Little rant

[KevinVH]

So since I've moved to Ecuador, I've been developing mostly Tri X in D76 stock. I do have some foma rolls here, and this weekend I was in an experimental mood. Because the chemicals are not available here, I'm stuck with D76 and I have some Atomal49 to which I have yet to test. My relatives always bring a few bags of D76 when they travel here.

My normal routine is. Tri x in D76 stock for 6min30 sec at 20°C , 1 min agitation at first, with 10 seconds every minute. I don't prewash, I stop for 1 min with water and a little bit of lime. Then I fix for 8 min, and wash for 10. I hang the negatives up and let them dry for a night.

So this weekend I shot FOMA100 in the M6, I read about it here and on some other sites, and there was someone who said the following:

Prewash for 2 min @ 20°C
D76 1+1 for 11 min, same agitation as usual,
stop and fix as usual.

I'm scanning the negatives as we speak, but the first thing I've noticed is that these negatives hardly curl, whereas the trix curls like a *********.

Maybe it's because of the prewash, maybe it's the nature of the film? I'll post some results when I get them out of the scanner. I'm curious..

 

[Brian Legge]

Its the film itself. Tri X curls more than anything else I've shot. :\

 

[KevinVH]

ok, thanks for the info. Here are some pictures I took. Nothing special, but I like it very much!

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

nice photos. i think you nailed the dev time.

 

[Lauffray]

Nice dev work ! Yep, TriX curls like a mofo, one of the reasons I finally switched out of it, sold my last batch to a friend

 

[KevinVH]

Thanks everyone. I think I read the dev time here on RFF somewhere. I know I need to clean the negatives, and I can refine it even with distilled water, since the water here is fairly hard. These were scanned with the Epson V500 standard settings, at 3200DPI, so nothing special.

I scan all my negatives this way, and if there are pictures I really like, I make sure the negative is as clean as possible, and scan at a higher resolution after the negatives have decurled, which isn't necessary in this case.

 

[Lauffray]

How's the light in Ecuador ? must be vastly different than in Antwerp 🙂

 

[charjohncarter]

Its the film itself. Tri X curls more than anything else I've shot. :\

I've had some curling films in my day, copy film, Arista EDU 35mm, etc. But to say TriX is the worst is not right. If new Trix is hang and weighted it is like any other modern film: except Bluefire Police or Efke films (which are much worse). I will say that all films seem to curl in humid climates, in my opinion. Today, I developed TriX 120 and it is ready to scan or go into the enlarger.

Kevin, I noticed this curling while living Panama' but that was forty years ago.

 

[Noll]

If you ever run out of D-76 and need to develop in a pinch, I find that Caffenol CM gets along very well with Foma 100. The only ingredient you might have trouble finding is washing soda.

 

[gb hill]

Looks like you've hit on quite a good combo. Photo's look great. Clean look with nice tones.

 

[Brian Legge]

I've had some curling films in my day, copy film, Arista EDU 35mm, etc. But to say TriX is the worst is not right. If new Trix is hang and weighted it is like any other modern film: except Bluefire Police or Efke films (which are much worse).

Very fair - I did say it was the most curly of the film I've shot, not bar none. 🙂 I haven't shot enough Efke to compare it and no Bluefire at all.

That said, weighted and hung I still get a lot of curl. Seatyle certainly isn't tropical but there is a fair amount of humidity. Maybe that's the issue.

 

[Snowbuzz]

Lovely tonality!

 

[mdarnton]

Not an option for everyone, but when my Tri-X is dry, I immediately roll it up, inside out, throw a clothepin on it to keep it rolled, and leave it that way for a couple of days. That flattens it out enough that I can scan it and then file it. I don't know what it's like later, since I don't ever come back to it after scanning.

I wouldn't know what to do with another film. I shot my first roll around 1962, and it's the only film I've used since then. If Kodak stops making it, I'll have to start all over!

 

[Moto-Uno]

Efke films are like propellers,they curl so much,however a plate of glass on them in the
Epson V600 and alls well with the world.
Peter

 

[skibeerr]

Hey Kevin,

you got the dev nailed it seems. I am quite jealous because I F****D up nearly all my negatives from a recent trip to Japan :bang: to much contrast.

De groeten van een ex pat uit Hoboken, bijna de koekestad 😉

Wim

 

[Cold]

Moto...are you using any kind of special glass? I've got a V600 and come pigtail Tri-X going on myself.

 

[KevinVH]

Damn, a lot of response here, love it! thanks

How's the light in Ecuador ? must be vastly different than in Antwerp 🙂

A little more high contrast yes, but I feel the leica does great metering the scene, + some experience in where to measure the light in a certain scene definitely helps!

I've had some curling films in my day, copy film, Arista EDU 35mm, etc. But to say TriX is the worst is not right. If new Trix is hang and weighted it is like any other modern film: except Bluefire Police or Efke films (which are much worse). I will say that all films seem to curl in humid climates, in my opinion. Today, I developed TriX 120 and it is ready to scan or go into the enlarger.

Kevin, I noticed this curling while living Panama' but that was forty years ago.

The only difference here is that I'm living at 2600m or 8531ft, in the mountains, and it isn't nearly as humid as at the coast, and Panama for that matter. I should measure the humidity but have no idea how to do that. Weird thing is that the Tri X curls up, the foma not even the slightest bit.

If you ever run out of D-76 and need to develop in a pinch, I find that Caffenol CM gets along very well with Foma 100. The only ingredient you might have trouble finding is washing soda.

Thanks, I'll take a look into that, although i'm not much of a homechef when it comes to concocting my own brew!

Looks like you've hit on quite a good combo. Photo's look great. Clean look with nice tones.

Yeah only thing is that ISO100 isn't fast enough for an allrounder. Plus I didn't bring enough of it, because I tried it in Belgium before, and I was way to high contrast, and noise, so I decided just to bring a few rolls, which I regret now. When I tried it in Belgium, I was still a noobie though. Not to say that I'm a trained developer by now, but I'm getting faster and getting way more consistent results then before!

Hey Kevin,

you got the dev nailed it seems. I am quite jealous because I F****D up nearly all my negatives from a recent trip to Japan :bang: to much contrast.

De groeten van een ex pat uit Hoboken, bijna de koekestad 😉


Wim

Hey Wim, bedankt, ja daar lijkt het inderdaad op. Ik ben van Wilrijk, vlakbij dus.

That's the thing about shooting film, if you **** up the development, you're basically screwed! That's why I still don't use film for paid jobs, and things I want to make sure I capture! I'll get there though, I'm getting more confident.

 

[maddoc]

... and that`s out of an Epson V500 standard settings you say ? 😱 That looks very very good on my monitor, well done !

BTW, from my experience all films tend to curl more in dry air than high humidity.

 

[KevinVH]

... and that`s out of an Epson V500 standard settings you say ? 😱 That looks very very good on my monitor, well done !

BTW, from my experience all films tend to curl more in dry air than high humidity.

Yeap, epson V500 with standard negative holders, black and white negative setting at 3200dpi jpg's...

 

[slidesandthecity]

Maybe it's because of the prewash, maybe it's the nature of the film?

I would say, it is the latter. At least the roll of Fomapan 400 I developed yesterday was as straight as the Delta 400 hanging beside it.