pulling film - development

[Carlsen Highway]

Gentlemen,

I am using Fomapan 400, and it seems to be common knowledge that this film is actually rated at 200 or so....

I am developing it normally (for 400asa) with nine minutes developement time; my question is, - if I wanted to develop the film for 200 asa, would you think I should reduce the dev time to eight minutes or seven minutes ?
Any other thoughts on pulling film?

 

[David William White]

Something like that, but it depends on the scene lighting you were faced with and the type of negatives you are after. Generally, one stop won't make much difference (try that, of course).

Some folks regularly downrate their film but keep the dev time at nominal because they prefer juicy/punchy negatives, or they print on Grade 2 paper, or somesuch.

For some, it depends on the lighting conditions of the shoot. If low-contrast, they go for full box speed and development to completion. If high-contrast (noon-strong shadows to battle), they downrate 2 or three stops and then shorten development time, so the highlights don't blow out all the way.

What some advocate is to find your own personal film speed AND your own personal devleopment time. Proper contact sheets help you arrive at the negatives you find easiest to print (or scan).

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I actually got good results with Foma 400 at 320 in D76 1+1. Try 10 minutes at 20C

 

[Carlsen Highway]

David,
Very well, some experimentation is in order. I was thinking of trying it for reducing the appearance of grain mostly.
You are saying that pulling film reduces contrast? I didn't know that.


Chris, for the moment Im sort of stuck with Ilford LC29, which is the only locally available dev at present. (I think I can order actual Foma devloper but its in another city.)
The film looks very good so far although definatly more grainy compared with HP5 or TRIX.
Its not unacceptable, I just wondered what it would look like downrated.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

It is grainy compared to Tri-X and HP5 but actually looks nice.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Remember that more exposure = more grain, so you are pulling in two directions here: more exposure = more grain, less development = less grain. You may see little or no benefit. A better idea might be to go to a true fine grain developer such as Perceptol, in which case you are likely to see a speed loss of up to 1 stop next to D76 anyway.

Or of course use a slower film...

Cheers,

R.

 

[ChrisN]

CH, I'd suggest a 20% reduction in the developing time for a 1-stop increase in exposure.

And for the reasons, I think you would enjoy reading about Mike Johnston's Not Much of a System System.

Cheers!

 

[Turtle]

CH, I'd suggest a 20% reduction in the developing time for a 1-stop increase in exposure.

And for the reasons, I think you would enjoy reading about Mike Johnston's Not Much of a System System.

Cheers!

I'd agree with that. if you are rating it at 400, you may be actually pushing it so 200 would not be a pull 😉

Bear in mind that reducing speed and development will give you a reduced contrast neg, which may not be to your needs.

I agree with Roger in that if grain is the issue, a pull is not likely to be much of a solution. A finder grained film would make much more sense. Neopan 400 is IMHO an amazing film and has far finer grain than TriX with as much is not more speed. You can buy it as cheap as chips from Freestyle as Arista Legacy 400. If you want the TriX look, think about Arista Edu Premium 400, which is TriX but for half the cost.

 

[Carlsen Highway]

Guys, thanks for this.

Turtle, I am waiting around for what I hope is TRi X (Arista from Freestyle) and playing with this Fomapan meanwhile.
It's cheap, but as Chris said, it actually is attractive in its own way...

ChrisN, thanks for the link to that site, have been reading through the essays there...