Do you really believe in exposing at iso 320?

[Juan Valdenebro]

I believe ISO and exposure are slaves to a specific planned development that's slave to a specific scene's contrast.

I rate CONSTANTLY Tri-X from 50 to 1600, and develop it from 6 to 40 minutes, and I mean all of them using EXACTLY the same developer, dilution and temperature.

Who if not the photographer is in charge?

Cheers,

Juan

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

I always say I shoot Tri-X at 400. truth is, I have no idea what I'm shooting it at. I don't use a meter most of the time (although my guessing is usually quite close to an incident meter's reading at 400asa) and I don't use a thermometer for my chemicals 🙂p). I still get rather consistent results because I have 'found my flow' and I'm not experimenting with it much, but it might well be that I am shooting and dev'ing, in fact, at 500asa. 😀

 

[thegman]

I generally over expose colour negs by at least half a stop, I like the results that way, especially for people. BW negs I tend to shoot at box speed, and slide too.

 

[John Lawrence]

I believe the only correct answer to 99.9% of all photo related questions is "it depends".

I agree, although it would depend on the question!

John

 

[Roger Hicks]

Does 1/3 stop make a visible difference? Of course it does.

Does that difference always matter? Of course not.

Cheers,

R.

 

[hipsterdufus]

Seems to me there are too many variables to control from person to person:

1) mechanical fluctuations in shutter/aperture speed
2) light meter calibration
3) metering method
4) thermometer calibration when developing
5) developer used
6) agitation method when developing

There's so much more that I haven't even listed.

It's all about calibrating all of your stuff to give you what you want. Plenty of people shoot with toy cameras with one shutter speed all day and make great images. 1/3rd of a stop is the least of our problems as photographers.

 

[Tom A]

I have a practical rational for shooting TriX @320 - I also shoot my XX @ 320 and this way I dont have to keep track of which film is in the camera.
The difference between 250 iso (XX) and the triX is not that big - I have adjusted the my developing times in various soups to 'compensate" for the 1/3 over/under exposure.
Anything to make life easier!

 

[DNG]

I am of the kind that generaly overexpose by 1/3 to 2/3 a stop, and use the next lowest temp time for the real temp (20c for 21c for example). My develop routine is pretty strict, using an App on my phone that has a adj step for agitation intervals w/in the developer time step, with a buzzer. [The Darkroom Timer]
As long as I have enough stock Xtol for 1:3or 1:2, I get beautifully exposed negatives.

I aim the M5 semi-spot meter with both light and medium tone samples for exposure, and let the shadows fall where they may. Which is usually in a good place.

 

[Ronald M]

1/3 stop is really not worth bothering over.

I have used tri x at 200 with reduced development and results are outstanding.

I want shadow detail and fine grain, so I do not push film.

 

[atlcruiser]

Thanks to Juan I base the ISO that i am shooting on the light I am shooting in. I float from 100 to 1600 as well. I find it has opened many options to me and resulted in much better negatives overall.

One small issue is the idea of 36 exposures at one ISO...especially if it is a hi ISO. In practice i have not found it that big of a deal and often I will carry two bodies with different ISO loaded into each.

I did not come up with this but it was graciously taught to me and I find it works very well 🙂

 

[Tom A]

I decided to check in my files for iso 320 with TriX. I have just scanned and uploaded several 100 shots from times past (1980's). All with TriX @ 320 and souped in D76 1:1 for 10 minutes (my standard "soup" for decades). Put up a "set" on our Flickr "Back to basic - TriX/D76". Put about 110 shots on the set. These were all done as "Sunny f16".
Looked good enough that I just mixed up a gallon of D76 and will finish off 25+ rolls of triX/Arista Premium 400 in the next couple of weeks with this combination. Will be with Nikon Rf's as I had loaded 200 ft of film in my Nikon reloadable cassettes.
Time to get back to basic's evidently.

 

[semilog]

I'm certain that I've exposed ISO 400 and ISO 100 or 125 film at EI 320 on many occasions. Just never on purpose. 🙁

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Wow, Tom! What an incredible set of photographs!

There are LOTS of wonderful images there! Everyone in the forum must see that set... Thanks for sharing so much life!

You're amazing, man!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[charjohncarter]

Nice shoots Tom, I see you were into cars even in the 1980s.

 

[John Lawrence]

A great set of pictures Tom, many thanks for sharing.

John

 

[DNG]

Tom,
Nice set of photographs you have there,
Haven't tried Tri-X for some time. I do like Plus-X and Legacy Pro (Acros 100), though,
so, Tri-X should have similar properties to Plus-X, just a bit of more grain... I will have try it out, but in Xtol instead.

 

[Tom A]

Nice shoots Tom, I see you were into cars even in the 1980s.

I have been into cars since I was 14 years old and a local framer said. "If you can drag it away - you can keep it". It was a Model A Victoria Coupe and I spent several weeks working on it - until one day I got it started - with a loud roar (no muffler) - that sealed my dedication to old clunkers forever!!!

 

[Tom A]

Wow, Tom! What an incredible set of photographs!

There are LOTS of wonderful images there! Everyone in the forum must see that set... Thanks for sharing so much life!

You're amazing, man!

Cheers,

Juan

Thanks Juan. It was fun going through that old binder of 100 rolls from 1985/86. Now I have work up the energy to tackle the other 4-5 binders of old stuff,
Tom

 

[DNG]

I have always found to Adjust the ISO to my developer used and my tank and agitation workflow.

with Rodinal 1:100 stand or semi-stand (1-5s of spinning at 30m)
I should rate 400 at 320 for the kind of negatives I can scan with good contrast and detailed shadows w/o sacrificing highlights.

I use a 2 reel plastic tank.. but typically just develop one roll at a time...in 300ml of soup.

With Rodinal 1:50, standard time per temp.... I can rate 400 at 400, because I gain contrast with the agitation every 2min (about 6 times per roll)

So, as Roger has stated, as others.... you need to find a workflow that produces the results you want, under your developing workflow..

But, I find I get more consistent results with Rodinal Semi-Stand at just under 1:100 (4.5ml per 300ml water) and at the 30m mark give 5s of spinning...1 spin per second), rating my 400 at 320... I scan my negatives, so this works for me....

 

[thegman]

Does 1/3 stop make a visible difference? Of course it does.

Does that difference always matter? Of course not.

Cheers,

R.

I think Roger is exactly right. I overexpose C41 films as a matter of course but in reality, my meter will have different ideas to me and exposure will differ. With my M3 I don't meter at all, so who knows what working ISO I'm using...