box speed: tmax 100 vs acros

destroya · Sep 7, 2018

I'm wondering what you guys/gals think is the better film shot at box speed (or which is the faster film) between the 2. I'll be bringing tmax 400 in 35mm and 120 for the faster speed (I can shoot that at 200 as well) but would like some slower film for brighter outdoor scenes. I have bulk rolls of both, so both are an option, as well as rollei retro 80s, which only gets to 64 in beutler, as well as 1 last bulk roll of plus-X. I'm looking for a negative that I can enlarge to 11x14 if its a good shot, otherwise 8x10

the developers I use are
XTOL replenished
Pyrocat-M/HD
rodinal ( not a box speed developer but i have it)
others that can be made from bulk chems like beutler or d-76 etc...

so, any help or ideas would be very welcome!

John

destroya · Sep 7, 2018

sorry, forgot to add

I usually shoot most B&W films at half box seed. I shoot color at box

btaylor · Sep 7, 2018

Sorry, no help with the Acros; but I did do a series of exposure and development tests with Tmax 100 developed in Tmax RS. Tmax 100 rated at 100 at published development time made the best prints for me.

Rick A · Sep 8, 2018

I much prefer Acros for smaller formats, I have a good stash in 120, I no longer shoot 135 but shot quite a bit of Acros when I did. My second choice would be Ilford Delta, either 100 or 400 over Kodak T Max film, a much more forgiving film for me. Before you all start hating for that statement, I've given Kodak many years of my time and money, I just don't like it.

Bill Burk · Sep 8, 2018

I’ve shot lots of TMAX 100 at 100. But I always develop in D-76 1:1

I would rate it at 64 or 80 knowing what I know now.

The only time I was unhappy with the results was when I needed 400 speed and it was what I had in the camera. Plus Maria Muldaur sternly asked me what I was doing when I was taking her picture. So an unpleasant experience and disappointing pictures.

Otherwise it’s good film.

Vaughn · Sep 8, 2018

Bill Burk said:
The only time I was unhappy with the results was when I needed 400 speed and it was what I had in the camera. Plus Maria Muldaur sternly asked me what I was doing when I was taking her picture. So an unpleasant experience and disappointing pictures.

Otherwise it’s good film.

Ahh, the seductive voice of Midnight at the Oasis! Quite a career.

I would think the biggest difference will be on long exposures. Both are good at reducing reciprosity failure (compared to conventional film), but I think Acros might be slightly faster there, but you have TMax400 for that.

Have a great trip!

GLS · Sep 8, 2018

Vaughn said:
Both are good at reducing reciprosity failure (compared to conventional film), but I think Acros might be slightly faster there

There's no comparison between the two in this regard. According to the data sheets Acros requires no correction out to 2 minutes, whereas T-Max 100 requires a correction after only 1 second.

Vaughn · Sep 8, 2018

GLS said:
There's no comparison between the two in this regard. According to the data sheets Acros requires no correction out to 2 minutes, whereas T-Max 100 requires a correction after only 1 second.

Thanks. I sometimes take naps during my exposures...

Alan Edward Klein · Sep 8, 2018

What are the qualities among Acros, Tmax, and Delta that you like and don;t like?

RalphLambrecht · Sep 9, 2018

destroya said:
I'm wondering what you guys/gals think is the better film shot at box speed (or which is the faster film) between the 2. I'll be bringing tmax 400 in 35mm and 120 for the faster speed (I can shoot that at 200 as well) but would like some slower film for brighter outdoor scenes. I have bulk rolls of both, so both are an option, as well as rollei retro 80s, which only gets to 64 in beutler, as well as 1 last bulk roll of plus-X. I'm looking for a negative that I can enlarge to 11x14 if its a good shot, otherwise 8x10

the developers I use are
XTOL replenished
Pyrocat-M/HD
rodinal ( not a box speed developer but i have it)
others that can be made from bulk chems like beutler or d-76 etc...

so, any help or ideas would be very welcome!

John

TMax100 works just fine in D76 or XtolI shoot TMax100 at EI 80-100

Bill Burk · Sep 9, 2018

Alan Edward Klein said:
What are the qualities among Acros, Tmax, and Delta that you like and don;t like?

Let me start with a useful quality of TMAX 400. It has incredible latent image stability. I once had an eight year backlog of sheet film to develop and when I finally did, the negatives came out fine.

removedacct1 · Sep 9, 2018

I shoot (well, past tense in regard to Acros) both at 64ASA and process accordingly. But comparing the two films I’ve found Acros considerably more grainy (and its coarse grain) compared to TMX, and TMX has much better sharpness when needed. Aside from its remarkable reciprocity traits, I don’t think Acros has much to offer compared to many Kodak and Ilford emulsions.

Alan Edward Klein · Sep 9, 2018

Bill Burk said:
Let me start with a useful quality of TMAX 400. It has incredible latent image stability. I once had an eight year backlog of sheet film to develop and when I finally did, the negatives came out fine.

Bill: Glad to hear that. I have a roll of Tmax 100 that used 4 shots sitting in a hot garage (and cold too) for over a year. I was too cheap to send it out to process until I finish the rest of the shots. When I finally get the film shot and processed, it will be interesting to see how it handles exposed and unexposed portions sitting and then exposed afterwards.

pentaxuser · Sep 9, 2018

Bill Burk said:
Let me start with a useful quality of TMAX 400. It has incredible latent image stability.

Better than Maria Muldaur's latent image stability? In the ensuing years since that record came out my image stability has suffered grievously. I have even tried standing in Rodinal for a week without any agitation from the wife but it did no good. It sounded like she wanted you to put your cameras to bed as well as your camels

pentaxuser

MattKing · Sep 9, 2018

Alan Edward Klein said:
Bill: Glad to hear that. I have a roll of Tmax 100 that used 4 shots sitting in a hot garage (and cold too) for over a year. I was too cheap to send it out to process until I finish the rest of the shots. When I finally get the film shot and processed, it will be interesting to see how it handles exposed and unexposed portions sitting and then exposed afterwards.

Alan:
Good luck, but I don't think you can necessarily extrapolate experience with T-Max 400 to a situation with T-Max 100. There are similarities between the films, but there are substantial differences as well.
Just ask Kodak about their differing experiences with the wrapper offset problem!

Andrew O'Neill · Sep 9, 2018

Couldn't tell you about box speed as I've never used it... I can tell you that they both look great at EI 64, though.

GLS · Sep 10, 2018

I shoot Acros at EI 80 and develop in Pyrocat-HD with excellent results. T-Max 100 gives similar results in this developer, but isn't as sharp IMO.

destroya · Sep 10, 2018

thanks guys. packed acros and rollei retro 80s for my slow films and tmax 400 for fast in 35mm. also brought some of my secret secret stash of agfa APX 100 in 35mm for some classic looking shots

box speed: tmax 100 vs acros

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box speed: tmax 100 vs acros

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