How should I develop Ilford 3200?

[get_me_a_gun]

Ive tried rodinal 1+25 but Ive gotten some screwy results.. should I use a less concentrated developer?.. Would rodinal be okay at 1+50 or should i try going down even more? Should i just buy a small bottle of sprint?

Thanks for your help
Lisa

 

[David H. Bebbington]

Ilford
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/200613019405339.pdf
recommend Ilfotec DD-X, because they think you want the finest possible grain. Rodinal will of course give a very pronounced grain pattern and also less than full film speed. Note that the data sheet says that Delta 3200 has a true speed of only ISO 1000 - the setting of 3200 really only applies to low-contrast subjects where you are giving extended development. How are your results "screwy"? Too contrasty with no shadow detail? If so, start with the Ilford recommendation on page 3 of the above data sheet but use a speed setting no higher than EI 800, maybe even 500, and the Ilford recommendation for this speed of Rodinal 1 + 25, 7 minutes at 20°C. Slight fine-tuning from this starting point should do the trick.

Regards,

David

 

[FrankB]

A lot of people on the forum (including me!) recommend developing Delta 3200 for the next speed up i.e. shoot at 1600 and develop for 3200, shoot at 3200 and develop for 6400. Ilford's recommended times are usually pretty good but I find that for Delta 3200 they give very thin negs indeed.

DD-X is one of the recommended soups, and the one I usually use and have had good results from. Grain junkies (like Mr McLean ) like Delta 3200 in Rodinal and frequently push it... ...and also get good results ('good' in this case being a very large understatement!).

(Mind you, I reckon Les could dev his film in ale, fix it with a stern glance and still come back with a print that'd blow everyone's socks off... )

 

[poutnik]

I've shot Delta3200 and developed in Tetenal Ultrafin, but I asked a similar question some weeks ago, you can have a look at a (there was a url link here which no longer exists) concerning this subject.

Jiri

 

[kb244]

Depending on the desired results, if you want the grain sharp, use rodinal or even ilfosolS, however if you don't want the grain pattern so pronounced try microphen, I tried microphen with anything 400 and over it appears to give reasonable results especially if you want to enlarge but you dont want to see distinct grain pattern ( which delta 3200 has plenty of ).

 

[argus]

Ive tried rodinal 1+25 but Ive gotten some screwy results.. should I use a less concentrated developer?.. Would rodinal be okay at 1+50 or should i try going down even more? Should i just buy a small bottle of sprint?

Thanks for your help
Lisa

Rodinal is not very suited for high speed films.

Better is to use Microphen for Delta3200. As mentioned before, overdeveloping a stop is not a bad idea. I do it all the time.

G

 

[get_me_a_gun]

Ilford
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/200613019405339.pdf
recommend Ilfotec DD-X, because they think you want the finest possible grain. Rodinal will of course give a very pronounced grain pattern and also less than full film speed. Note that the data sheet says that Delta 3200 has a true speed of only ISO 1000 - the setting of 3200 really only applies to low-contrast subjects where you are giving extended development. How are your results "screwy"? Too contrasty with no shadow detail? If so, start with the Ilford recommendation on page 3 of the above data sheet but use a speed setting no higher than EI 800, maybe even 500, and the Ilford recommendation for this speed of Rodinal 1 + 25, 7 minutes at 20°C. Slight fine-tuning from this starting point should do the trick.

Regards,

David

I didnt want to say it but i think my exposures may have been wrong.. but the results were really dark and extremely high contrast. I tried printing them and the blacks were way to dark. So DD-X would be better? : )

 

[David H. Bebbington]

I didnt want to say it but i think my exposures may have been wrong.. but the results were really dark and extremely high contrast. I tried printing them and the blacks were way to dark. So DD-X would be better? : )

As I said, to get a "normal" negative with Delta 3200 (for example a daytime landscape, as opposed to a grab shot in a dimly lit bar at 3 am), you will need to use a speed setting (exposure index or EI) of about 650 - this allows for the fact that the real ISO speed of Delta 3200 is ISO 1000 and also for the fact that Rodinal does not give full film speed with most modern films. Apart from this, the main characteristic of Rodinal is that it gives a pronounced compact grain structure (much more pronounced, of course, with a very fast film like Delta 3200). You should therefore use Rodinal with Delta 3200 ONLY if you really WANT a lot of grain and don't mind losing about 2/3 of a stop of film speed. Assuming your camera is working correctly (has it given good exposures with other kinds of film?), set it to the EI (speed number) you want to use (maximum 650 with Rodinal and normal contrast subject, much higher number if you really need the speed and can afford to lose shadow detail). Process according to the table in the Ilford data sheet. The only difference between processing in Rodinal and DD-X is that DD-X gives much finer grain and full speed, Rodinal gives gritty grain and 2/3 of stop less speed. The only way to get shadow detail in your negatives and at the same time cut contrast is to give a lot more exposure and cut development time. Look at the data sheet and have another go!

Regards,

David

 

[Daniel_OB]

David HB, rodinal, as I know do not cut film speed. The most pronounced characterstic of rodinal is high acutance. This can be reason that grain, in high speed films, might be “looks” larger when processed in rodinal. They are actually not larger just more visible.
Pan-F in Rodinal has iso64 (my two batches), Delta100 my present batch is iso100, previous two were iso125 and iso160, HP5+ once had iso650 and iso400 next batch, Delta3200 was iso1200….

Rodinal (and like) is the best choice for high quality lenses like Leica, some Nikkors, Zeiss, Schneider, Rodenstock,.... and is not the best for soft lenses (like lenses for female portraiture, or Nikkor 1.4/85AF used at F1.4 to F2) or when softar is used... It is very good choice for very fine details in shades especialy for smaller formats as 35mm and 56x56mm (like Hasselblad).

Development time however a lot depends of water used for developer, its ph value and all of that chemicals found in. Only destiled and boiled water has around ph7. I use tap water and development time may considerably differ from time in other region. But I found that for grade 2 paper (ilford), condenser enlarger (that I use mostly) developing time is very different then what ilford offer (and agfa too). Time for Delta100 is 7min and 45 sec with rodinal 1:50 at 20 deg.C and agitation each min for 10 sec. Film speed (working) can also be different for different lenses too for e.g. F5.6 is not the same aperture area on different lenses, and difference go up to +/- 1/3 F stop even for the same manufacturer. So to properly expose the film to get max out of it req. is also that one knows his lenses and camera (shutter also has deviations form camera to camera, even more than F stops).

The best for Delta3200, for blind guess, is to set meter on iso 1200 for daylight, and iso iso1000 for artificial light (around 3200 K) as domestic light bulb is, or for street night photography. Rodinal is not bad choice because that films are usually used for dramatic scenes and large grain will add drama due to mysterious appearance of the grains on the photos. Rodinal should be 1:25 and as I just can remember this moment the time is around 12 min (not 100% sure) at 20 deg.C. In 1:50 time is very long (around twice).

I will get for tomorow exact developing time for Delta3200 I use (not promising), and will update THIS post.

 

[Gerald Koch]

Development time however a lot depends of water used for developer, its ph value and all of that chemicals found in. Only destiled and boiled water has around ph7. I use tap water and development time may considerably differ from time in other region.

While the pH of tap water may differ from 7 it has little buffer capacity and will not effect development times. If your water is safe to drink then it is safe for mixing developers and other solutions.

 

[Matt5791]

Interesting thread - I recently developed Delta 3200 (exposed at 3200) in Aculux2 for the listed time of 13 mins - and my highlights are nowhere near dense enough.

Interested in the idea above to develop for the 6400 time.

Matt

 

[get_me_a_gun]

It worked out

Thanks for all the help, guys, I developed it with Sprint (the store ran out of DD-X) diluted 2:8 for 11 mins 15 sec at 73 degreesF It turned out rather well.

 

[yokelgibes]

I have ilford Delta 3200 expired 2005, and have developed with Superbroom in 7 minutes 1:1 and the result is burned, the negative too dark, I mean over.