Simple Alchemy Supplemental - Beutler's Day Off

While the original article Simple Alchemy was intended as a small expose on the practice of mixing your own darkroom chemistry from raw ingredients a good deal was said about my favourite home-brewed concoction Beutler's developer. From the feedback I have received so far it seems a lot of the interest many of you had in it was about this formula itself. And so, even as the arrival of enough PMK Pyro developer to last me at least a year may see my stock of Beutler put into semi-retirement it seems a good time to add a few things that might be of practical value to anyone inclined to try it for themselves.

Willi Beutler published the formula for his namesake developer during the 1950s in response to the new fine grained, thin emulsion films that were beginning to appear on the market at the time. The idea was to create a reasonably dilute one shot developer that would exhaust in the regions around dense highlight areas while remaining more active in the thinner shadow portions of the negative, creating a compensating effect to counteract these newer film's higher contrast. At the same time the finer grain of these films made it unnecessary to create a solvency effect which reduces the appearance of grain but also has the effect of giving a mushier appearance to fine details. By avoiding this Beutler formulated his developer to favour high definition, or acutance, over reducing grain. As a bonus, by favouring development in the shadows where the telling signs of underexposure appear, while avoiding the density reducing solvency effect of fine-grain developers, the formula makes the most of true film speed, which is to say the natural ideal speed at which to shoot without "pushing".

The plan is just as valid with today's moderate to slow speed black and white films as it was sixty years ago. Beutler is used to maximum advantage with films of 125 ISO and below. This is not to say that its virtues are completely lost on faster films, but you're less likely to need the compensating effect at higher speeds and more likely to miss the grain reducing effect that even middle of the road developers like D76 give you.

While we're on the subject I should say here that it isn't really fair to call Beutler, or any other formula for that matter, a "high grain" developer. Grain is an inherent part of the film and a developer can only mask its appearance, making it less obvious. Developers that have a reputation for yielding grainy results (Rodinal is another one you may hear this about) simply don't incorporate any measures to do this. This isn't oversight, grain reduction typically comes at a price in terms of acutance and film speed. They don't boost the appearance of grain so much as show it to you like it is.

There is one small word of caution in order before we get into details on using Beutler. If you use this or any other developer containing Metol (this includes a host of common film and paper developers including D76 and Dektol) in such a way that your are in prolonged contact with the solution (such as tray developing sheet film) wearing gloves or other protective measures to prevent direct contact with the skin is recommended as develop an adverse skin reaction with prolonged and repeated contact with Metol, also known by its Kodak trade name Elon.

Beutler is prepared as two separate concentrates that are combined and diluted just prior to use, after which the used developer is discarded. Part A contains the sole developing agent Metol, and enough Sodium Sulfite to act as a preservative, In higher concentrations Sodium Sulfite acts as a solvent that can begin to dissolve the metallic silver that make up the image grain which is precisely the strategy employed by nearly all grain reducing developers. I'll also note that it is important not to confuse Sodium Sulfite with Sodium Sulfide, a nastier substance also used in photo chemistry. Part B contains Sodium Carbonate to create the alkali environment needed by every photographic developer I've ever heard of. The alkali causes the developer to oxidize much more rapidly once combined so keeping the two parts separate until just prior to use increases the shelf life dramatically. You may find Sodium Carbonate at the local supermarket, sold under its common name Washing Soda. There are plenty of photographers use supermarket Washing Soda when mixing up their developers, just be careful not to get the scented stuff. The final chemical used in both parts is water. (I wish it weren't the case that so many people are surprised to hear water referred to as a chemical, which it most certainly is.) Water quality can vary greatly depending on where you live, and hard water is always bad news in photo chemistry, so if in doubt distilled water is always a good choice and usually very cheap.

That said, here is the recipe for Beutler:

Solution A:
750ml Water (40-50^oC)
10g Metol
50g Sodium Sulfite
Cold water to make 1L

Solution B:
750ml Water (40-50^oC)
50g Sodium Carbonate (anhydrous)
Cold water to make 1L

Notes on preparation:

• To make different quantities adjust all quantities in proportion equally
• If using the monohydrate form of Sodium Carbonate multiply the quantity by 1.17
• To prevent Sodium Carbonate from clumping into hard to dissolve crystals stir while adding it to water and do so gradually in a steady stream.

Usage

You may prepare any quantity of Beutler needed by combining and diluting the parts in any of the following proportions:

"Official" dilution: 1 part Solⁿ A + 1 part Solⁿ B + 8 parts water
Popular dilution: 1 part Solⁿ A + 1 part Solⁿ B + 10 parts water
The dilution I use: 1 part Solⁿ A + 1 part Solⁿ B + 12 parts water

The official dilution is what was recommended when the formula was first published though the popular dilution seems to be what is more commonly used these days. If you look up recommendations for using Beutler with your film on The Massive Dev Chart or elsewhere you may find recommendations for either or both of these dilutions. Do not use time/temperature recommendations for Neofin Blue assuming it's the same thing. While The Photographer's Formulary sells Beutler under the alternate name Neofin Blue, Neofin Blue proper is actually a completely different formula sold by Tetenal and the Massive Dev Chart's listings are for this product, Beutler is listed separately. I began using the higher 1+1+12 dilution because it's my completely arbitrary opinion that a compensating developer needs a good ten minutes in contact with the film to work properly and lesser dilutions weren't giving this to me with my favourite film. This works fine, makes it even cheaper to use and divides nice and evenly into the 420ml of solution I need for a 120 film in my stainless tanks. One of the rare online flame-wars I have seen break out in film photography forums has been over which dilution of Beutler's is "proper". Proper is why you rent a tux to go to a black-tie event. Use what works and makes sense to you.

As Beutler is hardly the best known developer out there finding recommendations for developing the film you use in it may be difficult, especially if the film is also less common. if The Massive Dev Chart doesn't have what you need, a web search may turn up something you use, otherwise a little experimentation may be needed. If you have no clue try 8 minutes if using the official dilution, 10 minutes for the popular dilution and 12 minutes for my dilution.

Lastly here are links to a few North American suppliers from whom you can order the raw chemical ingredients needed to make Beutler and any number of other photo chemical formulations. If you live elsewhere and know of a good supplier in your part of the world I'd welcome you to post references that others may find useful in the comments.

The Photographers Formulary - As the name implies the Formulary is built on supplying the photographic specialty market. They carry a comprehensive list of raw chemical ingredients as well as prepared developers, fixers and other concoctions today's analog photographers are likely to need or want.

Bostick & Sullivan - Known primarily as suppliers to those involved in alternative photographic processes such as Platinum/Palladium printing, they do carry the substances we lowly Silver using types need as well, including all you need to make Beutler (save for the water.)

Artcraft Chemicals - An extensive list of raw ingredients, some harder to find. Reputedly they will ship items to Canada and elsewhere that other suppliers will restrict to customers in the Lower 48, but shipping for any non-US order must be arranged by contacting them directly

B&H Photo - This photo big-box store carries a respectable inventory of photo chemistry, both raw and prepared, from several brands like Kodak and Photographer's Formulary. A good choice if you need one or two ingredients and want to combine it with your order for film and other supplies at the same time to save shipping.