Replacements for Edwal FG-7 & Neofin Blue

[Greg]

Two of my most favorite developers that I once used pre 2000, I believe have been discontinued years ago: Edwal FG-7 and Neofin Blue.

Neofin Blue is listed on Freestyle Photo's website but with the addition of "This item is no longer available".

Edwal FG-7 discontinued many years ago as far as I can determine.

Does anyone out there know of any currently available developers that are very similar to Edwal FG-7 or Neofin Blue?

In retrospect I really should have ordered a hefty (lifetime?) shipment of Neofin Blue from Freestyle Photo when it was still available.

[Mark Sampson]

I saw this and was intrigued. Went to the Formulary site, and among many exotic developers for sale found nothing related to either one. And they are happy to describe many of their products as "similar to XXX". Then went to unblinkingeye.com and went through the articles list... got sidetracked a bit but no one there was reporting on FG-7 or Neofin. Despite 40 years in the biz I've never used either one (being from Rochester the EK developers were the common choices). I hear there's a new edition of the Film Developer Book... perhaps you can find some info there?

[Doug Herta]

Nothing in 3rd or 4th Edition of the Darkroom Cookbook about Edwal FG-7. There is a thread about how hard it was to manufacture Edwal FG-7:

https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?55312-Alternative-to-Edwal-FG7

And there is a formula for a developer purported to be a good substitute:

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/fx-14-acutol-film-developer.74687/

[Arne Croell]

Neofin blue is still made and available. Fotoimpex in Germany carries it and it says on the web site it ships internationally: https://www.fotoimpex.com/chemistry/tetenal-neofin-blau-6-one-shot-bottles.html?cache=1575657608

[Daniel Unkefer]

http://www.pictorialplanet.com/advanced_photography/Beutler.html

Willi Beutler "Leica Developer" is very similar to Neofin Blue. Just Metol, Sulphite, Carbonate, and H20.

[Greg]

Update by OP.... Back in the 1980s to the late 1990s, I was using Edwal FG-7 1:15 in a 9% Sodium Sulfite solution. The developer gave me negatives that just were a pleasure to print. In the 1980s, I shot dozens of rolls of 120 film (Kodak and Ilford) of a rundown factory complex of buildings in our town. Since then the property has been very off limits to Photographers for liability reasons. Recently I finally got access and permission to photograph the complex once again. I really wanted to match those original negatives that were processed in FG-7. Today I am sticking to using 120 Ilford HP5+. Tetenal Ultrafin Developer seems to produce very similar negatives. With HP5+ I am shooting at ASA 400 and processing in Ultrafin 1:10 for 15 minutes at 68 degrees. I haven't tried diluting Ultrafin in a 9% Sodium Sulfite solution yet. Paper: Multigrade IV developed in Ilford PQ. Will update as I get further results.