New Kodak B&W Films

Like so many others, I have been looking for comments on the new line of Kodak B&W films. I personally have not tried any yet but I will eventually face that inevidable decision. One concern is the shortened development time. For Tri-X, under 4 minutes for dilution B which makes it useless. Another experience from another board is that the emulsion is very soft and floats off the film.

Any thoughts, comments, experiences?

After hearing all the complaints, I decided to just wait and see. Meanwhile, I've just been using Ilford FP4+ and HP5+. I decided I like them a lot, and the developing times are well known.

I used Kodak more, but then when they made the switch, I freaked and switched to Ilford. Eventually I went back to Kodak and besides developing times, I notcie no difference. I have developed tri-x in HC-110 B, I just make sure to do a pre-water soak to assure even development.

I see that plenty of people are wondering what the new Kodak films are really like but not too many have gotten to it yet. I am still going through my last few boxes of older Tri-x and being careful how I use it. Maybe I will just switch to Ilford and be done with it.

Still, Kodak invested plenty of money into a new plant, just for B&W film so you would think that they see a future for it still. They should iron out the rough spots, like fixing Tri-X development times into a more useful range.

I'd read somewhere that Kodak drastically modified their HC110 development times on their new tech sheets, because they were traditionally too long, i.e., always incorrect. I thought their old times gave a really plus development.

I'd bet that the real Tri-x, Plus-x times haven't really changed too much; your personal development times will only require tweaking...

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</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (RAP @ Dec 17 2002, 02:19 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Like so many others, I have been looking for comments on the new line of Kodak B&amp;W films. I personally have not tried any yet but I will eventually face that inevidable decision. One concern is the shortened development time. For Tri-X, under 4 minutes for dilution B which makes it useless. Another experience from another board is that the emulsion is very soft and floats off the film.

Any thoughts, comments, experiences? </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
M. Covington, http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/, has mentioned that he believes the Kodak times for Tri-X in HC110b to be erroneous. I hope so as that has been one of my stand-by combinations for several years.

Concerning Ilford's HP5, I find it rather soft when exopsing at an ISO of 200 and "normal" development in D76 (undiluted). Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Truly, dr bob.

Any development time listed by a manufacturer is a guide or suggested time so why not carry out your own test using a variety of time, dilution and temperature. Clearly, film manufacturers give reliable information but since I started carrying out my own tests using their information as a starting point I think that I have even more control over the end result. I quickly learned how to adjust development to suit any lighting situation I experience. Testing as I suggest does not take up much of your time and it does increase your confidence when dealing with difficult situations.