Hi John, Thanks for reviewing my fathers FX-55. He was very proud of his developers. Nice to see his formula is still being used today.

This is one developer I have never tried but it certainly does work well. The low toxicity makes this developer even more attractive…. Thanks once again for highlighting Crawley’s amazing contribution to photography.

As I have never mixed my own developer before (and having been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia I’m trying as many new things as possible before I can’t) I was very dubious about the simplicity of FX55 but what a surprise I have just developed 3 rolls 1 kentmere 100 and 2 Fomapan 100 and the developer is excellent, I have been developing my own negs for years using commercial developers but this FX55 beats them it is now my go to developer and so economical I have enough chemicals to keep making it for years (if I last that long)I will still use the 510 pyro when I think it is needed but otherwise it will be FX55 so thank you for introducing me to this developer and keep up the good work on your channel.

Thanks for the great info on making FX-55. I just started mixing a few months ago after reading FDC and DCB and I'm having great fun experimenting. BTW Anchell suggests mixing a 0.2% solution of Phenidone using water and bisulfite as a preservative (Phen 2g, Sod Bisulfite 6g, cold water to make 1L). This may be more convenient than using propylene glycol if there's none around.

Hi John, everything went great !!! Thank you so much for this video and for this great developer of the mythical Geoffrey Crawley. 🤩

Thank you John! It is always a pleasure to watch your videos. Recently I tried (just out of curiousity) FX-55 as a stand developer, working solution dilluted 1+3, for 60:00 min - and it worked just fine, with nice pleasant tones and without exessive grain

I am finding the questions and answers as good as the video. Thanks! The order that you use to mix Part A chemicals (1-4) corresponds to 3, 4, 1 and 2 in the Film Developing Cookbook interestingly, who don't mention the 36 hours use by time. Great channel and congratulations on launching your book's 5th Edition

Just managed to get the chemicals to mix a batch of FX55 haven’t tried it yet but wow getting the Phenidone to dissolve in the propylene was a chore it took for ages, but looking forward to trying this dev on my next few rolls of film.

Thanks!

So cool.

Hi John, did you see the video of Figital Revolution (Stephen Schaub) on DD-X Stand development? Very interesting. I thought T-Max Developer is very similar to DD-X, I did some stand development with my last leftovers and it was great (indeed rather 45 minutes though). Might give FX-55 a try though.

Thanks for another great video John. You must have a room full of developers on the go. I do miss some of the dev's Crawley turned out, I think through Paterson. This one will be added to the list to try in the future. I was trying to just set on one or two devs but you keep putting temptation in the way. Keep up the good work.

I found a thread on photo trio, in it Gadget Gainer suggested mixing part B as follows: Phenidone 1g Tea 10g (not 10ml) Ascorbic acid 12g In 100 ml glycol Use 10ml per ltr of part A This would allow you to store part A and B ready to mix together.

I've been reading Jay DeFehr's work on his Halcyon developer, which is based on Ascorbic Acid and PPD. His formula suggests using Salycylic Acid 0.5g/l to preserve the Ascorbic Acid. Salycylic Acid is used primarily as an iron sequestering agent in the formula. Adding Salycylic Acid may allow a longer than 36 hour shelf life of the working solution of FX-55. At this time I haven't tested this modification yet; also the Salycylic Acid is on order so it might be a few weeks before I can test this idea.

Hello John - Another huge "Thank You" for bringing this marvelous developer to the forefront. I am getting great results with FP4+ and Delta 100 in 120 and 35mm. I planning to give it a try with FP4+ sheet film, and I am curious if you have any insights/suggestions for using FX-55 with rotary/constant agitation processing. Thanks again for all you do - it is very much appreciated.

YO !!! Another Geoffrey Crawley FAN --- YES -- i followed his Formulae in the 1960s in the 'BJ' and have the OROGINAL ARTICLES copied ! He changed the amounts of Phenidone and Hydroquinone in his FX-4 over the years -- I have electronic Scales -- please what is the GRAM WEIGHT of the Sodium Ascorbate -- you only gave 1/4 Teaspoon ! I can weigh out 0.1 Gm Phenidone .

Great!

So I'm seeing, after dilution, just 2.5 g/L sodium sulfite in the working solution -- that's in the range of Rodinal! How can it make the grain so unnoticeable? BTW, I've used 91% isopropyl alcohol for making a phenidone stock solution in the past -- must be 91%, the more common 70% has too much water to preserve the phenidone. The advantage, of course is that (at least in the USA) you can buy 91% isopropanol at any drug store (chemist's) and many supermarkets for around a dollar a quart. This clearly doesn't do one of the things I like most about Xtol: pour and go with stock solution, replenish, and developer cost is under 25 cents a roll. This might compete on cost (depending what the potassium carbonate and phenidone cost), but having to mix a liter or half liter before processing, and then having to mix the Part A solution ahead really eats into convenience. I will give it a try, though. I'll have to order in a couple ingredients, but I'm very willing to compare it against what I've been getting with Xtol replenished stock.

Hi JOHN again -- not had good results - The Phenidone IS Old but it does dissolve well -- I looked at Sodium Bi-Carbonate -- I found you mentioned the Cooking Version and found by research that Cooking Bicarb contains ALUMINIUM and other 'Additives' to stop it 'caking' so I ordered some 'pure' Bicarb with NO Aluminium and will try it on Formulae which use it ans see such as FX-15, FX-37 FX-55 ---

Hi John, thanks for the videos. I'd like to know if there is a substitute for sodium ascorbate. Here in my country, it is difficult to find and when you do, it is very expensive. Thank you and happy holidays.

I've already made Pyrocat HD according to your instructions and it worked wonderfully, this one is next! Thank you for sharing your knowledge so selflessly. Would you say HP5+ achieves ISO 400 with FX55 and does it "push" at all, to, say... 1600? (Unfortunately I have no darkroom so I cannot test)

Hi John, is it possible to replace sodium metabisulphite with the potassium salt? I think this releases less sulphite into solution so I'd have to add more? Thanks a lot in advance, Stan..

Hello,Thank you for the video. I see you use transparent bottles to stock your preparations. Is there no issues with light (UV ) ? thank for answer. Sorry for aproximativ english, i'm french :)

Hey John, watching your video I was getting curious and got all the ingredients to try out FX-55 :) In the past I mainly used Xtol/XT-3. Anyway, I had a quick look in FDC2 and read a hint that distilled water could be used to avoid impurities like copper, etc. Are you using tap water when preparing FX-55?

Dear John! I will buy your book, I just realised you have one out. I did not see any lith developers in the table of content, do you have any recommendation for that scenario?

Hello John, what EI are you using Hp5+ and what was you developing time?Ta.

John, where online zould you recommmend sourcing the chemicals? :) (Europe, mainland if possible). Cheers!

Fascinating. How careful do you have to be when handling the various chemicals involved? I would of course read any MSDS but just in case I decide to go down this rabbit hole. At the moment, I don't think I am ready to do so (got enough other more basic stuff to learn I think).

I have not found is an answer to the difference between propylene glycol and TEA (Triethanolamine), do you know if they are interchangeable or any differences other then their chemical makeup? Thanks, Adriel

Thanks for some great channel content John. I am about ready to start mixing my own developer but I wanted to ask a question about scales. I have been using a mixture of kitchen scales and syringes which seem to be ok-ish for premixed chemicals. I suspect for my own chemistry things will need to be more accurate; can you recommend a good set of scales or features to look for in scales that improve accuracy?

Thank you for another informative video. Much appreciated. I am intrigued. Given that it is a less toxic eco-developer, how does that effect its waste disposal? I am keen to find ways to be more mindful of the planet- and still have good results. I live on a farm, use well water and septic. Thanks in advance.

John, great video. What would you recommend for a stop bath and fixer when developing in FX-55, particularly if you're development time is less than 7 minutes?

Thanks for the great video! I'm seriously considering giving it a chance and switch from D-76 :). Do you have dev times for the Fomapan films? I shoot them a lot, and can only find times for Foma 200.

John, I wonder if you could comment on the possibility of mixing this up in smaller quantities. For example, could I mix this up in a 500 mL quantity by simply halfing all the chems? This would eliminate the need for accumulating additional films that need developing.

I'm definitely inspired to try both this and FX15 from your videos (I tend to use pyrocat HD) On FX55 I'm wondering about the sodium ascorbate, one formula I have seen mentions L-ascorbic acid 1.3g to the working part A. I can see that from APC pure and other places. Guessing they are not quite the same thing? Can't see sodium ascorbate other than Amazon and similar food addictive places are coming up. Wondering where you source it from or is it all the same really? Thanks! Clearly I need to pick up a copy of your book

Super interesting series! Is there a commercially available developer that closely resembles FX-55 that would save the work of mixing a developer at home? So far the only developer I've made myself is Caffenol with mixed results. I like the idea of Caffenol and FX-55 because of their low toxicity and would be keen to find something similar off the shelf.

Another question, in this video and in your book you have phenidone in propylene glycol, on your website you mention using IPA for creating the solution. any pros or cons between the two?

Thank you for ur lovely videos about mixing ur own chemicals! I LOVE E-72 and BTTB (for contrasty scenes)!

Hello! Mixing liquids is much easier than mixing powders. D I understand correctly that propylene glycol won't damage any of the ingredients that can be used in various developers (specifically, in POTA: phenidone and sodium sulfite)?

Hello John. Can the conversion formula for Sodium Ascorbate you describe be stored as a 10% solution or has it to be dumped after making?

have you tried FX55 on Kentmere pan 400 and if you have how was the results, I shoot a lot of that film because it's very cheap I have been using homemade d76 at 1:1

Hi John, I have two questions - 1/ do you have any indication how many films you can develop with one liter of FX-55? 2/ Today I made for the first time FX-55 but when adding sodium sulphite there was no color change? Is this ok or did I do something wrong? many thanks upfront for all the practical info

got a small question: do you know how long one can storage the sodium ascorbate for solution B ?

Lovely… well done! Thank you for sharing this. Do you know if anyone has used this developer with Lupex paper?

Hi john, great video I was wondering what you think about Crawley fx5-b very fine gain developer does it have better results?

have you ever try the fx-37?, i do never try by my self but i hear very good coments on it. Cheers

Hi John,is this normal when i dissolved Sod.sulfite the color do not change to light pink like you did?

Not sure if this is still monitored… where do you source your sodium ascorbate from? I’ve looked in Photographers Formulary and can only find ascorbic acid (so not the sodium salt version).

Do you make your own paper developers? Are there simple recipes? Is rodinal able to develop papers?

Hi John . When I added the 25g of sodium sulfite the solution did NOT turn peach colored. I'm sure the chemist is correct. Can this be a problem?

Just found this video and would love to try this developer. Does the Propylene Glycol need to be heated up to fully dissolve the Phenidone? Thanks!

What is the pH of solution A and the ph of the mixed fx55? Thank you.

Also, do you use a home brew developer in the majority of cases? Or is this simply experimental?

Hi John, will sodium sulphite do ok for this developer or do i need sodium sulphite anhydrous like the D-23 developer?

Thats a good way to keep the Phenidon long lasting and more accurate dosing. How much Phenidon could be solved in Glycol? I am asking because i bought 50g Phenidon as minimum amount and that would result in a 5L phenidonsolution…

Hello John. I made up some FX-55 following the instructions. I shot some Fomapan 400 asa at 400 and at 200 asa. I developed them in FX-55 1+1 for 10 min at 20 dge C. Result was an almost blank clear fim with a couple of 'ghost' images. So I thought not enough development time. I shot some more negatives of the same scenes at the same exposures. I developed these at 20 min at 20 deg C. Result was exactly the same as the first film. Blank negatives! I don't think it is a suitable developer for Fomapan films. Probably that is why I could not find any relative development information on the 'Massive Development Chart'. Never mind it's more experience. I will contiue to use Chris Patton's E-76 developer which I know works with tis film stock. I just thought that I used an acid fix - would that have anything to do with this disaster?