TMAX 3200 + Neofin Doku?

[Felinik]

Hello,

I have three rolls of Tmax 3200 to develop, so far I've only been using Rodinal for my dev here, but I have understood that this may not be the most suitable developer for a film this fast. After a visit to the local shop I found some stock of Neofin Doku, which rendered me curios, could this be suitable for my need here?

Thanks!


Cheers,
/J.F. Felinik

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Not anyone's [oh, I'm sure it is someone's] idea of a suitable developer: Doku is a very low contrast, low activity developer for attempting continuous tone rendering from microfilm. Think very low speed & ultra fine grain - a combination that is as far from TMax 3200 as it is possible to get.

Kodak's TMax & TMax RS developers will get the most speed from this film with reasonable [ie, lots of] grain. If you don't have one of the TMax developers then D-76 (ID-11) is the next best bet. You can try HC-110, but I don't like this developer with 35mm - I think it gives lumpy oatmeal-looking grain rather than the sharp fine salt-and-pepper grain of D-76 1:1.

Rodinal will give you a bit more grain than any of the above, but the real drawback to Rodinal is that it has rather low shadow speed. It is a very good developer for MF film with high key subject matter.

 

[Felinik]

Ah, I understand, I got the idea that "fine grain developer" was to use when there's a possibility/chance/risk of getting lots of grain (as with an 3200 film).

I think I'll rather go investigate their Kodak developer shelf then, there's at least three different developers on that shelf.

Thanks for chiming in!

(I'm quite new at this, started shooting film 3-4 months ago only).



Cheers
/J.F. Felinik

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Generally, fine grain developers go with fine grain film - Microdol-X and Panatomic-X (Perceptol and Pan-F) was a classic combination. That's not a fast and hard rule: I like the look of Microdol-X and Tri-X; and TMax-100 and Microdol produces TechPan levels of [or lack of] grain, though without TechPan's large-format like gradation.

Doku, however, belongs to a special class of developers that are not meant for use with ordinary films.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

In my humble opinion, Rodinal is a great developer for TMax 3200. It gives the film a beautiful grain, reminiscent of the Tri-X that existed prior to Kodak altering its characteristics.

Like Nicholas says, however, it is not a developer that's good for shadow speed, so it's best to shoot TMZ at an Exposure Index (EI) of 800 or 640 to gain full advantage of both the film and the developer. If you exposed TMZ at EI 3200, Rodinal is not your best choice, and something like Xtol, TMax, or Ilfotec DD-X is much better suited to your needs, as they all yield superb shadow detail.

Good luck!

 

[Felinik]

Thanks everybody!!

I will see tomorrow what my local shop has on their Kodak shelf, after some reading based on Nicholas advice here, I think will go with Xtol if they have (Yes, shot at E3200 and slightly underexposed on top of that since I shot the rolls in stage lights only, concerts+dance performance).




Cheers,
/J.F. Felinik

 

[Tim Gray]

XTOL 1:1 works pretty well with TMZ in my opinion.

 

[Felinik]

I took a quick tour to the shop this afternoon already, and I managed to find one bag of D-76, for mixing one liter as well as a liter bottle of TMAX, no XTOL.

They actually also had an old can of D-11, for mixing 5 liters, though I didn't know anything about that one, and while I was there another guy snatched it, turned out he was a lab-guy, so we started talking and discussed my needs, and he recommended me to go with D-76 1:1, very nice guy, wouldn't be surprised if he's here on the French part of the forum too!!




Cheers,
/J.F. Felinik

 

[Felinik]

Consensus seems to be to go with TMAX, so I'll just do that!

Thanks!!




Cheers,
/J.F. Felinik

 

[Felinik]

LOL!

Consensus seems to be:

1. XTOL
2. TMAX
3. D-76 (ID-11)

 

[Felinik]

Another question that I come think about in the store (after the lab guy was gone), they had a bag with D-76 for mixing a gallon, and on the bag it clearly said that the content should not be portioned and mixed for smaller volumes.

Why is this? Is the content of the powder mix not evenly distributed, or has it something to do with storing an open bag of powder?


Cheers
/J.F. Felinik

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Another question that I come think about in the store (after the lab guy was gone), they had a bag with D-76 for mixing a gallon, and on the bag it clearly said that the content should not be portioned and mixed for smaller volumes.

Why is this? Is the content of the powder mix not evenly distributed, or has it something to do with storing an open bag of powder?


Cheers
/J.F. Felinik

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Felinik]

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Thanks!

Interesting discussions, seems it shouldn't really be a big deal splitting a bag then, though probably easier anyway to mix the full gallon and store in accordion bottles...

Oh well, I only bought the liter bag after all anyway, though I was just curios...


Cheers,
/J.F. Felinik

 

[Tim Gray]

TMAX should work great as well from all of the recommendations I've read. I've never used it because shipping liquids is expensive, but if you can get that, go for it.

And pretty much all films work well with D-76.

 

[Felinik]

I grabbed their last bag of D-76 (for mixing a gallon) today, and another 2 l. accordion bottle, so now I have filled the locker here with both D-76 and TMAX enough for a while.

Question: Is there a minimum amount of developer needed per roll/tank?? If I decide to dilute mixed developer 1:1 for one shot, and run in my Paterson 2 or 3 reel tanks (with 2 or 3 films), that's gonna be ok?


Thanks!


Cheers
/J.F. Felinik

 

[gandolfi]

Doku, however, belongs to a special class of developers that are not meant for use with ordinary films.

Suggestion: Go buy that developer!! And then find some old Kodak Technical pan film.

A perfect wedding!! (Much better than the original Kodak developer INMO)

 

[Felinik]

Make sure you have at least 100ml of stock developer per roll. More is better.

Great information, and it will work fine then, the 2 reel tank is 600 cc/ml, and the 3 reel tank is 900, which gives if I go with 1:1, 150 per roll which then should be enough.


Thanks!


Cheers,
/J.F. Felinik