I miss Freestyle...

...catalogs!

I mean I really felt like I was in the loop when those eagerly awaited catalogs would show up in the mail. I'd be looking for some product and discover another product I'd want to try quite by kismet.

But that's gone and on line searches are such a drag, so I figure this is the best place to ask---does anyone use Edwal 12? I don't even know if Edwal still makes it but Formulary claims to have the equivalent. How does it compare with D-76?
And what about Edwal FG-7? Is that still around?

I do have a copy of The Dark Room Cook Book, but I haven't mixed chemicals since I was a Lab Assistant in High School and not having much hair left, I'd prefer not having any "flash backs"

Would Formulary be my best bet if I want to revisit some the film developers of yesteryear?

In a word, yes.
If you want to research film developers, look at Ed Buffaloe's unblinkingeye.com.

John...you nearly gave me a heart attack!

Regardless of what developers you might be able to find for sale, given your background, you might have a balance in some closet -- eager to be dusted off. There are tons of old formulas that you will never find anywhere for sale, and great balances -- like the OHAUS Cent-O-Gram -- can be bought for about $20. Mixing your own is not only incredibly cheap -- it's fun. It helps me save hair and brain cells!

Formulary and Artcraft Chemicals are the two main suppliers of photo chemicals in the US.

Bostic and Sullivan are a good source of chemicals for various specialty processes - pd/pt, cyanotype, bichromate, etc.

There is a lot to be said for paper catalogs. I discovered and bought a lot of products first seen in those catalags.

I miss John Kasaian.

Whew! For just a moment there...

Anyway. I mix a couple of my own developers, fixer and stop bath. Took me awhile to get off the dime and begin doing it (can be a bit lazy at times) but now that I have fresh developers I love it.

If you start simple it shouldn't cause too much stress. D-23 and Beutler are two terrific developers that can easily be mixed.

John, The Darkroom Cookbook is nice, but IMHO... if one is to mix then it is worth The Film Developing Cookbook, it contains important information. One of the benefits of mixing is that we can control more things, but Anchell tells this information in the Developing Cookbook.


The Edwal FG 7 has lower solvent action than D-76, a common practice was adding sodium sulfite to FG 7 to adjust the solvent action, this is finer grain and slightly less sharpness.

Also the FG 7 is slightly more compensating than D-76, but this can also be adjusted by concentration and agitation.

FG-12 had more solvent action than FG-7 (if no sufhite added) or D-76. I cannot tell about shadow detail, for shadow datail I prefer Xtol, as it has some 1/3 stop advantage in shadows, TMax developer has even more shadow detail than Xtol, but more grain.

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Originally Posted by Pere Casals

John, The Darkroom Cookbook is nice, but IMHO... if one is to mix then it is worth The Film Developing Cookbook, it contains important information. One of the benefits of mixing is that we can control more things, but Anchell tells this information in the Developing Cookbook.


The Edwal FG 7 has lower solvent action than D-76, a common practice was adding sodium sulfite to FG 7 to adjust the solvent action, this is finer grain and slightly less sharpness.

Also the FG 7 is slightly more compensating than D-76, but this can also be adjusted by concentration and agitation.

FG-12 had more solvent action than FG-7 (if no sufhite added) or D-76. I cannot tell about shadow detail, for shadow datail I prefer Xtol, as it has some 1/3 stop advantage in shadows, TMax developer has even more shadow detail than Xtol, but more grain.

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Thanks, Pere!

I miss it too. I buy more stuff when I have a paper catalog. I'm not going to spend hours browsing websites just looking at stuff I might like that I don't know they had, but I will spend hours flipping through catalogs when I'm on the toilet. Not all at once, of course.

You could have left out the part about the toilet - just saying...

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Originally Posted by Renato Tonelli

You could have left out the part about the toilet - just saying...

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Agreed!:rolleyes::)

What I really miss about Freestyle was the old days way before the catalog, where the inside of the store was basically a junk bin that still had parts of war surplus cameras/lenses strewn around, and all of the sales action happened at the counter, where you could make a request for something odd, and someone would have to climb around the back for a half hour or so trying to find their private secret stash...

(Or drive over to Garden Photo in Hlyd, and buy a 8X10 Marine Corps surplus DD for a hundred or two bucks...) :-)

A LOT of odd stuff they had!!!

Steve K

Yeah, it was nice to wander around the aisles at Freestyle and check out all of the stuff on the shelves. It was darker and dingier, but there was always the possibility of discovery. They also sold used equipment and rented some too. I got some nice used stuff from there back then.

I actually avoided Freestyle back in those days. Don't know why; I think I was a snob. But I really liked hanging out at Frank's. I miss Frank's...

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Originally Posted by BrianShaw

I actually avoided Freestyle back in those days. Don't know why; I think I was a snob. But I really liked hanging out at Frank's. I miss Frank's...

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Frank's ended up looking like a front for something else later, and still amazing to see faded boxes of 35mm GAF slide film, and other displays right out of a mid-seventies time warp... (But they were sweet!!! Their "hired hands" were another thing...)

Did you notice those pigeons that got into the back of the store, and took up roost for the duration???

Steve K

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Originally Posted by LabRat

What I really miss about Freestyle was the old days way before the catalog, where the inside of the store was basically a junk bin that still had parts of war surplus cameras/lenses strewn around, and all of the sales action happened at the counter, where you could make a request for something odd, and someone would have to climb around the back for a half hour or so trying to find their private secret stash...

(Or drive over to Garden Photo in Hlyd, and buy a 8X10 Marine Corps surplus DD for a hundred or two bucks...) :-)

A LOT of odd stuff they had!!!

Steve K

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oh hell yeah.. I was walking in one day and lined up outside along the walkway were like 8 aircraft camera lens sections..the ones with the wide angle metrogon.. like 10 or 20 bucks each.. I bought four

never knew what they were going to end up with

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrTang

oh hell yeah.. I was walking in one day and lined up outside along the walkway were like 8 aircraft camera lens sections..the ones with the wide angle metrogon.. like 10 or 20 bucks each.. I bought four

never knew what they were going to end up with

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So true!!!

There were several stops in Hlyd to make a used gear "crawl" before leaving town...

Plenty of dealer regular "sidewalk sales" back then...

Freakstyle was good for stuff and materials, Alan Gordon on Cole/Cahuenga was great for MP rigging surplus and sometimes a little still stuff (I found my new Calumet S/S tester there for 10 or fifteen bucks), Samy's on Beverly (before the riots & fire) had good surplus used gear outside (I passed over a Saltzman enlarger and camera stand for cheap there), all the other pro & neighborhood camera stores usually had something useful/cool and sometimes a good deal could be had, Garden + Industral photo in the MP district had just about anything surplus, Mel Pierce Camera usually had great LF/ULF lenses for quite reasonable prices, C&H in Pasadena and Industral Liquidators in the South Bay were always getting kool stuff in (but you had to make regular rounds to them), good camera shows, as well as Hlyd garage sales that all kinds of photo/movie/lighting/grip stuff would appear/disappear regularly...

Lucky I didn't have too much $$$ back then, or I would need a pyramid to store it all in!!! :-0

Steve K

Catalog... coming.. aka today e-mail

"Our NEW Winter 2018 catalog is in the mail.
If you did not receive one or would like to get a copy, visit:
FreestylePhoto.Biz/Catalog"