Tri-X pushed to estimated ISO + Rodinal

[vicmortelmans]

Hi,

I'll be using my Zorki 1 + Jupiter 3 to do some indoor shooting. I'll have no opportunity to meter the scene. I'll be using Tri-X (400TX). The camera will be used at 'maximum power', meaning f/1.4 at 1/60 (no tripod either!)

Standard light value tables (e.g. http://www.brightshiny.org/terran/ev.shtml) quote an interior with average illumination to have a light value of 4. With the preset exposure settings, that's only one stop of underexposure, but obviously I should take into account that the illumination of the particular scene may be lower or higher, or even vary depending of the location in the room

For development, I should do a slight push AND get enough latitude to correct for deviating illumination. I have a developer for pushing (AM20), but the technical sheet says it's very sensitive to correct exposure, so this is not applicable.

My only other choice is Rodinal. I read the thread about development times for Rodinal 1+50 at different speeds (http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00C0U2), but I fear that also this solution will not give me enough latitude, as it seems to depend on correct exposure. I tend to go for Rodinal 1+100 and stand development. Or even higher dilution. For 1+100, I guess development time will run up to 1 hour, and for 1+200, I can just leave it out for the night?

Any suggestions to comfort me in my plans??

Groeten,
Vic

 

[40oz]

Shoot and dev the Tri-X at 1600, IMHO. You will lose very little in highlights, and it will give you more room for shutter and aperture than 800. IMHO pushing to 800 is kind of a waste of time. You only gain one aperture or shutter stop, you won't see any noticeable improvement over negatives developed at 1600, and you could dev for 400 and still see little difference.

I'd really think you could use Rodinal for Tri-X at 1600 if you wanted. Or AM20 for that matter. An argument against Rodinal is the increase in grain, but if you like it at 400, there is nothing to suggest you won't like it at 1600. I don't see why AM20 would be unsuitable either, just multiply the box speed times by 1.7 to get the time for 1600. If your exposure is way off it won't matter what developer you use, anyway.

As far as exposure indoors without a meter, it's all experience anyway. My meter says f/2@1/60 for 400EI in my kitchen, and it's plenty bright for reading a paper. My living room is slightly darker at night (I'd have to wait for a few hours to give you a meter reading). And it's visibly dim, not just compared to my kitchen, which is visibly bright. IOW, reading a book in my living room is uncomfortable without additional light, while in the kitchen it's fine.

I'd say most home interiors are between my living room and kitchen, which means you need f/2 at 1/60 or more. Use 1600, and you get f/4 at 1/60 as the fastest shutter/smallest aperture. You could take everything at f/2@1/60 and dev for 1600 and probably do just fine, even with some shots getting more light and some getting slightly less. An advantage of this method is you know what you were shooting and can judge the shots without trying to remember what the camera settings were. The next time you will be more accurate.

I think the key is to remember you always need more light than you think you do. If you have any doubt, just open up. You're probably not going to over-expose anything.

I use D-76 1+1 for Tri-X, for 400, 1600, and 3200. I'm not suggesting you go out and buy it, just letting you know what I use so you can take my comments with the recommended salt 🙂

 

[moonwire]

I've done Tri-X in Rodinal. It's grainy, but I still liked the results. However, why not use D-76? Tri-X @1600 in D-76 is one of my favourite combinations.