ddimaria
Well-known
I just finished developing some B&W film at home for the first time is some years. I wasn't very pleased with the look of tri-x pushed to 800. I used D-76, One to One, (I'll post some results in my Gallery later tonight) Back in the day I used Rodinal to push film. Many have suggested trying Diafine. Just wanted to ask the Diafine users if they are rating their Tri-X at 1600 or 1250 or something else. I wanted to go shooting agian tommorrow.
Thanks All.
DD
Thanks All.
DD
aizan
Veteran
hc-110 pushes tri-x well. cheaper, too.
Neither D-76 nor Rodinal are "pushy" type developers, though both can give beautiful results at box speed or lower. I've never used HC-110, but I've heard it's effect is rather similar to D-76.
I've commented elsewhere on the nature of Diafine... The packaging suggests EI 1600 for Tri-X, but Lex over on Photo.net who is extremely knowledgeable on developing suggests 1200/1250 is better, and this speed has worked very well for me too. A good place to start, then you can tweak the EI a bit one way or the other to your own taste.
I've commented elsewhere on the nature of Diafine... The packaging suggests EI 1600 for Tri-X, but Lex over on Photo.net who is extremely knowledgeable on developing suggests 1200/1250 is better, and this speed has worked very well for me too. A good place to start, then you can tweak the EI a bit one way or the other to your own taste.
taffer
void
DD, Don Sorsa does a lot of Tri-X in Diafine, you can check his gallery here and more of his great work at http://condor.depaul.edu/~dsorsa/
Pherdinand
the snow must go on
DD,
on photo.net, there's a black-and-white film and development forum which has a few "pushing masters" as the forum moderator Lex himself is. Plenty of valuable info on the forum, and if you really can't find something you just ask them you get tons of great answers within one day. It's one of the friendlier forums of the photo.net site.
on photo.net, there's a black-and-white film and development forum which has a few "pushing masters" as the forum moderator Lex himself is. Plenty of valuable info on the forum, and if you really can't find something you just ask them you get tons of great answers within one day. It's one of the friendlier forums of the photo.net site.
ddimaria
Well-known
Thanks everyone. I am really hoping to find a combination that gives me speed but still has a look I can live with.
DD
DD
R
Roman
Guest
Could you maybe describe what look you are after, and what subjects you need the fast film for? That way we might have better tips to offer...
Roman
Roman
ddimaria
Well-known
I shoot indoors with low light very ofter, maybe 90% of my shooting. I am looking for something that is sharp and has nice greys without too much grain. I almost always push my B&W white film to at least 800.
R
Roman
Guest
Hmmm, 'fast', 'sharp', 'not much grain' - one of the three has to go...
Esp. 'sharp' and 'not much grain' don't go together too well, as developers that give good sharpness usually also enhance grain.
My personal experiences: pushing TriX, HP5+ or Neopan 400 to 800 is not a problem at all; I use Calbe A49 developer for that, as it gives good film speed, good contrast management, and relatively fine grain; sharpness is not to great, though, since it is a fine grain developer; you might get sharper (but also grainier) results with Ilford Microphen, XTOL is another option. I've heard great things about Diafine, but never tried it, as it is hard to find in Europe.
Fuji Neopan 1600 is astoningishly fine-grained, and gives very pleasing results at 800-1000 ASA; it is still useable at 1600, but gets very contrasty; I would not push it beyond that, since you will have a hard time printing/scanning those extra-contrasty negs.
Ilford Delta 3200: while others get good results, I was never satisfied with this film - it always seemed kinda mushy, unsharp, no matter whether I used Microphen, A49 or Tetenal Emofin (which gave particularly bad results).
I prefer Kodak TMax 3200 - grain is very definitely visible with that film, even when shot at around 100 to 1250 ASA (its 'real' speed); grainier than Delta 3200, but MUCH sharper, in my experience; also, very useable at 3200 ASA; I develop it in Calbe A49 1+1 at 20°C for 20 min. - see some results in my gallery!
Roman
Esp. 'sharp' and 'not much grain' don't go together too well, as developers that give good sharpness usually also enhance grain.
My personal experiences: pushing TriX, HP5+ or Neopan 400 to 800 is not a problem at all; I use Calbe A49 developer for that, as it gives good film speed, good contrast management, and relatively fine grain; sharpness is not to great, though, since it is a fine grain developer; you might get sharper (but also grainier) results with Ilford Microphen, XTOL is another option. I've heard great things about Diafine, but never tried it, as it is hard to find in Europe.
Fuji Neopan 1600 is astoningishly fine-grained, and gives very pleasing results at 800-1000 ASA; it is still useable at 1600, but gets very contrasty; I would not push it beyond that, since you will have a hard time printing/scanning those extra-contrasty negs.
Ilford Delta 3200: while others get good results, I was never satisfied with this film - it always seemed kinda mushy, unsharp, no matter whether I used Microphen, A49 or Tetenal Emofin (which gave particularly bad results).
I prefer Kodak TMax 3200 - grain is very definitely visible with that film, even when shot at around 100 to 1250 ASA (its 'real' speed); grainier than Delta 3200, but MUCH sharper, in my experience; also, very useable at 3200 ASA; I develop it in Calbe A49 1+1 at 20°C for 20 min. - see some results in my gallery!
Roman
don sorsa
pointer, shooter
Oscar gives me props, but I use diafine largely because I'm cheap ,not a very precise guy, develop negs in my bathroom, and figure the scannning and post-processing can help me produce reasonable images, for me anyway. I second the suggestion to search the archives here, cuz there are excellent explanations on how/what diafine does, and also solicit advice on the photo.net B&W forum. Post something you like, or don't, and folks there will have lots of suggestions.
For indoors low light, which I don't shoot all that much, I use tri-x @1250 or Delta3200 @1600 and soup it in diafine, the same two gallons I bought almost a year ago.
Anyway, I cannot find any tri-x indoor shots at the moment, but here's 3200@1600 in diafine, even though ya can't tell much from a jpeg
For indoors low light, which I don't shoot all that much, I use tri-x @1250 or Delta3200 @1600 and soup it in diafine, the same two gallons I bought almost a year ago.
Anyway, I cannot find any tri-x indoor shots at the moment, but here's 3200@1600 in diafine, even though ya can't tell much from a jpeg
don sorsa
pointer, shooter
I should add the photo above was shot with a Canon 50/1.8 on autofocus. DD, it looks like you've got some kickb*** gear and I'm sure you can at least focus better than I! Here's another with the same low light.
And ya know what folks here will advise, burn some film and let us see the pics!
And ya know what folks here will advise, burn some film and let us see the pics!
ddimaria
Well-known
As soon as I get some results I will post em'. Thanks again everyone, this has been extremely helpful.
DD
DD