Beutler hp5

[Emilro]

hello everyone I wanted to ask if anyone has any experience developing hp5 in the beutler developer, it seems that massive dev chart has no time associated with this combination. I mix one part of developer a with one part of part b and 10 parts of water to make the working solution, am I correct? I read there that it can also be used as a split developer, so you don't have to mix everything in one solution. What do you think is the proper way to use this developer with hp5 + since it is very difficult to find development times

 

[Alan Johnson]

R Henry, "Controls in Black and White Photography" p226 says Beutler is similar to AH -16 , a Kodak research developer.
The development time for old Tri-X in this was 11.5 mins. That's all I could find.

 

[Saganich]

Generally, when I've gone down the split development rabbit hole with Metol, Sodium Sulfite, and endless variations of solution B's I've no advantage unless N-2 or more contraction is necessary. On the Massive development site under Beutler there is a listing for TriX ASA 200 10 minutes at 20C. I've found HP5 and TriX in Metol Sulfite developers to have similar N development times. If I were doing this at 1:1:10 dilution I would start between 12 and 15 minutes (depending on the light, summer vs winter) at ASA 400 at 20C and see how it looks.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Hi,
I have notes for HP5+ @ 400 in Beutler/Neofin Blau: 10 minutes with four inversions every 30 seconds for soft light. That was fifteen years ago when I was a student is Spain... Things might have changed a bit, but not too much... That's for condenser enlarger, so a good starting point for testing negatives for diffusion enlargers would be 12 minutes...
Recommending different options is not my way most of the times, but, as I have looked exactly for the same thing (acutance developers for ISO400), you should one day try TMY-2 in FX-39 II: I have not seen better in that range. Amazing. Best tone, best speed, best grain, best sharpness. Grain is a lot nicer than with HP5+, and I love and use HP5+ since 1999. Yet I use HP5+ in two formats, for sun, for soft light and for pushing, but lately only when I run out of TMY-2... You can get twice the speed with half the grain, yet with very sharp grain, but Kodak's grain's a lot more organized and tight, giving more detail... If you wet print you won't believe it until you see it.
Have a nice day!

 

[Emilro]

wow thanks juan valdenebro, that is a great starting point, to develop the hp5 I will definitely try like that Is the developer beutler really identical to the neofin blau?

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I have developed a few films in Beutler's but not HP5. My time for Fuji Neopan 400 which should be roughly the same as HP5 is 8m @ 77º 1:1:8. That translates to 12.5 minutes at 68ºF. Beutler's builds density slowly so I tend to develop longer than what others may do. Typically the times given back in the day for an acutance developer like Beutler's were for the minimum development possible to keep the grain at bay.

Just for future reference, I typically relate films to Tri-X/D76 when I am trying a new developer/film. Pretty much every developer under the sun gives times for Tri-X, and you can use those to extrapolate a time for your new film/developer.

 

[BMbikerider]

I used Beutler developer way back in the early 60's when I started developing my own and there were no specific times listed then only films with a suggested time for certain films like FP3, Pan F Panatomic X and Plus X Pan. There was only one definite instruction and that was Beutler was best used with slow to medium speed films and not for TriX or HP5. where the grain would be obvious. It is an acutance developer not fine grain

My preferred developer at the time was Ilford Hyfin sadly no longer available.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

wow thanks juan valdenebro, that is a great starting point, to develop the hp5 I will definitely try like that Is the developer beutler really identical to the neofin blau?

It also depends on the type of light: the type of scene contrast... I expose HP5+ from EI100 to EI3200, and this is common... Between 100 and 200 for direct sun with a shorter development; from 200 to 800 for overcast (soft light); from 800 to 3200 for pushing...The answer to your question is not a time, but doing a couple of tests using a roll of film... You can do it for overcast and for sun... I'd do this:
Sacrifice one roll: half of it for getting information about soft light, and the other half for seeing what happens under direct sun...
For soft light you can expose half the roll repeating the same scene at 200, 400 and 800: repeat that, until half the roll... Then wait for direct sun and do a sunny scene at 100, 200 and 400 until the roll is over. Then, in darkness you cut the film in two and place the first half inside the black plastic can HP5+ comes in, and mark that can "soft 200-400-800", and place the second half in another black can labeled "sun 100-200-400": then you have enough material to test...
Then you cut every half in three, and place the three parts inside each can...
Develop normally, spending the normal amount of developer used for a roll, one of the soft light pieces of film using the time I gave you: you'll decide after that first development if you prefer the next one more or less developed: you got two more strips to fine tune...
When you have YOUR time for overcast, start the sun test using a time 25% shorter, and take a look on paper if you wet print... Again, you have two more strips to develop differently:
You spend a roll, a day, and some developer, but you will KNOW for sure what your system needs...
Bye