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Any good NON-fine developers?

Years ago I shot some 35mm fog scenes with Tri-X developed in HC110. These required overdevelopment to improve contrast. They turned out quite grainy which contributed to the mood of the fog. Perhaps someone else has more recent experience with HC110 overdeveloped.
 
HC-110 is not considered to be a "fine grain" developer, so that makes it a good choice. It is a very active developer requiring short development times, and is not the best choice if you want to exploit the most speed possible from your film. Overdevelopment will exaggerate grain through higher contrast more than, I think, through what I understand to be infectious development.
 
Tmax is a good option, if I'm understanding you don't want to collect chems to brew exotic developer. Tmax will give you good, sharp negatives and a bump in real film speed too, but maybe most important, good tones.
 

When I used Microdol-X, it came in those beautiful brown bottles, and I still have about half a case of it. It's more of a fine grained developer, and definitely gives Tri-X a very nice look.

If you're looking for grain, then push it a stop or so, and use Rodinal 1:25 for 6.5 min at regular times. If that's not enough, I knew someone who only shot Plus-X, processed in Acufine, but used much hotter temps than normal.

You could count the grain splotches.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DBP
You can also try using higher temps.


IloveTLRs said:
Ah! Does that increase grain?
Click to expand...

Umm....OH YEAH!

Plus, try dektol. A guy on the photo forum was messing around and he had graintastic film with dektol.

But really, those old photo.j's were pushing the film harshly. Try bumping it two stops, or three (with peroxide fuming)

Also, last but not least.....have you thought of using expired film from ebay "ALWAYS FROZEN.....WE PROMISE....PLEASE IGNORE SUN FADING ON BOX LABELS"
 
For that punchy look with razor edged grain, Rodinal (or its clones, li R-09) is the obvious choice. This is an excellent developer, with great sharpness and excellent gradation. But it celebrates the film grain rather than hiding it. Among the MQ type developers, DK-50 and DK-60a (more active, more contrast than DK-50, somewhat more grain) come to mind. Agfa 42 and ID-3 might be interesting.
 
I've been experimenting with producing course grained pictures. I have done it using HP5+ and TMZ, both 35mm. Obviously, the TMZ grain is larger than the HP5+. I have been doing this only in the studio where I have control over the lighting. My technique has settled on reducing the lighting ratio, over-exposing the film by at least 2-3 stops, and then under developing in Rodinal. I then print the resulting negatives using a very high contrast filter. The high contrast filter really exaggerates the grainy look.

I am very pleased with the results and now have two of the HP5+ pictures hanging in my office at work (see attachment). I can get TMZ sized grain from HP5+ by doubling the enlargement size and cropping down (as in these examples), but you have to plan for that when you're shooting.

I plan to be doing a lot more of this is the future. And that's coming from someone who has, up to now, made it his mission in life to squeeze the best fine grain performance possible out of a 35mm frame. I also plan to try print developer sometime, since it's often highly recommended.

-Dave
 

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P.S. There are also negative intensification techniques that enhance grain. I haven't tried it yet, but you can probably find info about it in The Negative (Adams) and Tim Rudman's book. Perhaps there are people here who could elaborate on it some.

-Dave
 
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