How far can you pull TriX?

[TNRL]

Ive seen many threads for pushing 400TX film, but what about pulling?

Digitaltruth have dev times for 400TX at EI 100 in Rodinal. Is it possible to pull it further than that?

 

[Steve Bellayr]

Years ago...and I'm talking many years ago...I was informed that Tri-X could be pushed "2 f-stops." I, too, would appreciate some update on this issue. Since I no longer develope film myself what should I advise the developer?

 

[MikeCassidy]

Pulling?? Pushing??

Pulling?? Pushing??

I've pushed Tri X to 1600 many times; years ago I shooot drag racers on NYC streets at night and pushed to 6400 using Rodinal. It was "slightly" grainy [understatement].

I've never pulled it back.

I just read a 30 year old interview with Gibson to quote: he shoots Tri X
rated 100-400 using Rodinal mixed 1:25 at 68 for 11 minutes. Its good to rememeber Gibson isn't looking for detail in the shaddow areas. BURT what beautiful images he gets.

 

[ruben]

I used to pull Tri-X to 100 on a regular basis, no special dev required. At this rating the negative looks quite dense and requires long printing times. Good for high contrast sunny days in which you want everything within.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[40oz]

I've shot a few rolls of Tr-X at 200 recently, and they look great, but definitely more grain than a 200ISO film would have. You could pull TriX as far as you wanted, the only caveat is whether you'd be happy with the results. Given my results at 200, I have no problems believing 100 EI or even 50 EI would be fine, just far more grainy than a 50ISO or 100ISO film would ever be. The grain's not obnoxious at 200 EI, but clearly not a 200ISO film.

 

[anjoca76]

On an old thread here just yesterday I was reading about how Winogrand routinely shot Tri-X at 200. I usually shoot it at 320, but have yet to try and pull it further. I think I may experiment on my next couple of rolls.

I never push it. I prefer Delta 3200 or Tmax 3200 (while it's still around) at 1600 than push Tri-X.

 

[Brian Legge]

I've accidentally pulled to 100 without any problems.

Then again, I usually shoot it at 200-250 for tonal range. I have an allergy to losing shadow detail. 😉

 

[Roger Hicks]

Just overexpose a stop or two and develop normally. Most of the information about 'pulling' is internet drivel.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Mackinaw]

You can also try a "slow" developer. Some developers can cause a film to lose speed. Microdol-X could cost a film about one stop, if I remember correctly.

Jim B.

 

[gns]

Why do you want to pull?
I'm not trying to be smart, but people are responding, "Do this, Do that", without considering what your reason is or what you want to achieve.

 

[Spicy]

if all you have is tri-X with you and you want some bokeh'd sunny daylight shots wide open?

 

[Roger Hicks]

You can also try a "slow" developer. Some developers can cause a film to lose speed. Microdol-X could cost a film about one stop, if I remember correctly.

Jim B.

Dear Jim,

Very true. Take a true ISO of 200 and overexpose 2 stops = EI 50.

Cheers,

R.

 

[mfogiel]

I have done a test strip recently , shooting Tri X between ISO 64 and 4000 and developing normally in HC 110. For me, this film is EI 250, and it is usable between EI 125 and 500 perfectly. At EI 64 the negative gets a bit dense, and you lose some sharpness too, so it is not ideal for scanning, and a 20% cut in development time helps. For speeds over EI 500, speed enhancing developers work better.

 

[Roger Hicks]

More exposure ALWAYS = less sharpness.

Matters less with larger formats than with 35mm...

Cheers,

R.

 

[charjohncarter]

Someone that used to be on this forum had a good take on this. I did try his method and it worked, but I went back to my normal EI of 200 with TriX. Here is his website:

http://zonesimple.com/

Open the site, then ZoneSimple,

then The Process,

then slide down to 'Using an ISO that increases shadow detail.'

I've read his whole site as there are plenty of other tips, like I said I did it and it was sucessful.

 

[clayne]

Preferred EI for 400TX is 250. Pulling to 100 isn't a huge issue, but density of course rises. Pulling to 50 you're going to start cramming quite a bit onto the shoulder and should consider another film like PanF+ or ISO100 of some sort.

Remember though, this isn't a crappy digital medium that will clip it all off - it will just saturate and compress into the shoulder. However at -3 stops it can get a bit extreme. Negatives will look brickwalled and plan on plenty of contrast to expand the tonal range back out.

 

[Mablo]

I use Tri-x @ EI 100 on contrasty daylight. There's no reason why the film couldn't take one stop more light if you shorten the developing time a little. Here is one @ EI 100:

 

[sepiareverb]

Not sure about Tri-X, but I've used HP5+ at iso50 in very dimly lit interiors with bare light bulbs and when working in the winter woods. Run in Microdol-X or Perceptol 1:1such high contrast situations can be drastically tamed. Should work with Tri-X.