I think it is time for an updated thread on Sprint Systems chemistry

When I started out in the darkroom, I selected the Sprint Systems chemistry for everything, both film and paper. Eventually I switched to Xtol for my film developer, but continued using Sprint for everything else.

I noticed then, and, perhaps, in some way it may still be true now, that persons using Sprint do not exactly advertise the fact, and that the entire line is seen by many seasoned photographers to be borderline unsophisticated student chemistry--good, but basic.

Well, Sprint has recently redesigned their web site (http://www.sprintsystems.com/, soon to have online ordering) and I think the company is trying to change their image as well. Perhaps my interpretation is wrong, but their products have been extremely reliable for me and I simply do not have a large base of experience with other products to compare. I wish I could find simple and inexpensive chemistry that I could pre-mix and keep as working solutions for months at a time to simply pour from a tap, but this has not happened and, thus, I keep buying the white Sprint bottles. Good stuff.

In any case, let us review this company and their offering one more time and try to get a definitive opinion established on the strengths and weaknesses of not just their film developer but the rest of the chemistry and its merits.

I shall begin by saying that they have successfully kept the fumes issue under control even when working with open trays. Also, the mixing process is quite simple for the entire line. Finally, as I mentioned earlier, the products are very reliable for me.

I use Sprint stop, fix, hardener and fixer remover. I use the print developer for all my RC contact sheets. I like the sizes and mixing ratios. My local store carries the full line and I can get the fix in the big cube.

I've always been puzzled that my local store is the only place I've ever seen it for sale.

I don't know where in Maine you are, but Sprint is available in Hunt's and Photomarket in Portland and also in several photo stores in Portsmouth, NH. I also thought the store in Bangor carried them, but I am not sure.

g'day col,
i don't understand why you raise this thread, do we/you actually need an update?

if this stuff works for you, great, you don't need to justify anything

Sprint chemistry seems to be popular in some school settings and with beginners. I've never really investigated it. Just looking at their website, they seem to suggest that an attraction of their chemicals is that most of them are diluted 1:9. I don't know, but I don't see this as particularly more attractive than other dilutions. I guess if you're using metric units, why not?, but I don't see that as a reason to use one product over another.

So what is the attraction of this stuff? Anyone try lots of other products only to discover that Sprint is the magic elixer?

I started using Sprint film developer when the community college darkroom I go to ran out of D-76. I got good results from it but by no means is it a magic elixer, its just what I settled in to and I know what to expect from it. Sprint isn't the only developer I use, I still like Rodinal and D-76 as well.

I've tried their print developer a few times, but don't really care for it too much. Maybe it was because I'm so used to using Dektol that I didn't give Sprint enough of a try. As far as the rest of their products, I've not tried anything else.

Colden said:

I don't know where in Maine you are, but Sprint is available in Hunt's and Photomarket in Portland and also in several photo stores in Portsmouth, NH. I also thought the store in Bangor carried them, but I am not sure.

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It used to be available at the Maine Photographic Resource in Rockport.

Fine products indeed

Colden said:

When I started out in the darkroom, I selected the Sprint Systems chemistry for everything, both film and paper. Eventually I switched to Xtol for my film developer, but continued using Sprint for everything else.
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the products are very reliable for me.

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I continue to use all of their chemistry for both film and paper. Actually Sprint Standard (film developer) has proven more reliable for me than Xtol, Acutol or DDX for my most used film (FP4+) probably because I have settled on a time and technique that works for me. Xtol 1:1 has tended to produce overly contrasty negatives. I guess cutting down the time further may have fixed the problem but instead I went back to good old reliable Sprint. Why fix it if it ain't broke? Each time I succumbed to the urge to experiment with another developer, I found myself returning to Sprint as my old standby.

Their stop, fix and HCA are excellent and yes the metric and fairly consistent 1:9 dilution is a great help. Fix ends up being 1:4 since I use film strength fixer for both film and paper.

Sprint quicksilver is a fine, somewhat cold-tone, paper developer. Works great for me. I am currently testing out Ilford's Cooltone developer and have not done direct head to head comparisons but Sprint Quicksilver has delivered well in the past and I may quite likely return to it. For another person's opinion (one moreover who has done extensive paper and developer testing) you can refer to Bruce Barlow's review for View Camera magazine, now available online. Dead Link Removed, Dead Link Removed. Bruce gets good results from Sprint Quicksilver though it does not end up being his favorite for his chosen paper. Admittedly in that test, the paper had a greater influence on the final result than the developer (I have seen his prints on more than one occasion).

Their distribution channel seems centered on the Northeastern US, hence possibly the reaction: Sprint who? If you can find it, I highly recommend all of their chemistry.

Sincerely,

Hany.

Colden said:

I don't know where in Maine you are, but Sprint is available in Hunt's and Photomarket in Portland and also in several photo stores in Portsmouth, NH. I also thought the store in Bangor carried them, but I am not sure.

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Yup, Photo Market is my local shop. I never go to Hunt's — too close to the mall. I avoid it like the plague. What I meant was I don't see it on any of the websites I frequent, like Freestyle, B&H etc. so I've never ordered it through the mail. I like supporting Peter and the folks at Photo Market anyway. I try to shop local, non-chain stores as much as I can. Thankfully, they still carry just about all I need.

i started off using sprint when i was taking photography courses in high school.
it is a pretty good system. now, i pretty much only use their fixer.
it is a rapid fix and has a high capacity and doesn't contain hardener.
i've never used anything else ... i mentioned that it is a "system" because
if you use it all ( dev- fix ) you know when to replace your chemicals
when the stop "indicates".

paul krot was the founder of sprint --- he went to risd.
when i ran into trouble years ago i called him and asked
for some advice. i had been given bad information from the folks
at kodak, and as a result, it stained all my film with a strange green metalic stain/fog.
the folks at kodak weren't very helpful, and told me that
they were ruined and only good for the landfill. when i called sprint and spoke with paul,
he had me mix some farmer's reducer (kodak's farmer's reducer!)
with his fixer and it would remove the stain/fog without any problems.
even though paul died a few years ago, his company still has the same
"help as much as they can" way about them.

The vanilla flavored stop bath kinda makes me hungry, not good for the diet.
I always liked Kodaks god awful smelling Indicator Stop Bath, it just makes me feel like I'm in a darkroom circa 1900.

James,

I started out with Sprint and still use their stop, fixer and fixer remover. I have switched film and paper developers only because I get the results I want with others.

Regards,
Bill

I use the rapid fixer 1:4 (film strength) for prints, per Sprint's recommendation. 30 seconds and you're done! That, plus heating up my print developer, has saved me tons of minutes.

Sprint Quicksilver tested well when I tested paper developers. It's just not as easily available as Dektol for me, and Dektol tested better with my favorite papers.

At 1:9, a cube lasts a long time, and becomes pretty cost-effective.

I've been very happy with their stop, fix, and hypo-clear.

Their film dev works nicely with tri-x, although I keep overdeveloping foma 400 (135) in it.

Mostly though, I use Rodinal for just about everything else, though including foma 400.

Troy said:

Yup, Photo Market is my local shop. I never go to Hunt's — too close to the mall. I avoid it like the plague. What I meant was I don't see it on any of the websites I frequent, like Freestyle, B&H etc. so I've never ordered it through the mail. I like supporting Peter and the folks at Photo Market anyway. I try to shop local, non-chain stores as much as I can. Thankfully, they still carry just about all I need.

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I work at the portland hunt's, and dependent on time of day Forest avenue is WAY busier than maine mall road. Stop in some time and talk to me. I'm pretty sure I could make it worth your while. More parking here too.

nate_ross said:

I work at the portland hunt's, and dependent on time of day Forest avenue is WAY busier than maine mall road. Stop in some time and talk to me. I'm pretty sure I could make it worth your while. More parking here too.

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You're right about the traffic — you've got me there. And I have been in on occaison. I've bought film and non-analog equipment there for my day job.

Anyway, thanks for the invite. I'll stop in some time soon and ask for you. Cheers!

I don't think that there's anything wrong with Sprint chemicals. I used their fixer, which was just fine. Their film developer was also perfectly satisfactory, your standard liquid-concentrate PQ developer. I don't think that calling them "beginner's chemicals" is necessarily a meaningful comment... better to stick with it and optimize your EI and developing time than to switch developers every week, I guess.

When I lived in Boston, Sprint chemicals were available just about everywhere. I think even B&H sold them at some point (around 2001-2002).

Jordan said:

...I think even B&H sold them at some point (around 2001-2002).

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B&H still sells Sprint. That's where I buy my film developer.

Troy said:

Yup, Photo Market is my local shop. I never go to Hunt's — too close to the mall. I avoid it like the plague. What I meant was I don't see it on any of the websites I frequent, like Freestyle, B&H etc. so I've never ordered it through the mail. I like supporting Peter and the folks at Photo Market anyway. I try to shop local, non-chain stores as much as I can. Thankfully, they still carry just about all I need.

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The folks at Photo Market are good, but the store is so cramped - they really need twice the floor space for the stuff that they carry. I have the misfortune of working close to the Mall, so I do stop by Hunts, but they seem to be the other extreem to PM - lots of floor space, and not much product.

Back to the original thread, I use some of the sprint stuff, their stop, fix, fixer remover, and sometimes the quicksilver film developer. I like the convenience of the sprint chemicals, and the cube packaging works nicely.

Mark_S said:

The folks at Photo Market are good, but the store is so cramped - they really need twice the floor space for the stuff that they carry. I have the misfortune of working close to the Mall, so I do stop by Hunts, but they seem to be the other extreem to PM - lots of floor space, and not much product.

Back to the original thread, I use some of the sprint stuff, their stop, fix, fixer remover, and sometimes the quicksilver film developer. I like the convenience of the sprint chemicals, and the cube packaging works nicely.

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Do you remember Photo Market when they were at Woodford's Corner about 10 years ago? Think same amount of stuff, half the space!

Thanks for all the comments good & bad. This is my very first "thread/chat"
I am president of Sprint, and have been at the company since the mid 80's when I would go and hang out with my boyfriend Paul Krot (founder/inventor/teacher). Sprint was designed by Paul to make his teaching job easier. He had incredible energy. Taught 7 classes a year @ risd, raced motor bikes advanced his chemistry line and me! Excuse the trip down memo lane... What I want to say is SPRINT Systems is here, stronger than ever and I am not in a tug of pixels with anyone because it is my honor /Paul's legacy. I love this company and if we can help you love what you do even better. To students, teachers, my professional friends hanging their art in museums and critics I love silver I can't get enough. Marlaine Noel, President, Sprint Systems of Photography,inc Good night

Marlaine,
welcome to APUG. Maybe Sprint should consider becoming an advertiser here because this is somewhat of a "captured audience".

The Santa Fe community college uses all of the sprint chemistry and it works just fine there. In fact, there are many students who simply refuse to use anything else because they like what they get with Sprint and for the ease of use.

(side note: please contact the santa fe camera center to see about having your chemicals sold there).

What is it that you would like to know?

Just noticing this thread is a week shy of starting 10 years ago.
David

Troy said:

Do you remember Photo Market when they were at Woodford's Corner about 10 years ago? Think same amount of stuff, half the space!

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I used to shop at Photo Market all the time when it was located at Woodford's Corner when I lived in the Portland area. It was amazing how much stuff was crammed in that small space.