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Basic film developer question.
I've been slow to start but now have accumulated 20 rolls of T-max 100 that were shot as zone tests and well documented. I'm trying to decide which developer to marry. My thought is to thoroughly explore one film/developer combo at a time. I've found that while I'm in the darkroom, people leave me alone, so... |
#2
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Basic film developer question.
"Tom Gardner" wrote in message gy.com... I've been slow to start but now have accumulated 20 rolls of T-max 100 that were shot as zone tests and well documented. I'm trying to decide which developer to marry. My thought is to thoroughly explore one film/developer combo at a time. I've found that while I'm in the darkroom, people leave me alone, so... The closest to an optimum developer for T-Max films is Xtol. The problem is that there have been many reports of sudden failure of the developer. The exact cause is unknown but is very probably due to trace impurities in the water. D-76 works well and is reportedly the developer used at Kodak for testing during the development (no pun intended) of T-Max emulsions. D-76, however, tends to produce images which do not have good visual sharpness even though measured resolution is very good. My experience has been mostly with D-76 diluted 1:1. I've gotten good results but find 100T-Max has a tonal rendition which can look a little muddy in it. Other developers like T-Max RS and Microphen are noticably grainier than D-76 or Xtol. Overall my recommendation is Xtol but mix it with water which has been filtered with an activated charcoal filter to remove trace metals. For additional advise on T-Max and on developers generally see Ryuji Suzuki's web site at http://www.silvergrain.org -- --- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA |
#3
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Basic film developer question.
"Tom Gardner" wrote in message gy.com... I've been slow to start but now have accumulated 20 rolls of T-max 100 that were shot as zone tests and well documented. I'm trying to decide which developer to marry. My thought is to thoroughly explore one film/developer combo at a time. I've found that while I'm in the darkroom, people leave me alone, so... The closest to an optimum developer for T-Max films is Xtol. The problem is that there have been many reports of sudden failure of the developer. The exact cause is unknown but is very probably due to trace impurities in the water. D-76 works well and is reportedly the developer used at Kodak for testing during the development (no pun intended) of T-Max emulsions. D-76, however, tends to produce images which do not have good visual sharpness even though measured resolution is very good. My experience has been mostly with D-76 diluted 1:1. I've gotten good results but find 100T-Max has a tonal rendition which can look a little muddy in it. Other developers like T-Max RS and Microphen are noticably grainier than D-76 or Xtol. Overall my recommendation is Xtol but mix it with water which has been filtered with an activated charcoal filter to remove trace metals. For additional advise on T-Max and on developers generally see Ryuji Suzuki's web site at http://www.silvergrain.org -- --- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA |
#4
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Basic film developer question.
Richard Knoppow wrote:
The closest to an optimum developer for T-Max films is Xtol. The problem is that there have been many reports of sudden failure of the developer. The exact cause is unknown but is very probably due to trace impurities in the water. I think there were only problems with 1 litre packages of XTOL and those have been long time discontinued. Kodak also (IIRC) changed the material of the 5 litre package and now recommends only 1+1 dilution just to be safe. 1+2 and 1+3 seems to work for most people still. I think the 1 litre packages let some oxygen through and that caused failures - not 100% sure though. 5 litre packages never had this problem. Bottom line: XTOL can now be used safely and is very good developer almost for any film. It gives good film speed, sharp and small grain. Definitely at least worth trying. I personally use Rodinal for ISO=100 films and XTOL for faster films. Severi S. |
#5
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Basic film developer question.
Richard Knoppow wrote:
The closest to an optimum developer for T-Max films is Xtol. The problem is that there have been many reports of sudden failure of the developer. The exact cause is unknown but is very probably due to trace impurities in the water. I think there were only problems with 1 litre packages of XTOL and those have been long time discontinued. Kodak also (IIRC) changed the material of the 5 litre package and now recommends only 1+1 dilution just to be safe. 1+2 and 1+3 seems to work for most people still. I think the 1 litre packages let some oxygen through and that caused failures - not 100% sure though. 5 litre packages never had this problem. Bottom line: XTOL can now be used safely and is very good developer almost for any film. It gives good film speed, sharp and small grain. Definitely at least worth trying. I personally use Rodinal for ISO=100 films and XTOL for faster films. Severi S. |
#6
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Basic film developer question.
Tom Gardner wrote:
I've been slow to start but now have accumulated 20 rolls of T-max 100 that were shot as zone tests and well documented. I'm trying to decide which developer to marry. My thought is to thoroughly explore one film/developer combo at a time. I've found that while I'm in the darkroom, people leave me alone, so... I use a variation of a Patrick Gainer formula for both Delta 100 and 400 (also t-grain films like T-max) that I like very much--fine grain, very sharp, and full tonal scale. 1 liter water at 70 degrees 1 tsp. Kodalk Balanced Alkali (sodium metaborate) 1/2 tsp. powdered Vitamin C (or Ascorbic Acid in powdered form) from Health Food store 1 tsp. Sodium Sulfite 4 ml. 1% Phenidone solution (1 g. Phenidone dissolved in 100ml 90% alcohol) Suggested starting time for T-max 100-- 6 minutes at 70 degrees. Agitation: two inversions every 30 sec. |
#7
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Basic film developer question.
"Severi Salminen" wrote in message ... Richard Knoppow wrote: The closest to an optimum developer for T-Max films is Xtol. The problem is that there have been many reports of sudden failure of the developer. The exact cause is unknown but is very probably due to trace impurities in the water. I think there were only problems with 1 litre packages of XTOL and those have been long time discontinued. Kodak also (IIRC) changed the material of the 5 litre package and now recommends only 1+1 dilution just to be safe. 1+2 and 1+3 seems to work for most people still. I think the 1 litre packages let some oxygen through and that caused failures - not 100% sure though. 5 litre packages never had this problem. Bottom line: XTOL can now be used safely and is very good developer almost for any film. It gives good film speed, sharp and small grain. Definitely at least worth trying. I personally use Rodinal for ISO=100 films and XTOL for faster films. Severi S. This is a separate problem and seems to happen to ascorbic acid developers. The same kind of sudden failure has been reported for Ilford Ilfosol-S. The best guess I've seen about this is that it has to do with some catalytic effect of certain kinds of Iron compounds in the water. EDTA does not bind these and can actually exacerbate the effect under certain circumstances. Nonetheless, Xtol is very reliable in most locations. Iron compounds can be removed from water by activated charcoal filters like the Brita filter. Its also good practice to use boiled water for mixing photo solutions. Boiling removes much of the temporary hardness, drives off dissolved gasses (like oxygen) and precipatates organic matter (might be a problem with well water). Filtering the water in addition will remove almost anything that could affect photo chemicals. Xtol is a very good developer. The problems with sudden failure are actually quite rare and shouldn't discourage anyone from trying it. It gives about the best combination of speed, fine grain, good tonal rendition, and sharpness of any developer, at least for T-Max films. -- --- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA |
#8
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Basic film developer question.
Tom Gardner wrote:
: I've been slow to start but now have accumulated 20 rolls of T-max 100 that : were shot as zone tests and well documented. I'm trying to decide which : developer to marry. My thought is to thoroughly explore one film/developer : combo at a time. I've found that while I'm in the darkroom, people leave me : alone, so... I'm partial to Tmax for processing roll film and Tmax-rs for sheet film. -- Keep working millions on welfare depend on you ------------------- |
#9
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Basic film developer question.
Tom Gardner wrote:
I've been slow to start but now have accumulated 20 rolls of T-max 100 that were shot as zone tests and well documented. I'm trying to decide which developer to marry. My thought is to thoroughly explore one film/developer combo at a time. I've found that while I'm in the darkroom, people leave me alone, so... If I could have only one developer, I'd have to pick HC-110. The concentrate keeps well, it's versatile and produces good results over a huge range of conditions and processes from stock solution (1:4 from USA concentrate) that will develop film in a minute or two to Dilution G, 1:29 from stock, that is a mild acutance developer with strong compensation that responds well to altered agitation, can be used for document films like Tech Pan and Copex Rapid, and can also be used for true stand development of conventional films. HC-110 also contains a strong antifoggant that makes it a good choice for developing old "found" film, and works well for pushing either by extended development or by dilution. Some 30 years ago, I've developed with HC-110 at 95 F, and it still works at 65 F. Lately, I've been developing my T-Max 400 (TMY) in HC-110 Dilution G, fifteen minutes at 70 F (which converted to 10 minutes at 77 F this evening); the sharpness is excellent and the compensation of the highly dilute developer helps tame the tendency of T-Max films for highlights to run away. -- I may be a scwewy wabbit, but I'm not going to Alcatwaz! -- E. J. Fudd, 1954 Donald Qualls, aka The Silent Observer Lathe Building Pages http://silent1.home.netcom.com/HomebuiltLathe.htm Speedway 7x12 Lathe Pages http://silent1.home.netcom.com/my7x12.htm Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth and don't expect them to be perfect. |
#10
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Basic film developer question.
"Tom Gardner" wrote in message igy.com...
I've been slow to start but now have accumulated 20 rolls of T-max 100 that were shot as zone tests and well documented. I'm trying to decide which developer to marry. My thought is to thoroughly explore one film/developer combo at a time. I've found that while I'm in the darkroom, people leave me alone, so... I'd suggest something like Ilford DD-X or Kodak HC110, well-diluted. |
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