Another Pushing Question

[dazedgonebye]

I have in my hands a few rolls of Tri-X and one of Delta 400.
I believe I will need to shoot at 800 and 1600 iso this weekend to get the shots I want.
I don't develop my own (I'll get around to it some day).
Checking with my local labs, push processing is available using D76.
My question is, am I likely to get decent results from a pro lab pushing my 400 iso film, or should I go way out of my way between now and then to find higher speed film?

Thanks,

 

[Revolucion Artistico]

I don't know about tri-x but you can push delta up to 3200 souped in d76. I havn't tried that with delta but I do it regularly with hp5 in microphen. It's grainy but I like it. Sorry don't have any examples right now

 

[Doug]

D-76 is not a speed-enhancing developer; with its grain-solvent properties it tends to reduce real film speed a little. Push processing in it would tend to be quite contrasty I think, dropping a lot of shadow detail into black.

Now might be a good time to dive into processing your own. Not hard at all, and especially non-critical with Diafine, in which Tri-X has a speed of about 1250. I hope time will allow for you to delay processing the important rolls until you can get in some Diafine, mix it up, and run a test roll to assure yourself of its performance.

Getting harder to find suppliers who will or can ship Diafine; most recently I got some quart kits from Glazer's in Seattle by online order.

 

[dazedgonebye]

There's just no way I can start doing my own film in the next week or so...no way.

 

[40oz]

I'd just shoot it all at 1600, and tell the lab to develop it as such. Pushing to 800 isn't necessary, IMHO.

BTW, I use D-76 1:1 for pushing all the time. I'm not saying the results couldn't possibly be better with a diferent developer, but it's hardly what I'd call a bad idea. And it's certainly not a new idea. FWIW, many things people like about cameras, lenses, film, and developing are not based on their technical characteristics. Perhaps other developers have better technical features, but for good or ill I prefer what I get with diluted D-76 over some of the others I've tried.

 

[dazedgonebye]

I'm thinking the first roll will be fine at 400, but then the light's going to go bad in a hurry.
I'll just go right to 1600 and take what the lab offers.

Thanks all.