Omega X

[Keith Tapscott.]

Has anyone here tried this developer?

Spur Omega X 0.2l [OX100] - USD 3,990 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce

Zen Cart! Spur Omega X 0.2l [OX100] - SPUR Omega X is new revolutionary fine grain developer that sets new standards in every respect. Compared to our previous fine grain process SPUR HRX, SPUR was able to improve the following parameters: 1. The sharpness could be improved with almost all films...

www.silversalt.jp

 

[bernard_L]

new revolutionary fine grain developer that sets new standards in every respect

Seems to me I read something like that before...

 

[GeorgK]

I have tried it with Acros II, HP5+ (one film each), and FP4+(multiple).
Results with Acros were fine, but nothing outstanding. HP5+ produced images with normal, but 'well defined' grain, and a really, really strong edge effect. On some dark / medium grey borders, it almost looked like someone had applied an unsharp mask (USM) digitally - and this were straight analog prints! Not my cup of tea, but if someone is after this edge-enhanced look, it is worth a try. I guess the effect is strongest with 'thick layered' traditional high-speed films.
I really like the results with FP4+. Nice tonality, relatively fine grain, good sharpness, and the edge-effect, while still present, is not that strong and artificially looking in-your-face. It still enhances 3D-feel of the pictures. Could serve as a standard combo if ultra-fine grain (TMX, Acros, Adox 50) is not top priority.

Spur's development times are usually very reliable, so trying it yourself won't be much of a risk.

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

I have tried it with Acros II, HP5+ (one film each), and FP4+(multiple).
Results with Acros were fine, but nothing outstanding. HP5+ produced images with normal, but 'well defined' grain, and a really, really strong edge effect. On some dark / medium grey borders, it almost looked like someone had applied an unsharp mask (USM) digitally - and this were straight analog prints! Not my cup of tea, but if someone is after this edge-enhanced look, it is worth a try. I guess the effect is strongest with 'thick layered' traditional high-speed films.
I really like the results with FP4+. Nice tonality, relatively fine grain, good sharpness, and the edge-effect, while still present, is not that strong and artificially looking in-your-face. It still enhances 3D-feel of the pictures. Could serve as a standard combo if ultra-fine grain (TMX, Acros, Adox 50) is not top priority.

Spur's development times are usually very reliable, so trying it yourself won't be much of a risk.

Thanks for replying.I know it was introduced last year as a replacement for the HRX, but I haven't heard much about since.

 

[retina_restoration]

Thanks for replying.I know it was introduced last year as a replacement for the HRX, but I haven't heard much about since.

Probably because there's not much to say. Their hyperbolic description of it makes me very skeptical about its properties. I very much doubt there are any "revolutionary" developer properties yet to be discovered, and their suggestion of "immensely increased fine grain" etc. has to be an exaggeration—grain properties are inherent in the film and your choice of developer can only affect those properties to a limited degree.

You should watch this video review. Pretty much confirms my suspicions.

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

Probably because there's not much to say. Their hyperbolic description of it makes me very skeptical about its properties. I very much doubt there are any "revolutionary" developer properties yet to be discovered, and their suggestion of "immensely increased fine grain" etc. has to be an exaggeration—grain properties are inherent in the film and your choice of developer can only affect those properties to a limited degree.

You should watch this video review. Pretty much confirms my suspicions.

Thanks. I wanted some feedback as I was wondering what it does that a developer of the Microdol/Perceptol type doesn't do.

 

[Milpool]

They may have set a new record. The SPUR developers contain a lot of ingredients - often four developing agents. This one adds metol making five.

There are some possible mechanisms which could explain the claimed edge effects.

In any case my suggestion would be to try it. The formulation, high pH, use of thiocyanate etc. are completely different than Perceptol so you never know.

Has anyone here tried this developer?

Spur Omega X 0.2l [OX100] - USD 3,990 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce

Zen Cart! Spur Omega X 0.2l [OX100] - SPUR Omega X is new revolutionary fine grain developer that sets new standards in every respect. Compared to our previous fine grain process SPUR HRX, SPUR was able to improve the following parameters: 1. The sharpness could be improved with almost all films...

www.silversalt.jp

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

They may have set a new record. The SPUR developers contain a lot of ingredients - often four developing agents. This one adds metol making five.

There are some possible mechanisms which could explain the claimed edge effects.

In any case my suggestion would be to try it. The formulation, high pH, use of thiocyanate etc. are completely different than Perceptol so you never know.

That's a lot of developing agents. Perhaps it's a more sophisticated way of obtaining the same end results.
As you say, it might be worth trying just to see how it turns out.

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

Probably because there's not much to say. Their hyperbolic description of it makes me very skeptical about its properties. I very much doubt there are any "revolutionary" developer properties yet to be discovered, and their suggestion of "immensely increased fine grain" etc. has to be an exaggeration—grain properties are inherent in the film and your choice of developer can only affect those properties to a limited degree.

You should watch this video review. Pretty much confirms my suspicions.

Thanks for the link. As you said, a lot of salesmanship for this product.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

It's a developer with five developing agents and a halide solvent (thiocyanate! Surely, a lot of R&D must have gone into the product.

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

It's a developer with five developing agents and a halide solvent (thiocyanate! Surely, a lot of R&D must have gone into the product.

I wonder what Bill Troop the co-author of the FDCB would make of it?

 

[Alan Johnson]

Three alkalis, Potassium carbonate, trisodium phosphate, sodium hydroxide control the pH. HQMSK : HQ ratio the tonality, Phenidone : Dimezone-S ratio IDK, Metol enhances film speed. Thiocyanate - grain solvent.Trilon C-sequestering agent. SPUR continued research after Kodak labs closed.

 

[retina_restoration]

It's a developer with five developing agents and a halide solvent (thiocyanate! Surely, a lot of R&D must have gone into the product.

No doubt it did. But if you look at the samples developed and scanned in the review videos provided a link to, it’s pretty clear that certain other developers did a better job with tonal gradation and grain than this Omega developer did.
I don’t care how sophisticated a developer is or whether it uses 10 developing agents or just 1 - what matters is the result it delivers.

Note: in the USA, this costs $35 for 100ml each of A and B. Unless I’ve read it wrong, it takes 20ml of each to make 500ml of working solution. That’s an expensive developer, it seems to me!

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

I don’t care how sophisticated a developer is or whether it uses 10 developing agents or just 1 - what matters is the result it delivers.

I agree - what matters is the result it delivers to me. So I would test the developer myself before forming a hard opinion about it or wait for an expert product tester like @Henning Serger to provide his insights about the developer.

BTW here is some useful background about R&D behind Spur developers:

SPUR B&W developers - experience and distribution in US

Hi I have seen recent recommendations of SPUR HRX developer for Acros II 100 and TMAX 100. I have also seen great results from SPUR Acurol-N with Foma 100, on photo.net. I'm not familiar with SPUR as a company, and there is limited distribution in the US (only Freestyle carries SPUR HRX...

www.photrio.com

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

It's interesting that Henning considers this particular photo-chemist to be the world's leading expert.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

It's interesting that Henning considers this particular photo-chemist to be the world's leading expert.

Spur HRX, the developer that Henning uses as his standard developer, also employs five developing agents and a halide solvent like Omega X. Without significant R&D it is difficult to imagine making progress with such complicated formulations.