TMAX 100 - FX-37 vs Beutler

I use a lot of TMX 100 film in both 35mm and 120.

Typically I use Beutler to develop this film but lately I have been toying with the thought of mixing up a batch of Crawley's FX-37 and trying it out.

I am not unhappy with Beutler and I will need to buy some Phenidone and Hydroquinone to do this (both requiring hazardous chemical shipping.) So I am curious if I will see a large enough difference in my results to make it worth the time and cost or will this require a step wedge to see any difference?

Any thoughts or first hand experience with this?

I haven't used the Crawley's, but I have used Beutler's. I think you will see a slight difference, but if you aren't sure about spending the moolah, don't bother.

What exactly are you looking to change? Finer grain? Better tonality? Any attempt at getting a sharper developer would be a waste of time.

I don't think I can get finer grain though Beutler really isn't known as a fine grain developer.

Crawley's is supposed to provide greater sharpness which is probably a waste of time as you point out.

I have the original article in which Crawley first introduced FX-37.He mentions that to get sharpness with fine grained tabular grain emulsions ,dilute developers in highly alkaline solution like Beutler have been used but the tendency to compress tonal separations may be more obvious,He gives a curve for Delta 100 in FX-37 which shows a shallow S- shape.I have found that it has a lower pH than Beutler and gives somewhat finer grain..A matter of individual choice, but different.
https://www.photrio.com/forum/resources/crawleys-fx-37-developer-for-t-max-delta-films.168/

I broke down and ordered the additional chemicals I need to mix up some FX-37. The thought of doing a little testing between some of the development options intrigues me so I just decided to go ahead and get what I needed.

By the way, the cost being considered was not much, and a little less than half was in shipping via UPS Ground.

I would still appreciate any additional input anyone may have regarding this developer and what experiences they have had.

A while back I played with FX37 and really liked it. I really only used it on three different films (TMY-2. Delta 100 and Ultrafine Xtreme 100) so I can't say I'm an expert in the field of FX37. In all the films it seem to give a very clean negative with fairly low base fog, very good grain character and excellent shadow detail. So, to sum it up from my experience, FX37 is a very good developer. Do I use it now? No, I use Xtol-R and think it meets my purposes better than FX37. Actually I think Xtol-R pretty much gives me all I want in a developer. Is it the only developer I use? No, I still use Pryocat-HDC and for certain things I use Rodinal. That said, I have nothing against FX37 and could get by fairly well using just that. Of course, like I said, I've only used it on those three films above and they were also 120 format. Hopefully it works on other films and formats just as well, but I can't say. I don't think you will be disappointed at all. JohnW

Thanks John. I have several bricks of 120 TMAX 100 in the freezer so we'll certainly see how it responds with that film. If it works out I also have plenty more in 35mm bulk rolls to work with.

Dan,
I probably should have said "shadow separation" instead of "shadow detail" in the reply above. Truth is it did give nice mid-tones also and that's a plus. It leaves the highlights up to you to figure out. It doesn't give the highlight separation as say Pyrocat or pyro developed negatives, but that's to be expected. JohnW