Developing for more contrast.

[cosmonaut]

Is there a developer that develops higher contrast than others or are they all the same? I ask the question because I just used some Diafine and most comments were how it lacked contrast. In the past I have used TmaX with mixed results. Seems when I agitate more it helps. Not sure about that for sure but advise needed.
Thanks

 

[nightfly]

Tri-X in Rodinal 1:25, 7 minutes. For more contrast, overexpose and overdevelop. Ralph Gibson develops for more like 11 minutes for his high contrast effects. You can also increase the contrast in post either in traditional printing using filters or in Photoshop using curves.

 

[tlitody]

Is there a developer that develops higher contrast than others or are they all the same? I ask the question because I just used some Diafine and most comments were how it lacked contrast. In the past I have used TmaX with mixed results. Seems when I agitate more it helps. Not sure about that for sure but advise needed.
Thanks

Increasing development increases film contrast. Agitation increases development and is needed to replenish exhausted developer at the film surface.
Modern T films tend to give a longer shallow toe with old style developers. I've never used daifine but I suspect it falls into that category. If you are getting a long shallow toe you will get very little tonal separation in the shadows. T-Max or Xtol developer will improve this by shortening the toe.
Agitation will have much more effect on highlights than the shadows so I don't think that has anything to do with your problem.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Higher concentrations, more agitation, higher temperatures, longer times: all give more contrast -- except with 2-bath devs, which are self-limiting.

Cheers,

R.

 

[timor]

Tri-X in Dektol or, more conviniently, Polymax T. Grain is not small, but very well defined and sharp. I use Polymax T. For Kentmere 400, Agfa APX400 and TX ratio 1+29, 6-7min 20C for T-max 400 same ratio, 5.5min (for T-max I did it on 4x5 only so far, not a roll film).

 

[Ezzie]

I find TMAX in TMAX developer to lack next to nothing when it comes to contrast.

 

[mto'brien]

also using water as a stop bath can give a subtle boost. 5 min with the hose running in the tank.

 

[timor]

I find TMAX in TMAX developer to lack next to nothing when it comes to contrast.

Same here, but T-max films are tricky to develop. However it's maybe just our lack of skill. Check this out:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/articles/sexton-tmax.html

 

[cosmonaut]

Thanks all for the great advise. I certainly haxe a few new things to try.

 

[Rob-F]

More active developers produce higher contrast. HC-110, for instance, tends to be higher in contrast than, say, Microdol, just as an example. That said, I, too, have had some disappointments with the contrast of T-Max. I found that it looked flat to me in the middle values. When I increased the developing time (with T-Max developer and one or two others), the highlights blocked up. I think that if you want to stay with T-Max film, the first thing you should probably do is try another developer. I have found XTOL to be a good reference point to start with for T-Grained films. I would not go to the extremes of using dektol (yuck) or even Rodinal without first trying XTOL or perhaps D-76. T-max developer is a push developer, so if you use it, I would try shooting at a higher film speed, like 200 for T-Max 100. T-Max film does have good shadow speed, so you can get away with using a higher EI.

 

[shadowfox]

Is there a developer that develops higher contrast than others or are they all the same? I ask the question because I just used some Diafine and most comments were how it lacked contrast. In the past I have used TmaX with mixed results. Seems when I agitate more it helps. Not sure about that for sure but advise needed.
Thanks

What is your goal with the increased negative contrast?

Both darkroom printing and scanning is easier with negatives that retains details (less contrast) because you can always increase contrast, but you can't make high contrast negative less so.

 

[mfogiel]

Increased development will augment the highliht density, if you also UNDEREXPOSE, the shadow density will remain low, therefore overall contrast will be increased. Red filter also substantially increases contrast. Here are a few of shots from a series, where I used Rollei Retro 100 at EI 200 with a red filter, and I overdeveloped it in Rodinal

 

[timor]

I would not go to the extremes of using dektol (yuck)
.

Old trick used by photo reporters in the past aimed at achieving more graphic like effects. Aldo no good for tmax so much, that's why I said Tri-X. For managing contrast with Tmax look here:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/articles/sexton-tmax.html

 

[Tim Gray]

I'd also like to add that while both increasing agitation and time increase contrast, it's far easier to be consistent (and scientific) while increasing time. I'd standardize my agitation routine and just adjust time. Barring of course drastic changes like the difference between standard agitation and stand development.

 

[clayne]

You want low contrast. Forget about how nice the negs look - they should be balanced, have some meat, and relatively low contrast.

This sets up the later possibility for much more cooperative printing (and even scanning).

Once again: do not develop your negs to be high contrast.

 

[sreed2006]

@timor - Thanks for the link. That is an excellent article.

My first attempts with T-Max 100 have been frustrating. I guess I have about 3 more years to go before I get comfortable?

 

[shadowfox]

You want low contrast. Forget about how nice the negs look - they should be balanced, have some meat, and relatively low contrast.

This sets up the later possibility for much more cooperative printing (and even scanning).

Once again: do not develop your negs to be high contrast.

Clayne, I was trying to give the OP the same advice.
Unless you know that you need extreme highlight *and* blocked shadow to begin with, developing high-contrast negative usually means more work when printing.

Scanning is a little bit more tolerant.

 

[timor]

You want low contrast. Forget about how nice the negs look - they should be balanced, have some meat, and relatively low contrast.

Here You are right, the task of negative is to capture as much as possible

My first attempts with T-Max 100 have been frustrating.

Not only yours, mine too. However some time ago I moved to TMY-2 as mine main 120 and 4x5 film. (I have slow lenses on my folders)