Developers for TMY2

lawrenceimpey · Nov 28, 2013

I've been developing quite a lot of TMY2 recently, however I'm not totally happy with the results. The developer is Xtol (replenished) and although it's technically excellent (small, sharp grain and good tones) it's just a bit too smooth for my taste. It just lacks the kind of punch I like.

I'm not sure that switching to 1+1 would make a significant difference and I don't like grain that screams 'look at me' but if there's alternative to Xtol that would be worth trying please let me know.

timor · Nov 28, 2013

Did you try any other developer with TMY2 ?

Richard S. (rich815) · Nov 28, 2013

I find some good "snap" with it in HC-110:

Shoshone Falls Rolleiwide TMY-2 HC-110dilH 10min 21C 1minAg2x 2012-06 VSmac 9000 Scan-120830-0008 by rich8155 (Richard Sintchak), on Flickr

mrred · Nov 28, 2013

You could just try more agitation. I always loved xtol 1:2. This one uses Xtol 1:2 and a post selenium bath.

As of late, I am kinda addicted to thornton 2 bath.

JLP · Nov 28, 2013

Give Tmax RS a try, I think it will be a little more to your liking. I use it 1+9 @ 24C and it gives me full box speed.

polyglot · Nov 28, 2013

I use Xtol 1+1 with continuous agitation. You can make it as smooth or as snappy as you like depending on EI.

If you want more bite, Rodinal 1+50 works pretty well but you WILL get grain. Alternatively, I reckon TMY2 at 800-1600 in Xtol 1+1 has really good contrast and snap to it - similar tonality to the Rodinal at EI400 but you get 1 or 2 stops more speed and less grain.

You can see examples on my flickr, I tag all my photos with film and dev, for example at 400 and 800 or rodinal.

erikg · Nov 28, 2013

I love Pyrocat with TMY, easily my favorite combo in all formats.

timor · Nov 28, 2013

Depends on what you are doing, TMY2 works very well with orange and red filters.

chriscrawfordphoto · Nov 28, 2013

D-76 1+1, Tmax Developer 1+7, and PMK Pyro all work well for TMY-2 for me.

Here is a page full of examples from these developers, labeled so you can see what was used for each.

http://chriscrawfordphoto.com/technical/film-examples/tmax400.php

I have not tried Xtol with TMY-2, but I have never liked it with any other film I have tried. D-76, Tmax Developer, and PMK are all great developers for this film.

jp498 · Nov 28, 2013

Nothing wrong with tmy2+xtol. If it needs more punch/snap, give it more agitation. Like every 30s instead of a minute if that's what you were doing, or a couple extra inversions at each interval. Another option is to up the temperature a degree or two.

It's very responsive to changes in development, and can have as many different looks as you want depending on how it's developed, what developer is used, etc...

I've used xtol, d76, pmk, and pyrocat-hd with good results. I most commonly use pyrocat-hd.

Tom Kershaw · Nov 28, 2013

Just to add my voice that XTOL (1+1 in my case) works very well with TMY-2 and I have settled on the developer after some experimentation over the last few years. D-76 / ID-11 works fine as well.

Tom

Dave Swinnard · Nov 28, 2013

Another vote for Xtol, though I like mine in the 1+3 dilution, though the last couple of years I've been using Pyrocat HD (glycol) almost exclusively. (have the chems, and don't have to order it or travel to find it. (...last photo store around here closed years ago, and it's a major trip to any supplier that might have any Xtol. And since this is Canada, shipping anything isn't cheap.)

lawrenceimpey · Nov 29, 2013

Many thanks for all the replies. To those who said that Xtol works well, I am not disagreeing if that's the look you want it's just that I am not totally happy with it. It's not just a question of giving more agitation or development time because I'm not looking to increase overall contrast, what I want is more micro contrast (acutance) like I got ten years ago with the old TMY and Paterson Acutol (now sadly discontinued). The problem with Rodinal is that the grain is rather too large for my taste. What I was looking for was something with a bit of bite but not overly grainy.

Lawrence

subsole · Nov 29, 2013

PMK gives you full 400 asa and razor sharp images.
15 min at 21°C,agitation every 15 seconds.

Cheers
Wolfgang

brian steinberger · Nov 29, 2013

lawrenceimpey said:
The problem with Rodinal is that the grain is rather too large for my taste. What I was looking for was something with a bit of bite but not overly grainy.

Lawrence

I was just going to recommend Rodinal. But if you're looking for slightly less grain with sharpness, try D-76/ID-11 at the 1:3 dilution.

MDR · Nov 29, 2013

I'll second Chris Crawfords opinion t-Max 1+7 and D76 are great developers for TMY-400 and might give you what you want. Rodinal 1:25 or 1:50 should give you plenty of snap as well.
As a note I never understood most photographers reluctance to use Kodak's T-Max developer and the RS version they are great especially the RS version.

removed account4 · Nov 29, 2013

ansco 130 or dektol
a130 72 deg 1:8 about 7mins
dek 1:7 68 deg 7 mins

or caffenol c
i use caf c with 15 cc of spent print dev in it

ymmv

Richard S. (rich815) · Nov 29, 2013

Probably would have been simpler to ask which developers do NOT work with TMY-2!

RalphLambrecht · Nov 29, 2013

have you tried plain D76at1+1?

Keith Tapscott. · Nov 29, 2013

TMY2 and D-76 diluted 1+1 is a superb combination.

timor · Nov 29, 2013

rich815 said:
Probably would have been simpler to ask which developers do NOT work with TMY-2!

I would vote here for Ilfosol 3.

pbromaghin · Nov 29, 2013

What's wrong with tmax developer with tmax film?

dynachrome · Nov 29, 2013

Terms like micro contrast and acutance are old expressions used mostly for 35mm film. With very fine grain films you do not need either effect. If you can't get the results you want with a film as good as TMY2 in the 35mm format then just use a larger format. Going from 35mm up to 6X7 will give you an excellent 8X10 or 11X14 and you will not have to try to get micro contrast of acutance. This is because the edges between tones will not just appear sharp. They will actually be sharp.

polyglot · Nov 30, 2013

Yes. You can get a flawless 16x20" from 6x7 TMY2.

StoneNYC · Nov 30, 2013

Another vote for Rodinal 1:50 TMY-2 is so fine already it doesn't hurt with a LITTLE grain, and I feel it gives some nice pop, I hand process, each agitation every minute is only ONE very gentile inversion, not 2 or 3 or 10 seconds but a single gentile inversion and back. Seems to help give it some nice pop

Developers for TMY2

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