Printing Tri-X

audungk · Sep 7, 2006

Just a quick question, to ensure I am not doing anything wrong:

Printed the first Tri-X negs today, and to my suprise they needed print times around 20-27 secs... In comparisation, when i am printing TMax at the same enlarger settings i just need 10-15 secs to get it right. have i developed wrong?

I guess it is they way it should be, it just seemed a bit odd...

Gerald Koch · Sep 7, 2006

Do your TX negatives appear to be unusually dense as compared to the TMax ones? Were the apertures and magnifications the same? Not knowing anything about your darkroom methods makes it hard to offer any real help.

audungk · Sep 7, 2006

Sorry. Aperture where the same, and magnifications as well... Regarding density, I cant tell if the Tri-X negs are denser than the TMax negs

raucousimages · Sep 7, 2006

If the prints look good, no problem. Different films will have some variation in density just like different subjects on the same film will require different times. Examine the highlight and shadow areas of the prints. If you have clean highlights and some detail in the shadows you have a printable neg. I know that is a simple way of putting it but don't worry if one neg is different from another.

My 35mm negs usualy run from 15 to 60 sec.

Gerald Koch · Sep 7, 2006

Was the TX film overexposed, what exposure index did you use? Were the development time, dilution, and temperature correct for the developer you used? Is your thermometer correct? Did you over agitate the film during development?

audungk · Sep 7, 2006

Exposed the film box-speed (ISO320), and developed as according to the data on the T-Max developer... Guess I'm just too "new" to film photograhpy and thereby a little anxious to get things right.

Amund · Sep 7, 2006

I seem to get box speed from TXP in T-Max, so that shouldn`t be a problem.
If the whole roll was shot in bright sun as the photo you posted it will probably be dense but printable without a problem. I prefer printing times at about 20-30 seconds, easier to dodge and burn...

Saganich · Sep 8, 2006

The times you mentioned aren't different enough to cause concern. So, sounds like your OK.
Chris

Jim Noel · Sep 8, 2006

Actually you are beter off with the slighly longer printing times as it allows more time to accurately burn and dodge. I don't like for students to use printing times shorter than about 20 seconds for this reason.

Neal · Sep 8, 2006

Dear audungk,

As I recall, an old T-Max review in Photo Techniques supported your observations. Something to the effect that the T-Max negatives were "thinner" (my word) than traditional films at the same level of detail.

Neal Wydra

Printing Tri-X

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