While I’ve always known that Fujifilm produces chemistry for film development, I had always assumed it was primarily aimed at colour processing. Since they still manufacture (possibly) mini-lab processing systems for labs to develop C-41. But black & white chemistry? Then I received an email. A reader graciously offered to mail me some developers that were difficult to obtain in North America. I initially thought of Europe, but then a lovely package arrived from Japan and inside were two pouches of Fujifilm Microfine and two pouches of Fujifilm SPD. Well, I was touched, but Microfine was a name I had seen before on the massive dev chart. And no, it’s not a different version of Microphen. From what I’ve gathered, Microfine was released between the late 1970s and early 1990s with the new series of T-Grained Neopan films, Neopan Acros 100, Neopan 400 and Neopan 1600 as the matched developer. While all these films have since been discontinued the only listed time on the pouch is for Acros 100 II. These days I’m unsure if the developer is still being produced, but since it is still being listed as in-stock at various Japanese retailers, I’m going to assume that it is.
Technical Details
Manufacturer: Fujifilm
Name: Microfine
Primary Developer: Metol
Type: Reusable/One-Shot
Mix From: Powder
Handling
If you have mixed other powdered developers, then Microfine will be no different. Sadly, I was only able to extract some information from the package itself and ran the text through a translator to obtain any relevant details, as there is no online English language datasheet available. Start with 800mL of distilled water heated to ~50°C (122°F). Then, add the powder, mixing it using either a manual or mechanical method at slow speeds once the powder is mostly dissolved. Top up to the final volume of one litre and store in a well-marked bottle. The developer mixes up quickly and easily in the hot water and leaves little in the way a undissolved powder. But I still use a funnel and fine-mesh strainer when pouring the stock solution into the storage bottle. Fuji also warns against dividing the powder, recommending that you mix the entire pouch in one go. The powder ideally has an unlimited shelf life; once mixed, I would rate it at ~6 months in a fully sealed bottle, with a shorter shelf life once you start diluting the mix. The one-litre volume will process eight rolls of 35mm film or the equivalent number of medium and large format films. You can develop using the developer in stock form, reusing it for the set number of rolls, or you can dilute it 1+1 as a one-shot developer. You can also use Microfine with both manual and automatic processing methods with little change in the results.
Applications
The number one application for Microfine is to develop your Neopan films, these days that is a single film stock, Neopan Acros 100 II, but if you have some of the original Acros 100 along with Neopan 400 and Neopan 1600 there are listed times for those as well on the Massive Dev Chart. Sadly there’s no easily available datasheet so I have no real information beyond what I can find online. From what I have been able to discover, Microfine is designed to deliver both fine-grain and excellent sharpness on a variety of films delivering either full box speed or seeing a slight speed reduction (in faster films) or an increase in slow films. While designed for T-Grain emulsions where it does shine, especially with Acros II and TMax 100, it also delivers clean useable results with traditional cubic films. You can see that here with the slight drop to ASA-320 in the Kentmere 400 roll and the increase with RPX 25 (originally the time I found was for Retro 80s, but RPX 25 is based on the same film stock so there’s that). If you have a lot of older Neopan films floating around, a pouch or a few might be worthwhile to pick up for best results especially with your Neopan 1600.
Qualities
Let’s get one thing out of the way first: Microfine has produced some of the best results I’ve seen with Acros 100 II, hands down. There’s almost no grain visible on many of these rolls, mainly with the TMax 100 and Acros 100 II images; I would hate to be in the darkroom having to focus on the grain. Microfine also handled the traditional grainy films, such as RPX 25 and Double-X, which I shot at ASA 100, and it produced amazing, near-grain-free results. I did see some visible grain with the Kentmere 400 but that stock have a much coarser grain yet still yielded amazing results. But don’t let the lack of grain fool you; the images still came in sharp. What helps with that is the amazing tonal response you get from the film stock. It shows off the compensating nature of Microfine as I only shot one roll at box speed, and that was Acros II. Then, for two rolls, I had to adjust the EI to use Microfine and the TMax 100. I purposefully overexposed the roll to ASA-32. In each case, I got amazing results. The RPX 25, which I shot at ASA-100, turned out amazing with a red filter, and I already enjoyed exposing Kentmere 400 at ASA-320. To be honest, it feels like cheating.
Lowdown
The biggest problem with Microfine is that it is difficult to pick up outside of Japan. Thankfully you can pay for shipping from Japan to North America and they are timely. But as I mentioned in a previous paragraph, the only real application today is with expired Neopan films and Acros II to get the full value of the film. But also don’t let that warning stop you from trying it if you can get some, it is an excellent developer all the same although limited in non-fuji film stock combos. When it comes to economy, a pouch costs around 4.50 Canadian, which even with shipping from Japan makes it fairly economical. While this wouldn’t be a first choice for a standard developer, if you had a stash of Neopan films like Acros 100 (II) and Neopan 1600 that needed to be given the best possible chance, then it would be worthwhile to order several pouches and mix them up as you need them.
Recommended Reading
Don’t just take my word on Microfine check out these other blogs on the subject!
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