Pushing T-MAX 400 with FX-39

[kennylovrin]

Hello my friends

We have a little christmas party at work tomorrow and I wanted to bring my M6 and shoot some film rather than digital. However, I haven't really prepared for it, and the only film I have currently is T-MAX 400.

And seeing as I'm pretty new to this, I have to ask:

Can I shoot this film at 800 or 1600 and push process it with Paterson FX-39? And in that case, any pointers on how much longer I should develop for? I tried googling it, but it's a bit tricky finding numbers for FX-39 it seems.

I might be able to get T-MAX 3200 actually tomorrow, but I'm not sure it's needed.

This is just for fun, so top notch quality isn't of highest importance, and it's not a huge loss if I mess it up, but I figured it was worth asking anyway!

Thanks!

 

[DominikDUK]

According to the massive dev. chart FX39 1+9 20°C 12mins should do the trick for ISO800

good luck

 

[Pioneer]

I don't work with TMax films but a quick look at the Massive Development Chart indicates that lots of people push this film to 1600. There are even quite a few development choices for 3200.

However I only see developing options up to ISO 800 using your developer. You may want to pick up some Kodak D76 if you can since it seems like you will have a few more options with this developer for your film.

 

[kennylovrin]

I saw the 800 times on massive dev charts as well, not sure how they'd relate to 1600 though. would that be another 20% increase?

I might get another developer yes, my FX-39 is almost out anyway so I would need to pickup more, was thinking of Kodak TMAX, D76 or HC110 (Is that what it's called?) because they seem to be somewhat easier for me to get.

 

[DominikDUK]

I saw the 800 times on massive dev charts as well, not sure how they'd relate to 1600 though. would that be another 20% increase?

I might get another developer yes, my FX-39 is almost out anyway so I would need to pickup more, was thinking of Kodak TMAX, D76 or HC110 (Is that what it's called?) because they seem to be somewhat easier for me to get.

How about X-tol or T-max RS instead, of the three you named I would choose T-max which was formulated as push developer.

 

[kennylovrin]

How about X-tol or T-max RS instead, of the three you named I would choose T-max which was formulated as push developer.

Stupid question perhaps, but if it was formulated for pushing, can't / shouldn't I use it then for the times I don't push?

I rather go with something that can work for normal and push development if possible so I don't have to store too much stuff at once. 🙂

 

[Photo_Smith]

I think from memory FX 39 is a poor choice for films over 200ISO it is formulated for high definition with T grain films at lower speeds i.e Ilford Delta 100 or Tmax 100.

I'm not sure it is designed for pushing, I'd try Microphen or DDX for that those give a true push to a wide range of films and can be used as normal devlopers with adjusted EI and developer times.

 

[NJH]

I think from memory FX 39 is a poor choice for films over 200ISO it is formulated for high definition with T grain films at lower speeds i.e Ilford Delta 100 or Tmax 100.

I'm not sure it is designed for pushing, I'd try Microphen or DDX for that those give a true push to a wide range of films and can be used as normal devlopers with adjusted EI and developer times.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but have a look at the test image here:
http://www.fotoimport.no/filmtest/fkfx39.html

I downloaded the test shot taken with Tmax 400 and compared to that developed with the Tmax developer. Personally I prefer the look of the FX-39 result its a bit sharper without any real grain penalty. Their 6300 dpi scan is pretty incredible IMHO for a 400 speed film. I like the tones as well so will be trying some of this stuff in the new year.

Admittedly some of the other FX-39 results don't look so nice IMHO, very apparent sharp grain but Tmax 400 seems to be a bit of a miracle film for its speed.