Beseler UltraFin FD5..................Divine intervention?

[John Wiegerink]

I was having my lunch (pasta with sauce) while thumbing pages in an old Morgan&Morgan Darkroom Book when I slurped a noodle and got some sauce on one of the pages. The sauce landed right on a description of the film developer Beseler UltraFin FD5. After the clean-up I read the notes. Here is what Morgan&Morgan had to say.

Beseler UltraFin FD5
" The developer is a liquid concentrate, giving excellent acutance and as long a tonal scale as anyone could hope for. The developer is designed for processing films exposed at normal recommended speed. Results obtained with this solution are sparkling and sharp, and produce negatives from which truly fine prints can be made."
Sounds very interesting to me and I'm now curious as to whether the claims are true or not. Has anyone ever used it or does anyone know anything about the chemistry make-up. Here is times and temps for the old Ilford HP4 and Kodak TRI-X:
HP4 @ asa400 dilution 1:20 temp 68 time 14 min.

TRI-X @ asa400 dilution 1:20 temp 68 time 22.5 min.

JohnW

 

[dnjl]

I have no experience with Beseler developers, but have you ever seen a developer that didn't claim excellent sharpness, tonal range and fine grain? I know I haven't.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I have no experience with Beseler developers, but have you ever seen a developer that didn't claim excellent sharpness, tonal range and fine grain? I know I haven't.

Yes, that's true, but I have seen where they state a speed change or some other thing. What got me was the times and dilution. I was trying to match it up with some modern developer, but not much real luck. JohnW