Neopan 400 with Tanol

[wintoid]

For a long time I've wanted to try one of these Pyro developers but it's never felt like something terribly accessible. I don't really want to be mixing things unless I have to. Well I read about Tanol, which comes in 2 tiny bottles (A/B solutions) and dilutes 1+1+100, and that sounded pretty convenient so I thought I'd give it a shot.

The first film I tried with it was Neopan 400 rated at 250 (was supposed to be 200, but I messed up). I don't generally get on well with Neopan 400, although I know many people love it. I'm happy to say I really like it in Tanol though! Here are a few examples, all taken with a Voigtlander R2a with Konica Hexanon 50mm f/2.0.

 

[traveller]

Looks real nice. I will have to get the test-set when I place my next order at the Moersch Website

 

[jano]

Looks almost.. digital? I like the lighting on the first one 🙂

When I read "tanol" I thought is had something to do with coconut oil and sunshine 😀

Jano, who leaves for Hawaii next weekend 😀

 

[Trius]

Couldn't these do with a bit more detail for pete's sake? 🙄 You might want to play with agitation if these scans are "straight", or maybe some contrast reduction through PS. But man, the detail is there. I think that developer has a LOT of potential. Nice!

 

[wintoid]

I didn't do this first film terribly carefully. Somewhere along the way I got the film set to the wrong ISO, and I also agitated more frequently than I usually do but can't now remember why I did that 😀 Damn, getting old!

I'm interested that you say contrast reduction. These scans are straight from Vuescan. The thing that's blown me away the most is the feeling of limitless white-to-black dynamic range (although some from the roll look like the highlights are almost blown). If I reduced the contrast, I'd lose that I think, but I'd be very interested to see what you mean if you could demonstrate it on one file.

My next film will be Delta 400 in Tanol. Probably gonna be even more detail and contrast in that 😀

 

[Trius]

You want me to do some Photoshop? ROTFLMAO! I'm such a PS neophyte that the file would probably disintegrate into quarks and muons, not orderly bits.

Seriously, though I do understand what you mean, and I might take a stab at it. I simply envisioning in my mind a touch more smoothness, while retaining the microcontrast. I won't be able to get to it tonight, maybe Tuesday.

Maybe if Gene pops up on this thread he can add an opinion; he's the Neopan expert in these here parts.

Earl

 

[jano]

The shot with the girl doesn't need any PS work.. I tried a quick local contrast (USM: high radius, low-mid %) as well as various curves. Simply not needed. I didn't try the other shot, don't really like it 😛 but doesn't look like it needs it, too.

 

[wintoid]

Dunno why I didn't post this originally, but this shot was the one that really blew me away in terms of dynamic range, although as I say the highlights are a little whited out...

 

[Trius]

Jano: I think you are right. Looking at these again, I think my initial (kneejerk?) response was due to viewing on a less-than-spectacular notebook/LCD display. On a CRT it looks much better, and this CRT isn't even calibrated.

So, I'm off the hook for post-processing ... whew! 😀