Kodak TechPan - not difficult!

I'm happy to have at least a few years worth of TechPan left in the
freezer. I mostly use it at EI400 in T-MAX developer. e.g.
http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/CandyCane.jpg

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Updated Infrared Photography Gallery:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/ir.html

"F.C. Trevor Gale" wrote in message
...
Greetings;

I've just developed the last of the monochrome films from
a recent
vacation in Wengen, Switzerland - some of these were
Ilford FP4+ and
HP5+, a couple of Ilford SFX-200 (for the red sensitivity)
and three
rolls of Kodak TechPan rated at nominal 25ASA but exposed
at a stop
under and over in some shots. All 120-roll, of course.

Now, I read, or have read, here and in other places, that
TechPan is
'tricky' or 'difficult' or 'you have to process
critically' (etc etc),
yet quite frankly the TechPan negatives I have are the
best of the lot.
Using Technidol developer at 20degsC for 10m 15secs with
10-secs
agitation every 45secs dev time in a Paterson spiral tank,
it has given
me a great tonal range and of course fine grain and a very
clear base.

Now that is what I have come to expect - I've used TP120
for quite a
time now, only of course when I need a faster film I opt
for Ilford
emulsions, even the Delta films. My quesion is: why do so
many folks
find TechPan so "difficult"?

My next question is, clearly, what will come to replace
TechPan after my
'fridge stocks run out? Anyone any ideas?

My regards, F.C. Trevor Gale.

I think partly because people try to develop it in
standard developers relying on high dilution to get the
extra-low contrast required. It may do that but will also
distort the tone rendition.
Kodak's recommended procedures work just fine.
I used to use a lot of Tech Pan, developed in Technidol.
I developed for slightly lower contrast than the Kodak
guide, exposing at around EI-15 and
using Technidol liquid.
Since TP is now discontinued the closest to it is
100T-Max in Microdol-X, but its not the same.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA