developer for 400 asa film at full box speed

bogeyes · Oct 18, 2007

I have a few old 35mm compact cameras that I like to use with 400 asa film: 400tx, hp5, 400 delta and tmax400 (just about any 400 B&W film) My question is can you recommend a film developer off the shelf or home brew that will give full box speed? I also want to develop different branded films altogether in one (four reel) paterson tank.

fschifano · Oct 18, 2007

Yes, D-76, ID-11, and XTOL will all deliver box speed from the films you've mentioned. Microphen, and perhaps DDX will deliver slightly more film speed. I'm sure there are others. I'm sure someone will expound upon the virtues of stand processing in highly dilute Rodinal as well. On that subject, the less said by me the better because I don't feel like starting a pissing match. If the films all require the same development times, there is no reason not to develop them together. That's not often the case, so I suggest you check the manufacturer's tech sheets before proceeding.

fhovie · Oct 18, 2007

all of the above and PC-TEA

Neanderman · Oct 18, 2007

bogeyes said:
I have a few old 35mm compact cameras that I like to use with 400 asa film: 400tx, hp5, 400 delta and tmax400 (just about any 400 B&W film) My question is can you recommend a film developer off the shelf or home brew that will give full box speed? I also want to develop different branded films altogether in one (four reel) paterson tank.

It's highly unlikely that you'll find a single developer that will deliver the same development time for that many different films. Your best bet is to download some documents from the various manufacturer's web sites and do some comparisons. Kodak and Ilford (and Fuji) all have published documents with development 'starting' points for their films. The Kodak doc for XTol will have times for all of these films, so that might be a good place to start.

Ed

mrtoml · Oct 19, 2007

I develop different brands at box speed in the same tank using Prescysol EF.

Charlie-J · Oct 19, 2007

I have found X-Tol to be very good for 400asa B&W films
If you want a developer where you can develop all your films (regardless of speed) in one go in a multi reel tank You might like to give Diafine a try. You will get quite a speed increase with TX and HP5+

Charlie

Paul Howell · Oct 19, 2007

[ I also want to develop different branded films altogether in one (four reel) paterson tank.[/QUOTE]

I assume that you can set the ISO/ASA on these camera, as already mentioned Dianafine in the only developer that you develop different brands and different ISO in the same tank. I think HP5 and TriX are rated at 1200, but I dont recall the speed for Delta or TMX. The time is 3 mints in Solution A and 3 mints in Solution B, water for stop, then fix. Mixing Tgrain such as TMax 400 with TriX can be a problem with the fixing times.

bogeyes · Oct 19, 2007

mrtoml said:
I develop different brands at box speed in the same tank using Prescysol EF.

Just had a look at prescysol and it looks like it will suit my needs, it is quite expensive at £16 inc shipping. Is there a variation of pyrocat hd that will achieve what I am after?

audible · Oct 19, 2007

yes i was going to suggest pyrocat hd. prescysol seems very similar.

can develop different kinds of films at box speed in the same tank with the same timing.

jd callow · Oct 19, 2007

I'm no B&W expert, but it would seem to me that you first must do an excellent job of metering so that you will be exposing for the speed of the film. It may seem pedantic, but if you were to use a spot meter and compare it to an incident reading you might be surprised.

I can't speak to one dev for all films, or even which dev for which films, but I can suggest that you investigate semi stand dev (thank you Don Cardwell). Semi stand seems to, in my limited experience, allow for 'better' development across the entire tonal range. Semi stand allows you get the shadow detail whilst avoiding blocked up highlights. The end result tends to come closer to meeting ones (or my) expectations with regard to b&w film speeds and contrast range.

YMMV -- greatly

Dave Miller · Oct 19, 2007

mrtoml said:
I develop different brands at box speed in the same tank using Prescysol EF.

That would be my recommendation too.

john_s · Oct 20, 2007

bogeyes said:
I have a few old 35mm compact cameras that I like to use with 400 asa film: 400tx, hp5, 400 delta and tmax400 (just about any 400 B&W film) My question is can you recommend a film developer off the shelf or home brew that will give full box speed? I also want to develop different branded films altogether in one (four reel) paterson tank.

Would life be easier if you settled on one 400 speed film for this type of camera? When we use a simple camera that thwarts exposure control we use HP5+ and Microphen or DDX. I think that in addition to getting "box speed" you might want a bit more since metering can be a bit mean with those cameras. Hence our choice of Microphen/DDX.

Roger Hicks · Oct 20, 2007

john_s said:
Would life be easier if you settled on one 400 speed film for this type of camera? When we use a simple camera that thwarts exposure control we use HP5+ and Microphen or DDX. I think that in addition to getting "box speed" you might want a bit more since metering can be a bit mean with those cameras. Hence our choice of Microphen/DDX.

Seconded. True ISO of HP5 Plus in DDX or Microphen = 650+. Much better tonality with point-and-shoot metering at 400 or 320.

But a lot of people confuse ISO and EI, and don't really understand what ISO means.

Cheers,

Roger

bogeyes · Oct 22, 2007

Roger Hicks said:
Seconded. True ISO of HP5 Plus in DDX or Microphen = 650+. Much better tonality with point-and-shoot metering at 400 or 320.

But a lot of people confuse ISO and EI, and don't really understand what ISO means.

Cheers,

Roger

Shot a roll of 400tx in my Ricoh GR10 (bought as new from ebay for less than £10) this is a very slim pocket camera. It is not the exspensive Ricoh gr1. Developed the film in Ilford DDx and I like the look of the negs. I have not printed them yet but here is a neg I scanned. Thanks to everyone who contributed, when I have used up my present developers I shall try prescysol it is on my xmas list.

developer for 400 asa film at full box speed

bogeyes

fschifano

fhovie

Neanderman

mrtoml

Charlie-J

Paul Howell

bogeyes

audible

jd callow

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Dave Miller

john_s

Roger Hicks

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developer for 400 asa film at full box speed

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