"New Tetenal" is officially registered

Schwedenstahl · Mar 11, 2019

Good news received directly from our friends at “New” Tetenal: the last paperwork was given its stamps of approval, and the company was officially registered last Friday! Having shaken off old ways of doing business and unprofitable divisions within the company, the new version of Tetenal, which we have learned will keep its old logo and name, has taken shape at a remarkable pace. Investors were found, certificates and permissions awarded, and last Friday, the new incarnation of Tetenal became an officially registered company, ready to do business. They plan to make an official announcement tomorrow. In the meanwhile, the analog community can rest assured that their E6 3- and 7-baths, C41, ECN2 and RA4 chemicals will be available without any production or delivery gaps.

We published some more details via emulsive:
https://emulsive.org/articles/just-...SqAhBIKFIEPHPoxKM1283bGpPCfZRB6Gu2wSkTA4RRFV8

PhotoKlassik International will be telling the entire story along with further developments (pun intended) in its issue II/2019, which is planned to be released around May 1st.

mshchem · Mar 11, 2019

THAT IS GREAT NEWS!

Martin Rickards · Mar 11, 2019

Must echo mshchem's sentiments.

miha · Mar 11, 2019

What about B&W chemicals? But good news anyway.

Kino · Mar 11, 2019

Bravo! Great news!

Schwedenstahl · Mar 11, 2019

miha said:
What about B&W chemicals? But good news anyway.

The new company took over around 2000 chemical formulas from the old Tetenal.

I just mentioned the color chemicals cuase they are the most problematic.

mshchem · Mar 11, 2019

I bet Ilford is happy. I think Tetenal makes all of Ilford's chemicals . Kodak gets all of its black and white stuff from Tetenal. I stocked up on XTOL and rapid fixer in fear of a supply issue. I hope that Tetenal can make 7 solution "Kodak" E-6 kits .

Sirius Glass · Mar 11, 2019

Great Now we have nothing to bitch about!

Schwedenstahl · Mar 11, 2019

mshchem said:
I bet Ilford is happy. I think Tetenal makes all of Ilford's chemicals . Kodak gets all of its black and white stuff from Tetenal. I stocked up on XTOL and rapid fixer in fear of a supply issue. I hope that Tetenal can make 7 solution "Kodak" E-6 kits .

Well I was visiting the factory and I saw the production and a lot of containers from all manufacturers you can imagine.
E6 will be manufacture as 3 and 6/7 kit. For home users the 3 Bath kit is recommended. 6/7 Bath kit makes sens when replanishment is needed. We had a longer article about the backgrounds in our last PKI.

We had also the first talks about possible effervesent tablets for E6 and C41. The E6 tablets need a bit R&D but according the chief chemist at Tetenal it will be possible!

In a few weeks we will have more infos about this.

mshchem · Mar 12, 2019

Schwedenstahl said:
Well I was visiting the factory and I saw the production and a lot of containers from all manufacturers you can imagine.
E6 will be manufacture as 3 and 6/7 kit. For home users the 3 Bath kit is recommended. 6/7 Bath kit makes sens when replanishment is needed. We had a longer article about the backgrounds in our last PKI.

We had also the first talks about possible effervesent tablets for E6 and C41. The E6 tablets need a bit R&D but according the chief chemist at Tetenal it will be possible!

In a few weeks we will have more infos about this.

I really think there is a niche market for the Pro 6 type chemistry. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than making single containers of each bath available in 5 or 10 liter sizes. I buy the Fuji stuff from Freestyle in the US 200 USD plus shipping. The 3 bath kits work ok but only at lower capacity levels. Also the crystals of final rinse re-crystallizes on my film as it dries Better to use a liquid final rinse (not stabilizer) like Kodak Flexicolor final rinse or what Fuji uses.
I've used the Tetenal 3 bath with very good results, but prefer the 6 bath.
Most important thing is for Tetenal to be profitable, they know their customers better than I.

bernard_L · Mar 12, 2019

Just out of curiosity: what were the products and/or services that made the old Tetenal unprofitable and will be left out in the new Tetenal?

Martin Rickards · Mar 12, 2019

bernard_L said:
Just out of curiosity: what were the products and/or services that made the old Tetenal unprofitable and will be left out in the new Tetenal?

I seem to remember something about ink for ink jet printers. Digital to blame

AgX · Mar 12, 2019

Schwedenstahl said:
We had also the first talks about possible effervesent tablets for E6 and C41. The E6 tablets need a bit R&D but according the chief chemist at Tetenal it will be possible!

In this context I repeatedly hinted here at Tetenal's tablet technology, as something that gives them a unique selling point.
But a "effervesent" feature seems not the point to me.

Schwedenstahl · Mar 12, 2019

AgX said:
But a "effervesent" feature seems not the point to me.

Maybe not on the first glance. To bring dry chemicals into solution can be sometimes difficult.You have to imagine that for home users lower temperatures are more convinient. A tablet that is dissolving much easier under room temperature conditions is an advantage.

Next point is also the size of the tablet. Photography (analog or digital) is not cheap. People, especially young photographers want to have the ability to develop just one single film and this quite easy. So it also makes sens to designe the tablet so it can be used exactly for the amount of films you want to process.

The effervescent tablet system was introduced in the late 90s just shortly before the rise of digital, especially for sports photographers. The solution had to be available very quickly under the conditions you have in toilet in a football stadium.

And this is exactly what a lot of young photographers face at home. They don't have much time and space and on the other hand they just want to develop one or two films. Even for those with a well equipped darkroom it is also an advantage especially when you'd like to develop just a small ammount.

minh0204 · Mar 12, 2019

Schwedenstahl said:
We had also the first talks about possible effervesent tablets for E6 and C41. The E6 tablets need a bit R&D but according the chief chemist at Tetenal it will be possible!

I am more than happy to pay 3x the current going rate for E6 chems if it can be done in tablet form, just so I can develop a small number of films. Please keep the good news coming!

AgX · Mar 12, 2019

Schwedenstahl said:
Maybe not on the first glance. To bring dry chemicals into solution can be sometimes difficult.You have to imagine that for home users lower temperatures are more convinient. A tablet that is dissolving much easier under room temperature conditions is an advantage.

Next point is also the size of the tablet. Photography (analog or digital) is not cheap. People, especially young photographers want to have the ability to develop just one single film and this quite easy. So it also makes sens to designe the tablet so it can be used exactly for the amount of films you want to process.

The effervescent tablet system was introduced in the late 90s just shortly before the rise of digital, especially for sports photographers. The solution had to be available very quickly under the conditions you have in toilet in a football stadium.

And this is exactly what a lot of young photographers face at home. They don't have much time and space and on the other hand they just want to develop one or two films. Even for those with a well equipped darkroom it is also an advantage especially when you'd like to develop just a small ammount.

As said, I am aware of the advantages of tablets. Moreover in that thread on Ilford's new single-use pouch sytem, or even the Maco ready-made working solutions pouches, we discussed that there seemingly is a economical market for those convenience products, though most of us here likely would not see those advantages as decisive for themselves. (Though Apug ist not the whole film world...)
But instead I was hinting just at that "effervescent" characteristic of those tablets.

Rudeofus · Mar 12, 2019

How would they make a tablet that was effervescent at a pH of 10 or 12 ? What kind of gas would such a tablet emit?

Schwedenstahl · Mar 12, 2019

Rudeofus said:
How would they make a tablet that was effervescent at a pH of 10 or 12 ? What kind of gas would such a tablet emit?

It is at the moment not the time to go into details. The tablet story is at the moment one product out of many that is part of the nearby future planning.
This thread is mainly about that we escaped a big disaster and The new company with the old name Tetenal is now a fact.

AgX · Mar 12, 2019

A big disaster for Tetenal, but still I am convinced that competitors would have filled the gap. Competitors, most here at Apug are not even aware of.
Well, some did not even know of Tetenal...

miha · Mar 12, 2019

Rudeofus said:
How would they make a tablet that was effervescent at a pH of 10 or 12 ? What kind of gas would such a tablet emit?

What does effervescent mean?

Schwedenstahl · Mar 12, 2019

AgX said:
Well, some did not even know of Tetenal...

Thats because they were obliged to be silent as an OEM manufacturer. But I am 100% conviced that all who did not know about Tetenal were using more than one of their products without even knowing.

AgX said:
but still I am convinced that competitors would have filled the gap.

You could find nearly all major competitors bottles and packages in the Tetenal warehouse. And after having learned how much investment it takes to do the necessary registrations to import the needed raw materials I have my doubts.

Rudeofus · Mar 12, 2019

miha said:
What does effervescent mean?

See here. Didn't know the term myself before Schwedenstahl brought it up in posting #9.

miha · Mar 12, 2019

Thanks. So you say such tablets would not work in a highly alkaline environment?

Rudeofus · Mar 12, 2019

99% if these "effervescent" tablets contain an acid and baking soda, especially the ones you use to make some sort of lemonade or medicine. When acid drives pH below 6, the baking soda gives up Carbon Dioxide gas, and this gas creates these fine bubbles. These bubbles provide decent agitation to dissolve the other compounds in the tablet, that's why people would potentially want them in developer tablets. However, baking soda won't give up Carbon Dioxide at pH 8-12, where typical photographic developers work, and the unknown amount of Carbon Dioxide remaining in the liquid will create some uncertainty about final pH, another no no in photographic development.

We'll see what Tetenal can come up with in future, but do hold on to your other developers for now ...

Truzi · Mar 12, 2019

miha said:
What does effervescent mean?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iENQXIQ8wH0

"New Tetenal" is officially registered

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