shooting beyond my fastest setting

[stet]

yet another newbie question ... I have some Tmax 3200 that I want to try, but how do I do that if my camera's fastest ISO setting is 400? The Massive Dev chart for Tmax 3200 in D76 has an ISO column -- is that what I want, or is that pulling? Or is the best I could do with Tmax is shoot 400 and push it to 1600? (again, trying to interpret what the Massive Dev chart says) 😕

 

[Doug]

As a slave to the camera's own meter, you could see what it suggests (with ISO set at 400) and then stop down another two stops for correct exposure at 1600. Dim light might well fall below the meter's sensitivity limit, though. Might be a good time to consider a hand-held meter!

As I understand it, the films offered at a nominal 3200 speed are only useful at 3200 if push-processed, and that their true speed is more like 1600 or so. True speed comes from shadow densities, and generally push-processing has little effect on the shadows. There are some developers with compensating action that do give a real speed increase, such as Diafine. D-76 is not a high-speed developer...

 

[jlw]

T-Max 3200 does give shadow detail when rated at 3200, if you use Kodak's T-Max developer (or a comparable developer.) I would recommend this developer over D-76 for this particular film, regardless of what speed rating you plan to use.

However, I can tell you that you'll get easier-to-print results -- less grain, more shadow detail, friendlier contrast -- if you shoot it at 1600 or lower. (My personal preference has always been to set my meter at 1250 and then process at the time for 1600, but this depends on your metering technique and how you like to print.) You can shoot it at 400 or even lower by adjusting the developing time -- but if you do that, there's no real advantage vs. using Tri-X or T-Max 400.

As Doug said, if your meter settings only go up to 400, you'll need to compensate your readings to shoot it at a 1600 rating. If your camera has an exposure compensation control, you might try setting it to -2 to reduce exposure by two stops from the meter reading -- this will get you from 400 to 1600. If you have no compensation control, or if it's linked to the film-speed dial so you can't set -2 at ISO 400, then you'll have to note the meter reading, switch to manual, and choose an exposure that gives two stops less exposure. This is what drives people to buy handheld meters!

 

[blakley]

I agree with others here; if you shoot at 3200 and process at 3200 you're going to get thin negatives and low-contrast prints. I shoot TMAX 3200 at 1600 and process as per instructions for 3200, and it looks pretty good. When I shoot with my Rolleiflex, whose meter's ISO range only goes up to 800, I simply adjust my settings manually to add one stop exposure to the suggested settings. If your camera has exposure compensation (Bessas do), then you can just set (in your case) +2 exposure compensation and go.

 

[stet]

Oh boy, is this confusing.

I really appreciate the answers, which I've read over and over now, and I think I'm starting to get it. Sorry if I'm soaking this in at a Photography for Dummies pace, but could someone correct me if I have this wrong?

What I can do is put Tmax 3200 in my camera and set the camera to 400. (This is its fastest setting on the Canon 7s, and it has no exposure compensation controls.) Then, whatever my meter readings are for a particular shot, I stop down two stops. This is called rating the film or shooting at 1600.

When I'm done with the roll, I either process it at 1600 or 3200 (and at 1600 it may be easier to print, which is a big big plus). To get the time that I process it at, I find the chart for the film and developer I'm using, and go down to the ISO column to 1600.

Is that right? And this would be called pulling the film?

I looked up this up for Tmax 3200 and D-76, and it gives two options for 1600; why would I choose to develop it in stock or 1+1 solution, as the chart gives times for both? ((I'll be using D-76 for now, just because it's what I have bottles and bottles of in the house, but I'll keep in mind to experiment further with other developers.)

 

[phototone]

I looked up this up for Tmax 3200 and D-76, and it gives two options for 1600; why would I choose to develop it in stock or 1+1 solution, as the chart gives times for both? ((I'll be using D-76 for now, just because it's what I have bottles and bottles of in the house, but I'll keep in mind to experiment further with other developers.)

I can't speak for T-max 3200, but I can speak for my standard developer D-76. The recommendation for 1 to 1 dilution is to achieve maximum sharpness. Used full strength, you get shorter developing times, but slightly less sharp. Used full strength, though, you can rebottle it (pour it back into bottle), you can replenish it and use it for quite some time. At 1 to 1 dilution with water, it is a one shot. Use once and discard. You dilute with water just the amount you need to cover the film in the developing tank. The full strength undiluted solution keeps for quite some time.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Stet,

You got it. Take the meter reading at 400; cut 2 stops (2 stops less, 2 shutter speed steps less, or one of each). This means you have exposed the film as if it were ISO 1600.

Next, look up the dev time for 1600 and process accordingly. If you want more shadow detail (and more contrast!) next time, dev for longer -- maybe as for 3200.

1+1 is more repeatable (no rule-of-thumb adjustments for dev exhaustion). Full strength is cheaper as you can re-use the dev. You can even go 1+3 with many devs.

A LOT depends on your metering technique, subject lighting and more. Take a look at the FREE modules on www.rogerandfrances.com for such things as ISO speeds, subject brightness ranges and more.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[stet]

thanks for the confirmation. I'm heading to Philadelphia next weekend, and I hope to do some night shots, hopefully of outdoor soccer and some skateboarding. I'll try to use what I learned from this thread and hope to post some pics in a couple weeks. Whee, the learning process!