TMAX 100 in 5X4 - Any Tips for 'Friendly' Developers??

[Tom Stanworth]

I would like some tips from expert users of this film to speed up getting top quality results, but realise I will need to refine things myself. I will be using this film for landscapes.

I use a Devere 504 colour head (very diffuse) and will develop in the Combitank and Nova hand line and would like some reccommendations from users familiar with this film in this format. I am aware that some users hate the film while others love it, so only positive help please!

I will continue to use FP4+, but want something for use in readyload for travel to far flung places, minimal dust, weight etc. I have used Barry Thornton's DiXactol and Exactol Lux with lovely results with FP4, but the whole process is laborious. I am keen to get good sharpness from this fine grained film, which I hear can lack edge contrast/acutance. If anyone has used Exactol Lux with it, please let me know!

If you do have tips, please do not forget temperature, agitation etc!

Your help is appreciated!

Tom

 

[Jorge]

check out www.unblinkingeye.com for times used with pyrocat HD (look for the Clay Harmon article).

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

D-76 (1+1) gives very smooth results with TMX and it's pretty trouble free. With a diffusion enlarger you might increase development time from recommendations about 15% to improve contrast. I rate it at EI 80 and develop in a Nikor Tank for 13.5 min, at 68 deg. F., with four inversions every 30 sec. I use that time for either 4x5" sheets to be enlarged with a cold light head or larger sheets to be contact printed on Azo. 11 min for negs to be enlarged with a condensor enlarger.

You can also get a one zone increase in contrast after the fact when needed by toning in Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner 1+3 for about 8 minutes.

I use PMK for Tri-X, but don't really see the attraction of a staining developer for TMX, though I haven't tried it in Pyrocat HD.

 

[Lex Jenkins]

In 35mm and 120 I like TMX in ID-11, usually 1:1. No complaints from me about acutance - that "look" is generally exactly what I want. Whether landscapes, studies of foliage or architecture, the combination delivers a distinctive look that I like for certain purposes.

I've tried TMX in Rodinal and Diafine. All I got was grain with no improvement otherwise. Why add grain to a film that is virtually grain-free unless something else is to be gained? Might as well use APX 100 or any other good film.

I do, however, plan to try some Tetenal Neofin Blau on my next roll of TMX. I'm curious to see whether it can improve apparent sharpness without the penalty of visible grain in large expanses of similar tones, such as skies and water. In my one trial with Neofin Blau so far (on Efke R100) there was grain but it was extremely tight and fine.

 

[sergio caetano]

Tom,
take a look at www.largeformatphotography.info.
John Sexton article about TMax developing.

 

[Jim Chinn]

I Have not shot 4x5 TMAX for awhile, but when I did, I got excellent results with XTOL dilluted 1-2. I rate TMAX with an EI of 80 and process for 10.5 minutes at 68F in a JOBO.

 

[Jeremy]

unlike Lex, I like TMX in diafine. I also use a stand development with less agitation (not sure if it makes a difference, but it works). Then again, I haven't used a comparable iso tradition film (like FP4+) in it so I don't if I would like it better.

 

[MikeK]

My soup for TMX-100 is D-23 diluted 1:1. Cheap developer and gives me good control over the highlights while getting good shadow detail. Diluting 1:1 reduced the solvent action of the sulfite (sulphite).

I rotary process for 13 mintes at 70F.

- Mike

 

[Black Dog]

Try XTOL 1+1, Acutol, or Perceptol 1+3. Have a look at the Massive Film Developing Chart on www.digitaltruth.com (also in The Film Developing Cookbook-Anchell & Troop). BTW, Neopan 100 is also available in Quickload form -well worth a go.

 

[SteveGangi]

I use D76, 1:1 like many others here. I use a condensor enlarger myself. For good starting info, go to the previously mentioned John Sexton website. For a diffusion enlarer, you may want to go for more contrast in development, but do not overdo it.

 

[sergio caetano]

Tom,
Another choice brought from the old past is a developer researched and considered by Altman and Henn as the maximum practical limit of high acutance. It was called AH18. They compared with D76 1:1 acutance. AH18 was 40% superior.
Metol 0.25 g
Sodium sulfite 10 g
Sodium metaborate 20 g
Water to make 1 liter.
My std for Tmax100 is 15min 20 C EI 50
Really good

 

[Robert]

I've tried TMX in Rodinal and Diafine. All I got was grain with no improvement otherwise. Why add grain to a film that is virtually grain-free unless something else is to be gained? Might as well use APX 100 or any other good film.

Personally I find the grain on APX 100 on 4x5 to be so small it makes the grain focusser a chore to use. Of course APX is allegedly going away but that's a different issue.

 

[Lex Jenkins]

AFAIK, Agfa has discontinued 4x5 APX 100, not the 35mm or 120 versions. I just received a batch of 120 APX 100 from B&H.

BTW, I don't consider APX 100 to be grainy. It's just that TMX is virtually grainless, making all other 100 films *seem* grainy.