Agfa Neutol

Through a local photo dealer, I have come into possession of some Agfa
Neutol paper developer in what looks like a 500ml or 1 litre size. The
fluid in the bottle seems to be dark coloured. Is this normal? The
dealer does not know how old it is, and he has more of it if I want it.
I have not used any of it yet, and am wondering if anyone has any
experience with this product.

Yes, the fluid is a dark orange. The working developer remains orange.

Nice paper developer. The only thing I don't like about it is that it
seems to exhaust much quicker than Dektol and Polymax.


On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 10:59:37 -0800, UC wrote:

Through a local photo dealer, I have come into possession of some Agfa
Neutol paper developer in what looks like a 500ml or 1 litre size. The
fluid in the bottle seems to be dark coloured. Is this normal? The
dealer does not know how old it is, and he has more of it if I want it.
I have not used any of it yet, and am wondering if anyone has any
experience with this product.

Mike wrote:
Yes, the fluid is a dark orange. The working developer remains orange.

Nice paper developer. The only thing I don't like about it is that it
seems to exhaust much quicker than Dektol and Polymax.


On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 10:59:37 -0800, UC wrote:

Through a local photo dealer, I have come into possession of some Agfa
Neutol paper developer in what looks like a 500ml or 1 litre size. The
fluid in the bottle seems to be dark coloured. Is this normal? The
dealer does not know how old it is, and he has more of it if I want it.
I have not used any of it yet, and am wondering if anyone has any
experience with this product.

Agfa sold a couple of liquid concentrate developers under the
Neutol name. The one I've been using is Neutol Plus which has no
Hydroquinone but rather Ascorbic acid. Its dark yellow and becomes
brownish orange. In my experience it lasts about as long as Dektol at
the 1:9 dilution but I may not print as much as Mike. It appears to be
clean working and does not deposit silver on the tray the way Dektol
does.
Beware that the yellow color distorts the gray scale of developing
prints even under an OC safelight.
Unfortunately, I think its not going to be available after current
stocks are gone.
There is also a Neutol developer for blue-black tones and a Neutol
warm tone developer. I have some of the warm tone developer but haven't
tried it yet.

Richard Knoppow

This bottle says 'Neutal Plus'.

I can get 6 bottles of it if I want it.

Richard Knoppow wrote:
Mike wrote:
Yes, the fluid is a dark orange. The working developer remains orange.

Nice paper developer. The only thing I don't like about it is that it
seems to exhaust much quicker than Dektol and Polymax.


On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 10:59:37 -0800, UC wrote:

Through a local photo dealer, I have come into possession of some Agfa
Neutol paper developer in what looks like a 500ml or 1 litre size. The
fluid in the bottle seems to be dark coloured. Is this normal? The
dealer does not know how old it is, and he has more of it if I want it.
I have not used any of it yet, and am wondering if anyone has any
experience with this product.

Agfa sold a couple of liquid concentrate developers under the
Neutol name. The one I've been using is Neutol Plus which has no
Hydroquinone but rather Ascorbic acid. Its dark yellow and becomes
brownish orange. In my experience it lasts about as long as Dektol at
the 1:9 dilution but I may not print as much as Mike. It appears to be
clean working and does not deposit silver on the tray the way Dektol
does.
Beware that the yellow color distorts the gray scale of developing
prints even under an OC safelight.
Unfortunately, I think its not going to be available after current
stocks are gone.
There is also a Neutol developer for blue-black tones and a Neutol
warm tone developer. I have some of the warm tone developer but haven't
tried it yet.

Richard Knoppow

I use this Neutol Plus paper developer exclusively. While I agree that
it goes off faster in a tray than Dektol, I find that if after a
session (of say 2-3 hours) that I tip the contents back into an air
tight container that it lasts ages. I've been using the same mix for
about 4 x 3 hour sessions spread over a couple of months (say for a
total of about 35 lots of 8 x 10" prints).
When putting it back into a container, I top up the last 5-10mL with
water to exclude the air. (container isn't compressible, and I had
forgotton to use my glass marbles). BTW depending on the conc. you mix
up, it will be a medium to dark orange after diluting.

regards
Peter

Mike wrote:
Yes, the fluid is a dark orange. The working developer remains orange.

Nice paper developer. The only thing I don't like about it is that it
seems to exhaust much quicker than Dektol and Polymax.


On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 10:59:37 -0800, UC wrote:

In article .com,
"Richard Knoppow" writes:

Agfa sold a couple of liquid concentrate developers under the
Neutol name. The one I've been using is Neutol Plus which has no
Hydroquinone but rather Ascorbic acid.
....
Unfortunately, I think its not going to be available after current
stocks are gone.

Maybe not. I've seen some recent posts, some with e-mail from A&O (the
company that bought up the parts of Agfa that produce chemistry) as
evidence, claiming that they'll continue producing Rodinal and Neutol WA.
I've seen nothing explicit about Neutol Plus, but given that A&O plans to
continue producing other B&W chemistry, the odds for Neutol Plus look
fairly good. Here are some references:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/foru...041#post195041
http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?p=239886

Also and FWIW, if the thing you (generally, not just Richard) like about
Neutol Plus is that it's a phenidone/vitamin C (PC) developer, there are
several mix-it-yourself PC paper developer formulas, such as E-72 and
DS-14:

http://www.jackspcs.com/pde72.htm
http://silvergrain.org/Photo-Tech/pr...recommend.html

These aren't as convenient as a ready-made liquid concentrate, but they do
work and they are hydroquinone-free.

--
Rod Smith,
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux, FreeBSD, and networking

Fotospeed are selling a Hydroquinone free print developer called HF3 (liquid
concentrate) which I beleive also uses an Ascorbic acid derivative and
should make a suitable alternative.
Perhaps in the fullness of time Ilford may introduce a similar one. I would
certainly be interested in a Hydroquinone version of their DD-X film
developer if ever they consider it.

"Richard Knoppow" wrote in message
oups.com...

Mike wrote:
Yes, the fluid is a dark orange. The working developer remains orange.

Nice paper developer. The only thing I don't like about it is that it
seems to exhaust much quicker than Dektol and Polymax.


On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 10:59:37 -0800, UC wrote:

Through a local photo dealer, I have come into possession of some Agfa
Neutol paper developer in what looks like a 500ml or 1 litre size. The
fluid in the bottle seems to be dark coloured. Is this normal? The
dealer does not know how old it is, and he has more of it if I want it.
I have not used any of it yet, and am wondering if anyone has any
experience with this product.

Agfa sold a couple of liquid concentrate developers under the
Neutol name. The one I've been using is Neutol Plus which has no
Hydroquinone but rather Ascorbic acid. Its dark yellow and becomes
brownish orange. In my experience it lasts about as long as Dektol at
the 1:9 dilution but I may not print as much as Mike. It appears to be
clean working and does not deposit silver on the tray the way Dektol
does.
Beware that the yellow color distorts the gray scale of developing
prints even under an OC safelight.
Unfortunately, I think its not going to be available after current
stocks are gone.
There is also a Neutol developer for blue-black tones and a Neutol
warm tone developer. I have some of the warm tone developer but haven't
tried it yet.

Richard Knoppow

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 14:20:59 -0000, "Keith Tapscott"
wrote:

Fotospeed are selling a Hydroquinone free print developer called HF3 (liquid
concentrate) which I beleive also uses an Ascorbic acid derivative and
should make a suitable alternative.
Perhaps in the fullness of time Ilford may introduce a similar one. I would
certainly be interested in a Hydroquinone version of their DD-X film
developer if ever they consider it.

One thing I don't understand is what do people have a problem with
hydroquinone ? Ascorbates are nowhere near as stable and capable and
the toxicity is virtually irrelevant.

John

I`m inclined to agree with you John, but Agfa are finished and those who
like to use Neutol Plus may wish to find a similar print developer.
As for an Ascorbic acid film developer, a modified version of DD-X may be
attractive to those who want an alternative to Xtol supplied as a liquid
concentrate.
As you pointed out, there are concerns of stability as some people have
reported here of sudden losses of activity with Xtol.
My regular film developer is D-76 diluted 1+1 and my regular print developer
is Ilford Multigrade 1+9.
Cheers.

"John" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 14:20:59 -0000, "Keith Tapscott"
wrote:

Fotospeed are selling a Hydroquinone free print developer called HF3
(liquid
concentrate) which I beleive also uses an Ascorbic acid derivative and
should make a suitable alternative.
Perhaps in the fullness of time Ilford may introduce a similar one. I
would
certainly be interested in a Hydroquinone version of their DD-X film
developer if ever they consider it.

One thing I don't understand is what do people have a problem with
hydroquinone ? Ascorbates are nowhere near as stable and capable and
the toxicity is virtually irrelevant.

John

I have not used this stuff, while I still have some Bromophen mixed to
use up.

Both are history?

I may go back to mixing my own paper developer. I like Gevaert 252.

Keith Tapscott wrote:
I`m inclined to agree with you John, but Agfa are finished and those who
like to use Neutol Plus may wish to find a similar print developer.
As for an Ascorbic acid film developer, a modified version of DD-X may be
attractive to those who want an alternative to Xtol supplied as a liquid
concentrate.
As you pointed out, there are concerns of stability as some people have
reported here of sudden losses of activity with Xtol.
My regular film developer is D-76 diluted 1+1 and my regular print developer
is Ilford Multigrade 1+9.
Cheers.

"John" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 14:20:59 -0000, "Keith Tapscott"
wrote:

Fotospeed are selling a Hydroquinone free print developer called HF3
(liquid
concentrate) which I beleive also uses an Ascorbic acid derivative and
should make a suitable alternative.
Perhaps in the fullness of time Ilford may introduce a similar one. I
would
certainly be interested in a Hydroquinone version of their DD-X film
developer if ever they consider it.

One thing I don't understand is what do people have a problem with
hydroquinone ? Ascorbates are nowhere near as stable and capable and
the toxicity is virtually irrelevant.

John