Is microphen only for pushing?

[ibcrewin]

I have some microphen that I bought a year or so ago and I was thinking of using it to develop some tri-x.. All the examples I came across were for pushing the film a few stops.

If I use microphen say 1+1, for develop at the box speed. What sort of gains over say d76 1+1 would I get? My guess is that I should just use the microphen for pushing and stick to d76 for box speed.

What say you?

 

[Chuck Albertson]

Microphen works fine at 1:1 for box speed, or for pushing. It's not my first choice (prefer Xtol) but it produces negs that are appreciably different from D-76 1:1.

 

[ChrisP]

I think the only reason not to use it for box speed is the fact that its more expensive than other developers that work fine at box speed

 

[Freakscene]

It works fine at box speed, but if you fine tune your Microphen + Tri-X system, you may find that box speed is a slight pull and that the optimal speed of Tri-X in Microphen is ~EI640.

Microphen does provide different tones and slightly more grain than other developers that are more optimal at ~EI400.

Marty

 

[john_s]

Microphen is good if you want to lower neg contrast, say for a very contrasty scene. Just reduce dev time a bit.