Calibrating Kodak 400TX with HC-110 advice needed

[MattKing]

I was 4 years old in 1960, and @Augustus Caesar was apparently 10.
I guess some are better with dealing with change than others....
Now I need to go report myself.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I was 4 years old in 1960, and @Augustus Caesar was apparently 10.
I guess some are better with dealing with change than others....
Now I need to go report myself.

I'm the same exact age as Mr. Caesar and change comes hard sometimes. I'm always willing to try and that's the most important thing. Skip reporting yourself Matt and just give yourself 40 lashes with a wet noodle instead.

 

[Kino]

I'll leave this... here:

Personalizing Your Film Speed, Part 1

Personalizing Your Film Speed, Part 2

 

[Augustus Caesar]

All sorts.
But at least 2/3 are 35mm and 120 cameras with focal plane shutters.
And most importantly, with a "focus" (pun intended) on mid-tone and highlight rendition - the parts of the image that most viewers react most strongly to.
That is what the print viewing tests concentrate on, because that is what human beings are most attuned to.
And it is that which the ISO standards are based upon.
In my experience, a lot of old style photographers pay a lot more attention to how shadows render. They are well served in that endeavour by adding extra exposure.

But that testing was done before the 1960 change.

 

[Augustus Caesar]

I'll leave this... here:

Personalizing Your Film Speed, Part 1

Personalizing Your Film Speed, Part 2

You really don't need to do this. Just understand that if you are using a focal-plane shutter camera, you should set your ISO speed to 2/3 what's on the box to start with. It's that simple (assuming your cameras are in spec).

 

[Milpool]

Oh no

 

[John Wiegerink]

Oh no

Oh yes!

 

[MattKing]

But that testing was done before the 1960 change.

Yes - and then an extra stop of exposure was added as an additional safety factor because of the film formats (moderately large, with corresponding less issue with grain), camera technologies (a predominance of box cameras) and films of the time.
By 1960, the camera technologies and films had improved, and the predominant formats had become much smaller.
The improvements to the cameras and film made the safety factor much less necessary, and the reduction in size of of the formats meant that over-exposure created a much greater problem with grain.
So the ASA standard was corrected by removing the additional safety factor - it became true to the actual recommended exposure, in any situation where a safety factor was no longer necessary.
Under the pre-1960 standard, if your camera was a better one, and was properly adjusted, and you were using a good quality film, then optimum exposure would be obtained with one less stop of light than a meter set to the earlier ASA would reads. The 1960 change made that unnecessary.

 

[moofy]

Arguing about 70+ year old film speed changes and the merits of leaf or focal plane shutters isn’t going to help our original poster expose and shoot tri-x. I think most of this information stopped being relevant several decades before I was born for what it’s worth.

There’s no real answer to what development times to use other than testing more and finding what you’re happy with. All I would say is make sure that you shoot your next tests with specific, intentional metering of the same scene rather than eyeballing it and putting in lots of different shots.

My suggestion is to try it at 400 with the developer documentation for whatever dilution you decide upon, see if that’s the density that you want to scan or print with and adjust ISO or development times accordingly.