dev recommendations?

[veke]

I am using Kodak Tmax100 Professional and TMax Developer. Are there recommended dev charts, somewhere? I need times for various temperatures, 20,22 and 24 degreec Celsius. And also various dilutions, 1:4 and 1:9 especially. Roll film. Small tank. If those are vital to know.

If there is a topic already here, please give me a link. Or a link somewhere else, perhaps.

 

[markbarendt]

There's the Kodak Tech Pub for Tmax 100 for a start.

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f4016/f4016.pdf

 

[markbarendt]

Then the Tmax developer Tech Pub

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j86/j86.pdf

 

[Rick A]

And of course, the MDC at Digital Truth
http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?Film=TMax+100&Developer=TMax+Dev&mdc=Search&TempUnits=C

 

[veke]

ok, I will check those links, thanks!
What I have found from the internet do lack some temperatures, there may be 20C and 24C but nothing between those, perhaps I must try the time between those. And from The Big Public on various forums someone recommends 13 minutes and the next one 17 minutes. There is a huge gap between those in practice, and in results. I would understand a difference of 30 seconds, not 4 minutes.

I will start with dilution 1:9, 24 degrees C and time 13,5 minutes. The time is so long and dilution quite "weak" so that might be a good point to start with. Not much difference in result whether the time is plus/minus 15 seconds, I think. Or the temperatue is plus minus 1 degree. After this first test the next development will be a perfect one (sigh)

 

[markbarendt]

Every time and temp you find should be viewed as a place to start not an absolute way to do it. Like cooking you season your developing to your own taste.

Before you start seasoning development though you need to take the photo clear to paper, then you will know what corrections you had to apply to get what you wanted. Only when you know what correction you normally apply to get the prints will you really know how to adjust your film development. Adjusting one without the other is like one hand clapping.

 

[gone]

I prefer the sound of one hand clapping.

 

[Dr Croubie]

Like cooking you season your developing to your own taste.

So I should taste my film halfway through developing and add some more tabasco?

 

[MattKing]

ok, I will check those links, thanks!
What I have found from the internet do lack some temperatures, there may be 20C and 24C but nothing between those, perhaps I must try the time between those. And from The Big Public on various forums someone recommends 13 minutes and the next one 17 minutes. There is a huge gap between those in practice, and in results. I would understand a difference of 30 seconds, not 4 minutes.

I will start with dilution 1:9, 24 degrees C and time 13,5 minutes. The time is so long and dilution quite "weak" so that might be a good point to start with. Not much difference in result whether the time is plus/minus 15 seconds, I think. Or the temperatue is plus minus 1 degree. After this first test the next development will be a perfect one (sigh)

1) Start with the manufacturer's recommendations;
2) For temperatures that are between two recommended temperatures, just extrapolate on a linear basis (e.g. for each degree between 20C and 24C just adjust the time by 1/4 of the difference between the times recommended for 20C and 24C);
3) Print the results;
4) If you need more contrast, increase the time until you get what you need. If you need less contrast, decrease the time until you get what you need.

 

[veke]

my darkroom technique looks like clapping with two feet. Two left ones.

Mark has a good point, we are individuals and like negs and photos to "look like us." I have tried to capture the feeling of the 50´s, I love the softness in portraits and street views of those times. Some may love drama, and so forth. For some reason my skills are not on the same level as my imagination. Mysterious.

 

[markbarendt]

For some reason my skills are not on the same level as my imagination. Mysterious.

I think that's true for all of us.

Matt's advice is good.

With the 50s look you're talking about, I assume you're talking about the likes of Elliot Erwitt and Henri Cartier_Bresson ... It is a nice style.

The contrast of most of their shots appears to me to be very "normal", i.e. by the book Tri-X in D-76. That style is not particularly concerned with the edges of the exposure range either, they aren't trying to fit a measured SBR to their paper. They aren't out to get the fine detail of the grey rock under the bush all the way up to the fine gradations in the clouds; as long as the mid-tones fall well, they are good to go.

Your Tmax 100 may look a bit snappier/more contrasty than that done normally, just the nature of the beast, lower iso number films tend to be more contrasty than higher numbered films. Doesn't mean you cant get where you want to go, just something to keep in mind as you make your development decisions.