Film/Developer combo for fine grain and sharpness?

Hello,
I am looking for a film/developer combo that will yield very fine grain and high sharpness when enlarged to 20"x24". I don't like seeing grain that much. I shoot 6x7 medium format using 120 film. I need a developer with a long shelf life. I have some ACU-1 hanging around, any thoughts?

Dan

I'd suggest Ilford Delta 100 developed in Formulary FX2. The resulting negatives are sharp, smooth and virtually grainless. Kodak HC110 is also an excellent developer for Delta 100, as is Ilford Perceptol.
Have fun trying them.

Kodak TMax 100, Ilford Delta 100, Fuji Neopan Acros, Ilford Pan-F+.

Any of those in Xtol (especially as replenished) will yield extremely fine grain and great sharpness.

Xtol has a shelf life of about six months as stock solution. The replenished batch will last indefinitely. If you don't use it, replenish 100ml every two weeks anyway.

- Thomas

Same recommendations as Thomas but in a different order Pan F followed by Delta or Tmax100 and Xtol dilute 1+2 or replenished or Perceptol at 1+2. Stay away from HC110 as it's not the best developer for fine grain.

Pan-F & Perceptol 1+2 will give the least grain with excellent sharpness but with a speed loss. Welcome to APUG BTW

Ian

Thanks for the welcome Ian--I noticed that Ilford lists developing times for 1:1 dilutions and 1:3 dilutions for Perceptol. Where might be a good starting point for development time when using Pan-F and Perceptol 1:2?

podin04 said:

Thanks for the welcome Ian--I noticed that Ilford lists developing times for 1:1 dilutions and 1:3 dilutions for Perceptol. Where might be a good starting point for development time when using Pan-F and Perceptol 1:2?

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Around 12½ to 13 minutes at 20°C at 1+2.

Ian

I should say Efke 25 or Rollei Pan 25 and any high acutance developer like: Rodinal, Tetenal neofin Blau, Beutler A+B, FX-1 where Rodinal has the longest life span and FX-1 has the highest acutance.
In principle the single layer Efke emulsions will give the sharpest impression.

Pan F, T-Max 100, Acros, and Delta 100 are the films I would suggest. X-Tol would be a good all-around developer that gives fine grain. However, HC-110 would also work fine IMO, as long as you use a strong dilution of it to keep the sodium sulfite level high. (Use dil. B or stronger.) you could also try a pyro developer, such as PMK.

If you really want to take it to the extreme, try Rollei ATP1.1 in POTA. The film has extraordinary resolution and no grain to speak of, in pretty much any developer. But you need to tame the contrast very heavily (hence the POTA developer), and this makes it a very slow in practice, when used for continuous tone. But IMO you really don't need to go that far, especially with medium format. T-Max 100 will be just fine, and more easy to use.

Michael R 1974 said:

Ian, TMAX 100 in a general purpose developer such as DDX, or in Perceptol 1+1, and 1+3, is substantially finer grained than Pan F.

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That's not most peoples experience which is why Pan F is still manufactured. I have a couple of friends who use Pan F & Perceptol with MF and the results are outstanding.

Ian

With 6x7 format? You can shoot pretty much any 400 or slower modern film, develop normally in good old ID11 or D76, and get very nice, fine-grained, tonally smooth 24" prints. Have you already experienced offensive grain, is that why you ask? If so, I am curious what you are using.

very fine grain and high sharpness

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With 6x7 format?

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Very fine grain is an iso 25 films and Efke will give you very high sharpness.
Another possibility is an Ortho film, very high resolution, fine grain and sharp. But also iso 25.

If you go in between: An Orthopan film, high resolution, reasonable fine grain, sharp like the Efke 25-50 films and the Rollei Retro 100 TONAL.

Apart from this the already mentioned micro films but then you need the special chemicals and you're limited in overall light contrast situations.