FX-2 questions

Hi, some beginner questions about FX-2...

a) Does anybody have some starting times for HP5+ and Tri-x? I'm going to start testing it, but i'd like to begin with a ballpark figure.

b) If I were to prepare it by myself, how important is the pinakryptol yellow? I can find all the other ingredients in Uruguay, but this is a problem. Importation duty + shipping are US$60.

c) Are there any differences in using anhydrous potassium carbonate instead of crystals? I see that the formulary's version has anhydrous, but in larger proportion that the original Crawley formula. Should I use the formulary's quantities?

Thankful for any help, Santiago

I guess someone has to answer first, so here we go. I have yet to use FX-2, but I have read some about it. Most of what I've read is from Steve Anchell's book, "The Darkroom Cookbook", and I think in there it says that you don't need the P-yellow. I read on another thread here that the penalty for not using P=yellow is a slightly higher base fog.

There is a section at Formulary that you can download in PDF files that have lots of specs about each dev they sell. They list times of 11-18 minutes; not all that helpful. They do say tht Plus-X is 18 min.

Hope this helps some and I'm sure others will have more info.

I have used it quite a bit, and will continue to do so. I haven't used the Pinacryptol-yellow yet, even if I have bought it. But before you think it's expensive, look at the amounts you will be using: 1g will last a very long time!

I develop my sheet films by inspection, so I have no idea of the times. When I have used it with roll film, it has been because I have shot the film under very difficult conditions, so I have used stand development: 30sec agitation, 90 minutes stand. Always gives printable negatives, from just about any film/exposure combination I have tried (and that includes HP5+).

I use Crawley's formula.

Many thanks for your responses; I'll post some results for Tri-X when I'm done testing.