. If you were to talk to the same rep again or any other rep and its gets any better than the above explanation, do please ask the person what's the latest news on the deck's angle

pentaxuser

To some extent, I understand. They sell a lot of different gear, and likely rarely get people asking specific questions about chemistry.

I expect most salespeople don’t really know what they’re selling.

But, yes, in a more perfect world all employees would know more about their in-house brands.

For now, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel Premium?' Well, do you, Pentaxuser?” (With sincere apologies to Clint Eastwood).

MattKing · Nov 22, 2021

What you really need to be able to do is get to talk to someone on the product distribution side, not the retail business.

Pioneer · Nov 22, 2021

It was always my understanding that Arista Premium chemical products were more concentrated than the normal Arista brand chemical products so you got more use out of each bottle.

drmoss_ca · Nov 22, 2021

I had a brief panic attack last week when I went to use the first of the freezer shelf of a dozen 100' rolls of Arista Premium 400 from ten or twelve years ago, and checked my memory that this was re-packaged Tri-X. There followed a few moments of tachycardia until I realised that the current belief that it is Fomapan 400 applies to Arista Ultra. I should have trusted my fingers in the dark as the film that went into the Lloyd bulk film loader was plainly not PET-based.

Arista “Premium.”

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