TMax 100; too many options

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minoltist7

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I have many developers now, and each time think about what to choose for particular film.
Now my options for TMax 100 are:
-Fomadon R09 (=Rodinal )
-Fomadon Excel (=XTOL)
-Tetenal Ultrafine (never used it )
What would be your choice and why?
 
I have only used Rodinal with TMX, and I think that combination is great. There is so little grain to begin with that the low grain/high sharpness benefits of XTOL probably won't be realized. You would get more speed with XTOL, though.
 
With TMAX especially, what the developers will affect is the characteristic curve of the film. XTOL will emphasize the midtones, while something like HC-110 will emphasize the highlights.
 
Tmax100, which I use all the time, I develop in HC-110h and I shoot it at box speed. But I also use Rodinal 1+50 with which I have to use EI50. The Tmax100/HC-110h gives me a soft look, and doesn't blow the highlights. Tmax100/Rodinal1+50 gives me a little more shadow detail and it seem so me better mid-tone contrast. I like the Rodinal for sunny days outside and the HC-110h flatter scenes.

Examples: Rodinal

2405507103_7206691cdf.jpg


HC-110h:

1195478135_e10838b625.jpg
 
yeah, black shadows == underexpose 🙂. Or just do so in post (whether that's digitally or in a traditional darkroom).

to keep from blowing the highlights, without having dialed in your dev time, you'll need to just be conservative on time. Underexposing will help, though, as the highlights won't be as intense to begin with.
 
I just go with TMAX developer for TMAX films - I tend to figure the engineers at Kodak had a reason for making a developer with a specific emulsion's name on it, and they know a lot more than I do about it. But, playing with different developers is indeed fun. I find however, that my processing procedure is not exact enough to use developer type as a variable in getting the results I want.

If you want shadows that are almost black with a hint of detail, you're talking about putting those areas of the negative in "zone 3." Follow the golden rule of "shoot for the shadows and develop for the highlights" and meter your shadow areas and expose them 2 stops under - that will give you pretty much what you are looking for, regardless of the developer used. If you shot on a sunny day, just extend your processing time by a bit to make sure you have detail in your highlights.
 
So I developed it in R09 1:40 9-9,5 min at 20 C

Film looks good at first, and it seems I got what I wanted .
To my surprise, TMax has slightly colored base (pinkish or purple tint). is it normal for it ?
 
Purple base color, I get it sometimes and sometimes no. I rewashed and re-fixed and it worked, but Roger Hicks says just put the negatives is a sunny window (1-2 hours) and the color goes away. I did it and it worked.
 
Just wash it a lot. It'll come out, or the window trick. You don't actually need to fix more.

And deep shadows with a hint of detail is Zone II. III is fully-detailed shadows.
 
>I just go with TMAX developer for TMAX films - I tend to figure the engineers
>at Kodak had a reason for making a developer with a specific emulsion's
>name on it, and they know a lot more than I do about it.

Kodak used D76 when they developed the TMax films. One of the problems with Kodak's naming habits is that people link products that aren't necessarily meant to be linked. Tri-X 400 and Tri-X Professional 320 are completely different films . . . TMax developer is phenidone based developer that is very good for pushing: it replenishes well too. When used one shot you need to be very careful with time and temp or you get overdevelopment. Once you learn to manage it, it works well, but it was _not_ formulated for the TMax films.

Rodinal tends to lower the modtones in all films, but does it especially prominently with flat grain and epitaxial emulsions. That's why you get that cool 'dark' look from it.

Xtol probably offers the best combination of speed and grain, particularly if you want a classic B&W look with rich midtones. It works better on 35mm film diluted at least 1+1.

There are so many possibilities that it can be easy to experiment so much that one never learns the full possibilities of one set of materials. But if you do stick with one combination, your experiments from there are likely to be much more successful because you can usually diagnose problems more easily and because by the time you've used that much material you know what kind of look you like and want and then you can achieve it.

Marty
 
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