B&W developing with less grain, how do i do it?

[kknox]

I am new to film developing like the last year, have done about 20 rolls. The film all comes out ok but seams to have alot of grain. I just did 8 rolls of Neopan 1600 dev at 20c. Had Costco do high res scans did prints & lots of grain even on a 4x6 print. Iam using Kentmere developer from Freestyle its there Tri-x Kodak clone. Also if I leave the negs in a little longer will I get a little over exposed neg? They came out ok but way to much grain. Thank's in advance for you help.

 

[Aziz]

I shoot Neopan 1600 @1600 and use Ilford DD-X 1-4 to develop and the grain is quite tight. I think you might need to try a different developer. DD-X or X-Tol should give you more pleasing results.

 

[dfoo]

All 1600 ISO film is pretty grainy... however, XTOL & neopan 1600 is an excellent.

 

[Chris101]

Real grain is increased by longer time in the developer. Over exposing and under-developing will give you finer grain and a flatter tone curve, which, as you scan your negatives, will be beneficial (you can then adjust the contrast to your liking during post-processing.)

Scanned-in grain (grain aliasing) is a result of scanning at a resolution that is harmonic with the granularity of the film. You should experiment with the resolution settings or different scanners to minimize the grain enhancing abilities of scanning. Wet scanning (oil immersion) will greatly reduce the appearance of additional grain.

Of course, wet printing adds no grain to the image. Using a diffusion enlarger will actually reduce grain.

 

[Al Kaplan]

If you want finer grain try Ilford FP4 or Kodak Plus-X. Fuji 1600 and Kodak T-max 3200 are pushing the limits of film speed, and the higher the speed the bigger the grain. Speed or grain is your decision. Some developers will give finer grain, others more speed, but there's no free ride, no magic formula, and the genie isn't going to come out of the bottle for you.

You could also move up to a larger format but you'll lose the ability to use fast lenses.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

Give XP2 a try!....you might like it.
Dave.

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

Give XP2 a try!....you might like it.
Dave.

.....If not - try Perceptol!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Extra exposure means more grain, not less, except with XP2 and other chromogenics.

Extra exposure means less sharpness, even with XP2 and other chromogenics.

Keep exposure and development to the minimum acceptable for decent tonality.

Or use XP2.

DD-X is a speed increasing developer = bigger grain.

Perceptol is a fine grain developer = lower speed (true ISO 250 if you're lucky with HP5 etc.)

Cheers,

R.

 

[FrankS]

1. Use a film with lower ISO rating.

2. Choose a developer formulated for fine grain. Developer affects: SPEED, SHARPNESS, and GRAIN as variables. By selecting different developers, you can get an improvement in any 2 out of the three, with the 3rd variable being sacrificed.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

In my experience film graininess depends on (in descending order): film size, film choice, developer choice, developing time. All other things being equal: Enlarged 6x6 negatives exhibit less grain than 35mm negs of the same emulsion; Neopan 1600 is a grainier film than Ilford Delta 400; and Rodinal gives grainier results than XTol. Current scanners were really developed (in my view) for color films rather than traditional b&w and tend to accentuate grain in traditional b&w silver halide films. There are exceptions and work-arounds, but I would go for a slower emulsion in a grain-minimizing formula.

I tend to use Neopan 1600 as an ISO 800 film. It is still grainy, but I happen to love the tones.

Ben Marks

 

[John Rountree]

While film and developer combinations are a good starting point to reduce grain, here is another factor you should consider. Keep your temperatures from one step to the other about the same (plus or minus one degree F), including the wash. Rapid temperature change will increase grain significantly.