Thrilled by Amaloco AM50

[Teus]

My first developer I liked a lot was Amaloco AM74, together with Fuji Acros it gave punchy images, much better then ID11 & TMAX developer I tried before. Tri-x was poor in it on the other hand, so I moved to other developers since then. Months ago I picked up some cheap AM20 & AM50 to give them a try, for 3 euro you can't buy anything wrong.

I forgot it again, until I started reading about Pyro developers. AM50 is a non-staining surface developer, based on pyrocatechein, it got my interested and I gave it a try again.

Photo with Plus-X, in AM50, with 24mm f/2.8, polariser, red filter, and 2-stop ND. yeah, it vignets, but technically it was one better shots: http://www.pbase.com/teus/image/72803316

100% crop, scanned with Minolta dualscan at highest quality: http://www.pbase.com/teus/image/72803324

I also shot some Tri-x, with comparable results. Images are great right off the bat: sharp, little grain, good contrast. One happy user here, I requested more documentation from Amaloco. Can't wait now to bulk order some Tri-x, Plus-X and AM50. Looking up info pointed out that Pyrocat HD also uses pyrocatechin, what kind of Pyro developer can AM50 be compared with exactly?

 

[Kino]

Ohh nice! Be sure to let us know what you find out!

 

[jstraw]

Is Amaloco distributed in the states?

 

[Teus]

Is Amaloco distributed in the states?

Amaloco is a smaller dutch developer, so I'm afraid it's not easy to get... even in Europe. I know their AM 74 is sold as Rollei Highspeed, but I don't know if their AM50 gets resold under a different name elsewhere. you like it?

 

[jstraw]

I'd like to try it.

 

[gainer]

Pyrocatechin and hydroquinone are both dihydroxybenzene, the difference being in the location of one of the hydroxy's. HC110 once used pyrocatechin, also known as catechol. Both hydroquinone and catechol are staining developers when there is little or no sulfite in the solution. It may be that catechol is easier or cheaper to get in Holland, or there may really be some difference due to the catechol. My comment is just a matter of interest.

 

[Teus]

I'd like to try it.

AM50 comes in vials of 20ml, diluted 1+29, good for 2-3 rolls of film. If you want, I could mail you one.

 

[Teus]

when I bought the developers a few months ago, I couldn't make too much sense out of the manuals. I just went through them again: AM50 is called "Gammanool" and is based on Pyrocatechine/natrium hydroxide. it's not really compensating and should work with any film speed. the only dilution recommended is 1+29/30

there's also AM20, "Nivenool", it's also based on Pyrocatechine/natrium hydroxide. just like AM50 it's critical about exposure, but it would be slightly compensating. it also gives about 1 stop of speed gain on films. charts are provided with times for default ISO, and push +1. contrast can be effected by diluting between 1+19/20 and 1+49/50, with extended times for 1+39/40 and 1+49/50.

sounds nice. maybe a repost of earlier information, but I've searched the board often enough but couldn't find too much info on Amaloco developers. Trying AM20 tomorrow with plus-x

 

[jstraw]

AM50 comes in vials of 20ml, diluted 1+29, good for 2-3 rolls of film. If you want, I could mail you one.

That's kind of you. I'll keep your generous offer in mind.

 

[poutnik]

Maybe, you could ask FotoHuis (Robert Vonk) about the availability of AM50, he is a dutch distributor of the Amaloco product line (among others)...

I have a sample bottle of AM50 from him and your example really put me on the route to try it out.

Jiri