Which developer for Neopan 1600

[ulrich.von.lich]

Hello,

I'm going to develop two rolls of Neopan 1600 at a lab. Concert photos, one roll shot at 1600 the other at 3200. I'm given the choice of different developers. (Xtol, TMAX RS, Rodinal, and two others whose name I have forgotten. Sorry but I'm still quite new to film.)

Which one would be ideal?

I'd like my images to have less grain and specially less contrast. I find Neopan 1600 quite contrasty compared to Delta 3200 at 1600. I have no experience with other fast film yet.

I also wonder if a different developer will give you an easily recognizable look. Is there any link to articles explaining different developers on different films?

Any help is appreciated!

Best Regards,
Tony

 

[maddoc]

I usually develop 1600PR in Fuji`s S-Prodol (SPD) but it gives a quite high contrast. Just today, I have developed 3 rolls of 1600PR in HC-110 "B" (recommended 7 minutes) and the negatives look quite thin.... Scanning will tell.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Will you print or scan?

 

[dfoo]

XTOL all the way. Great tones, fine grained.

 

[sleepyhead]

I have had good experiences with Tmax developer and Ilford DD-X' and bad ones with Rodinal and NP1600.

I can easily belive that XTOL is also a good choice.

Good luck, hope the pix come out well.

 

[hans voralberg]

I have good result with Rollei RHS/Amaloco 74, but I'd go with Xtol or DDX if you have them.

 

[Nokton48]

I usually develop 1600PR in Fuji`s S-Prodol (SPD) but it gives a quite high contrast.

Hi Maddoc,
What times and temp do you use with Super Prodol? What EI?
I want to try it with Fuji 1600 and I like your results.

So far, I have used only Ilford DDX with this film, but I like it. 🙂
I've been shooting this film at EI 640, I believe that's it's true speed.

 

[Pherdinand]

Definitely not rodinal.

 

[maddoc]

Thanks ! 🙂

I use S-Prodol in 1:1 dilution at 20 degrees Celsius and expose for 1600ISO. Agitation is 20x gentile (or the first minute) and then two inversions per minute. Fuji recommends 6:30 for 1:1 dilution (from memory) but I develop 7 minutes in total.

Hi Maddoc,
What times and temp do you use with Super Prodol? What EI?
I want to try it with Fuji 1600 and I like your results.

So far, I have used only Ilford DDX with this film, but I like it. 🙂

 

[Mackinaw]

XTOL all the way. Great tones, fine grained.

Agreed. Xtol and Neopan 1600 are a great match.

Jim B.

 

[Matt(1pt4)]

I've never liked Neopan 1600 in Xtol. Rodinal 1:50 is actually not a bad choice if you shoot the film at 800, but for 1600-3200, T-max Dev is a great choice. T-max is a much maligned and little understood developer, but I used it for years with excellent results. It gives a bit of speed bump like Xtol, but the grain will have a bit more bite to it.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Definitely not rodinal.

Why on earth not?

 

[totifoto]

I use XTOL 1:1 and kinda like it. Like trix 400@1600 better though.

Here is one neopan 1600, shot @800 though, like it better that way...

 

[Tom A]

I find that Rodinal 1:100 for 14-15 minutes with continious agitation gives me a clean negative. I do rate my Fuji 1600 @ 1000-1200 asa.
I use an old Uni-Roller for cont. agitation. It rotates twice, stops, and reverse rotation. It also has a slight "wiggle" on the long axis. No developing streaks visible.

 

[helen.HH]

One of Ralph Gibson's favorite cocktails is Rodinal & neopan 1600...

I have to agree w/ Tom A and mabelsound WHY NOT ? ITS FAB !! 🙂

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I develop N1600 in Rodinal ONLY, 1:50... But I expose it normally at 640 ASA in soft light, 12 minutes with every minute agitation. Beautiful little grain and very nice tones.

For real low light cases, I produce contrasty negatives exposing it to half the light it requires, 1280 ASA, with Rodinal 1:25 for 15 minutes, same agitation...

Don't know how you metered... Anyway the film is A LOT LESS sensitive to Rodinal pushing than Tri-X, and that's why earlier today when you said 3200 ASA I thought Rodinal was not your best option... Anyway, if you plan to scan, it will be done of course...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

ah yes, I missed that about pushing, and didn't know Rodinal didn't excel at it with Neopan. I think it does very well at 1600 though. Those above are all 1:50 for 8 minutes, agitation every minute (probably overkill).

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I forgot to mention that those ASA values are for incident metering...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[helen.HH]

neopan /rodinal /pre asph 50 lux /1:50 13mins / LOTS of Agitation which I NO longer Do

 

[Bingley]

I started a roll of Neopan 1600 last night, shooting it at iso 1250 indoors, and will develop it in Diafine. In the past, I've shot it at 800 and developed in Rodinal 1:50; some samples below. I've also seen some nice results shot at 800 and developed in HC110 dil. b.