Suggested Developer for 100 Tmax (4x5)

30 Dec 2007

I was given several boxes of 100Tmax Readyloads (4x5), and am interested in what developers are best suited for this film. I usually use D76 (1:1) or Perceptol (1:1) for sheet film processing. It is not that I have not had good results with these developers, I am just looking for what developers others have used.

Since I do not make rally big prints (11x14 is my current limit) grain is not as much of an issue as sharpness.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Regards,
Darwin

Tmax 100 is an excellent film, it is inherently fine-grained. Rodinal at 1:50 works extremely well, as does Xtol, however my current developer choice is Pyrocat HD.

The truth is they all give excellent results and I've blown 5x4 images up to 30x40 and the prints are all very sharp and grainless. It's really a case of getting your EI rating & dev time tuned to your requirements and sticking with the film/dev combination.

Ian

I have been rotary processing Tmax 100 for quite a few years. I had some 100 sheet boxes left over from a huge lab shoot in 1992. I'm on the last box now, still no noticeable problems and I'm very pleased.

I use D76 1+1

Mick.

For what it's worth, Kodak don't recommend using TMax Developer for developing sheet TMax (although I think the replenisher version (TMax Dev RS?) is OK.) Still not sure why, but I've followed the advice and never tried it...

I use HC110 (dil B) quite happily for rotary developing sheet TMax.

Dear Darwin,

Follow Ian's advice. The differences are going to be small enough that you are the only one who can decide. If you really want to try a new developer, just pick whichever one you've been wondering about lately.

Neal Wydra

Most recently I've been using Xtol 1:1 for my TMax 100, otherwise, D-76 1:1. One of these days I'm going to try Pyrocat.

If you are used to D76 1:1 then by all means use that. You should get excellent results from D76 1:1. You should do your own testing but can start with exposing it at EI 64 as a starting point. John Sexton is a well known photographer who uses Tmax 100 as his standard film. Some of his experience and recommendations is available here

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/articles/sexton-tmax.html

You can also use Xtol 1:1 or Tmax RS developer (either 1:4 or more economically 1:9), Tmax RS rather than regular Tmax developer is the one recommended for sheet film. Sexton's article also mentions his Tmax RS regimen. Please note that the temp people often use with the 1:9 dilution is 75 F (24 C) to keep the times reasonably short (12 minutes). BTW I think there is a typo in that website I think in one line it says Tmax 100 but means Tmax 400 for one of the times listed for Tmax RS developer.

Stick with D76 1:1 for now. You should be quite satisfied.

Sincerely,

Hany.

Another vote for D76 1+1. Best results I've had with this film. I use Xtol or Mytol for nearly everything else. (Xtol is Kodak's recommended developer for Tmax films, BTW.)

TMax RS, but NOT TMax, developer can be used for TMax sheet films. Can't remember the exact reason, but it has to do with silver replating on the film (the sheet film has an additional coating/layer that roll film doesn't have) and ruining the image. I've experienced this myself.

I've developed Tmax100 4x5 in D76 1+1 with great success and also used Rodinal 1:50... I favor the Rodinal at this point but you really can't go wrong with either of them.

I'm with Ian on this one. I've settled on Pyrocat for my TMax-100 (all sizes).

As Tom says we both for our different reasons have settled on Pyrocat for Tmax 100.

When changing film developer often the reasons are for very subtle improvements in certain qualities which that film/developer combination gives. There can also be certain trade off's to achieve these qualities.

D76/ID-11 is the de-facto "Standard Fine Grain Developer" and with the vast majority of films will give excellent results. X-tol is a much modern developer which can replace D76/ID-11 and give very marginally better fine grain and sharpness.

Ilford Perceptol will give even finer grain but with a loss of about 1 stop EI compared to D76/ID-1. The opposite to Perceptol is Ilford Microphen (ID-68) which gives a nearly a stop more IE speed compared to D76/ID-11 but with slightly increased grain and very slight loss in tonality.

Other developers like HC110, Ilfotec LC or HC, Rodinal, DDX etc fall in the middle, all giving excellent results as one shot developers.

Pyro/Pyrocatechin developers like Pyrocat HD have a tonal quality and sharpness which differ slightly from more conventional developers, they are a kind of acquired taste and once bitten you can't stop using.

You make your choice and if sensible stick with one or two developer/film combinations which you can rely on.

Ian

I've always used T-Max RS and never had any problems.

Jerry

30 Dec 2007

Thanks to all who "chimed in" on my question. I began doing a "film speed test" today with this film. I shot enough sheets to try two developers, and they will be D76 (1:1) my old stand-by, and HC110 (1:59).

I agree that once you find a film/developer combination that works for you stick wit it until something happens that makes you want to change. In this case I am "in the mood to experiment". Thanks for all the advice.

Regards,
Darwin

Not really knowing the difference between D76 and Xtol with this film, will Xtol give a 1/3 stop speed increase over D76?

waynecrider said:

Not really knowing the difference between D76 and Xtol with this film, will Xtol give a 1/3 stop speed increase over D76?

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I've shot more than a little bit of this film, and my primary developers for it are either D-76 or XTOL, both at 1+1. While my experience is not with 4x5 sheet film, the emulsion is the same as the 35mm and 120 versions so I'd expect equivalent results with 4x5. FWIW, I can't tell too much difference between the two developers. XTOL gives a slightly faster effective film speed of about 1/3 stop. That's not much unless you have very deep shadow detail that you want to preserve. Most times, you'd never notice it. Same goes for grain. Again, XTOL delivers a small advantage only noticeable when you get up to about 10x enlargement. So take your pick. When enlarging a small negative , these small differences do add up. With large format, it's unlikely that you'll see any difference until you're sniffing the grain of a really large print.

Tmax 100 & Pcat HD

Not an answer to the question but could anyone using ths combo suggest a starting time for development in a Jobo CPE?

Thanks,

MikeSeb said:

Another vote for D76 1+1. Best results I've had with this film. I use Xtol or Mytol for nearly everything else. (Xtol is Kodak's recommended developer for Tmax films, BTW.)

TMax RS, but NOT TMax, developer can be used for TMax sheet films. Can't remember the exact reason, but it has to do with silver replating on the film (the sheet film has an additional coating/layer that roll film doesn't have) and ruining the image. I've experienced this myself.

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You've provided a pretty good description of the problem with TMax developer and TMX sheet film. It is known as "dichroic fog".