Ilford 3200 development time

[jpa66]

Quick question, as this will be the first time that I've used this stuff, let alone developed it.

I shot a couple of rolls or 120 at EI 1250. Development times that I've found indicate 7 minutes in T-Max developer ( 1:4 solution ), which is the developer that I'm going to be using.

Can anyone who has experience with this film and developer give their opinion to the development times? Sound correct?

Thanks,
Jan

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

That's probably about right. I use 7.5 minutes for EI-1600, which is a third stop faster than the 1250 EI you asked about. 68 degrees, 1+4 dilution, agitate first 30 seconds then 4 inversions of the tank every minute.

 

[jpa66]

Great! Seven minutes it is, then. I may try less frequent agitation in order to cut down the contrast, though.

Thanks for the info.

 

[lawrence]

EI 1600 = 8 min @ 68F is what I use. D3200 is not contrasty at all and so I'd recommend not reducing agitation.

 

[khc1013]

not sure if others will agree, it give me the feel of trix.

That's probably about right. I use 7.5 minutes for EI-1600, which is a third stop faster than the 1250 EI you asked about. 68 degrees, 1+4 dilution, agitate first 30 seconds then 4 inversions of the tank every minute.

 

[tj01]

I feel Delta 3200 is so far away from Tri-X. The grain ( if you like this sort of stuff ) is huge like canonballs, especially if you rate it at box.

 

[tlitody]

Delta 3200 is a low contrast film designed to be used with Microphen which is a speed increasing developer. i.e. a push developer. With that combination using Ilfords recommended times, you will get a true 3200 speed and normal contrast. But there is a penalty of big grain.
Any other developer and the speed drops off significantly. With DDX you get 1600 speed and the grain is much better but still not fine.
Haven't tried T-Max dev though.
I've heard that delta 3200 and Xtol is a good combination but haven't tried that either.

 

[ulrich.von.lich]

Delta 3200 is a low contrast film designed to be used with Microphen which is a speed increasing developer. i.e. a push developer. With that combination using Ilfords recommended times, you will get a true 3200 speed and normal contrast. But there is a penalty of big grain.
Any other developer and the speed drops off significantly. With DDX you get 1600 speed and the grain is much better but still not fine.
Haven't tried T-Max dev though.
I've heard that delta 3200 and Xtol is a good combination but haven't tried that either.

May I ask why its speed is 1600 in DDX but 3200 in Microphen?

It's interesting that the real speed of a film varies in different developers. How to mesure the exact speed of a film in a particular developer?

Thanks!

 

[tlitody]

May I ask why its speed is 1600 in DDX but 3200 in Microphen?

It's interesting that the real speed of a film varies in different developers. How to mesure the exact speed of a film in a particular developer?

Thanks!

The ISO speed of a film is determined by what it produces from a set subject contrast range onto a set film contrast index. 0.58 I think. Ilford use ID11 to do all their ISO speed testing which is why you will see in the datasheet that the ISO speed of delta 3200 is 1000.
But it's sold as Delta 3200 because it was actually designed to be used at 3200 speed. But to get that speed you need to use the right developer which is Microphen.
Microphen is a speed increasing developer which is much more active than standard developers. It will give better speed and higher contrast than normal developers. But matched with delta 3200 which is a low contrast film, the result is a normal contrast neg when exposed at 3200. But its very grainy.
ID11 is the same(almost) as D76 which are both standard normal contrast developers.
DDX was designed specifically for use with t-grain films. It's activity is somewhere between ID11 and Microphen.

The speed in any developer is detemined by doing the usual film speed tests as you would with any film developer combination. The target is a film contrast index of around 0.6 for normal contrast.

The non technical way to test is to just go shoot some images and if the shadows are blocked then reduce your film speed to give extra exposure next time. If the shadows are to light then decrease film speed next time. If highlights are blown then reduce dev next time and if the highlights are too low then increase development next time.
After 2, 3 or 4 iterations of doing this you will arive at your personal exposure Index (EI) which is your film speed for that developer.

 

[Rob-F]

I shot a scene of people eating at an outdoor restaurant around dusk. I shot the Delta 3200 at 1600 and developed in D-DX for 8 minutes at 68 degrees. The negatives are thin, but the adequate. I got what I would describe as a moderate graininess, not enough to be objectionable. It does have a sort of gritty PJ look, and I could see the comparison with Pushed Tri-X. The contrast is pleasing, with decent shadow detail, and the images were pretty sharp. I'd say the grain probably contributes to the sharpness impression. It's been my first try with D-DX. As a rule I'm more likely to use Microphen for this sort of thing.

 

[tj01]

3200 is really not suitable in D76. That's all I know.