Pushing film

I apologize in advance if all of this has already been covered.

Lately I've been pushing Kentmere 400 to 1600 in arista liquid developer (stock dilution 16 minutes) and got the results I expected. It's pretty grainy, but even when I gave the film EI 400 in the stock developer it was pretty grainy. It has more contrast, and of course, loss of shadow detail. The tight crop attached was scanned at 400ppi. More examples are at: http://misterkickass.blogspot.com/2010/12/turkey-days.html

I've heard techniques like stand development can bring up shadow detail w/o blowing out the highlights - developer gets exhausted in highlight regions more quickly etc. I haven't read about this in the context of underrated film however.

So now I have some general questions about pushing film, I couldn't find all the answers in previous threads.

In general:

Can stand development, or another technique, be used to make pushed film look better? More specifically can contrast be reduced by leaving highlights where they are and bringing up shadows?

For the record, which developers are known to be speed maintaining, or even increasing if there truly is such a thing?

The rumor is a overrating 2 stops needs 50% more development, 1 stop gets 25% - assuming non-T/delta films, is there a better rule of thumb, and what's the guideline for the fancy grain films?

Ilford recommends DD-X or Microphen when pushing Delta 400 and 3200 (which is really 1000) to keep the grain down and I find it works. I normally use HC-110 for economy but wow, Delta 400 is nearly grainless when souped in DD-X while deved in HC-110 it is about as grainy at 1600 as the 3200. In either developer, the 3200 has better contrast and tonality since it is meant for big pushes while the 400 seems to do better at 320-800 or so.

The real answer is you can push anything in anything and get great results, you just have to know (or discover) how. Sometimes 'how' is also how you shoot.

For example, a bit old-school - Rodinal+semi stand 3hrs at 1:100+hp5 ei3200 (35)+shot with a natural and well lit lit subject....



A second, a bit newer - xtol 1:3+drum for 20 mins+Neopan 400 ei 3200 (120)+shot 7amish natural light



I get easier and consistent results with the XTol. It is my go to stuff lately. Nice edges, shadows and all that.

I push, especially in 120, to get control over a workable DOF. I don't see much of a problem pushing with hikey anything. It's usually when significant portions are dark that you can loose the detail you want to keep. Like I said, it is as much as how you shoot....

Low pH phenidone (or its devivatives) developers like Microphen will give a modest increase in speed, 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop without loss of shadow detail. Film manufactuers build in a small safety factor against underexposure. This can get you another stop in speed but you need will need to bracket to be safe. Anything claimed above that is pure hype. Remember TANSTAAFL, There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch! Other developers you can use are Acufine, Acu-1, Diafine, Ilford ID-68, Xtol, and others.

Are most phenidone developers low pH? Arista liq developer is similar (nearly identical MSDS and recommended times) to clayton F60 which are both PQ developers from what I gather.

Based on mrred's comments I can expect better shadows in my film if I minimally agitate and extend development times, perhaps using 1:1 dilution will help as well.

I had tried 1:1 with this film developer combo at 22minutes and highlights weren't dense enough. I only have a dozen rolls of this film left and I'm about to switch to xtol as my developer of choice, so I'm really looking for more general guidelines. It sounds like the answer is yes, stand developing helps when pushing.

oiaaron said:

Are most phenidone developers low pH?

It sounds like the answer is yes, stand developing helps when pushing.

Click to expand...

For a speed increase the pH should be less than 10. If the pH is higher the speed increase is lost. Usually the pH of these developers is in the range of 8.6 to 9.6.
There are phenidone based print developers which have a high pH.

Stand development is only useful in reducing the contrast of the negatives. It is not a method for increasing the effective speed of the film.