Favourite films to soup in Diafine

[Lachlan Young]

Simple question - what are your favourite films for souping in Diafine? Thus far I have used HP5+ (just don't overexpose this!) at EI 800, FP4+ at EI250 with excellent smooth results and Pan-f which gave very detailed but very thin negs which are great fun to print! I am going to try some plus-X at the weekend and was wondering what films have given you the best results when souped in Diafine. BTW Don Cardwell's comment about seasonong Diafine before use is a very good idea as the difference in results it makes are very noticable!

Thanks,

LAchlan

 

[jim appleyard]

I've never used Diafine, but I do read about it and it's on my "to-do" list. One of everyone's favorite films for Diafine is Tri-X. Some folks have gone so far to say the
diafine was created for Tri-X.

 

[kwmullet]

Not because of the quality of the results, but because it worked at all, my favorite films to run through Diafine are Kodacolor-X and Kodacolor-VR, both in 126 cartridges from the 1960s and 1970s:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/circlesofconfusion/sets/72057594058493951/

Film was kept in a plastic bag, in hot cars, a hall closet in an apartment that was nearly gutted by a hurricane in 1983 and other non-archival locations until I finally worked my way through them just to see if there was anything salvageable.

-KwM-

 

[DBP]

Tri-X, though I do use it occasionally with other films. Mostly I use Rodinal with slow films and Diafine with fast.

 

[reellis67]

I've always gotten nice results from Tri-X 400 @ 1200 and HP5+ @ 800. I keep it around, but it's not my main developer. There are time when it fits the bill though...

- Randy

 

[fschifano]

Diafine and Tri-X are a really good pairing if you need the extra speed. Rate this combination at EI 1250 to 1600 and there's not much that can beat it overall.

Second on the list would be HP5+. You can't get quite as much speed out of this combination, but it does quite well at EI 800. Don't expect "fine art" results from either of these combinations, but they work great for street shooting in low light.

FP4+ rated at EI 250 isn't too bad, though I really don't see the point. You get a better tonal response with Tri-X or HP5+ rated normally and developed in something like d-76 or XTOL. Naturally, there is a bit more grain with the faster films, but that's the price you pay.

Plus-X rated at EI 400 was a disaster the one and only time I used it. I don't think you can really get that much speed from this film in Diafine. Besides, this film is just so lovely in D-76 it's a shame to waste it in Diafine. I've never been tempted to use this combination again.

TMX rated at EI 160 gives you printable negatives. Other than that, I can't think of anything else good to say about the combination. There's no compelling reason to use this combination. It gives you a 2/3 stop speed increase with a lousy tonal range. This film gives better looking prints when pushed to EI 200 in something like XTOL.