Topic: Aculux in US?

[seekingfocus]

Anyone know where to find Aculux 2 or 3 in the US? B&H used to sell it, I got a bottle from them about a year ago, but they don't carry it anymore. I've done a search, but couldn't come up with any leads.

I'd sure like to get my hands on some more if I can find it... anyone have any suggestions for alternatives I might consider? I'm not opposed to home brews...

Thanks.
-Jason

[outofcontxt]

Peterson stopped production of Aculux 2 back in '06. I ended up stocking up on the stuff which I finally finished back in September. Since then, Peterson announced Aculux 3 but it apparently hasn't made it over the Pond yet. I, for one, am eagerly awaiting it. In the meantime, I'm using Ilford Perceptol. I've never been a big fan of powders but I love the incredibly fine grain I get with it, especially using Ilford Pan F and FP4. And I can shoot Pan F at ISO 25 which, for me, is a really advantage since I tend to shoot wide open to get as shallow a depth of field as possible.

[seekingfocus]

Thanks for the rely.

I knew they had stopped producing the Aculux 2 some time ago, but then was doing a search and came across the Aculux 3 being sold in the UK. The w places I found that currently carry it did not ship to the US though...

-Jas0n

[Susan B.]

After I read Leon's review on Aculux 3 in B&WP, I phoned the US distributor for Patterson  months back. No one is carrying it in the states as of yet. But they said B&H might at some point.

[gothamtomato]

You could try Freestyle. They carry a lot of traditional materials you can't find anywhere else:

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/

[seekingfocus]

No, freestyle doesn't have it... I've checked all the big names as well as some of the 'alternative' companies... I guess it's just a waiting game, unless someone across the pond want to start a black market distribution ring...  Anyone? There's money to be made. 

[LT]

No, freestyle doesn't have it... I've checked all the big names as well as some of the 'alternative' companies... I guess it's just a waiting game, unless someone across the pond want to start a black market distribution ring...  Anyone? There's money to be made. 

I dont think you'd appreciate the exchange rates, but you could always order it through one of the uk sellers -  I just found www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk ship to the US - but at a blanket cost of ?65 ($134), then you;ve got to add the cost of the product - ?5.49 for 1l bottle ($11.30).  So one bottle is going to cost you $145!  Even if you found a group who'd want it, you'd need to order a huge amount just to bring the costs down.

If you want to try a home brew with similar charctersitics, I'd go for D-23.  It is stupidlty cheap, only uses two chems so very easy to mix up, nice fine grain, I only lost about 1/3 stop film speed (but I like nice open shadows) and very similar results to Aculux in my experience.  The formula is well published, but I'll pop it here anyway: -

Water, 125F/52C   750 ml
Metol   7.5 g
Sodium Sulfite (anhydrous)   100 g
Water to make   1L

then use at anything from stock to 1:5 dilution.



   

[seekingfocus]

Thanks, Leon!

Exactly what I was looking for.

-Jason