TMAX 400 vs Delta 400

[Thorsten]

Am I correct Delta 400 has a contrastier look then TMAX 400? Also Delta 400 has more grain, with TMAX 400 being smoother -cleaner in look? TMAX 400 seems brighter as well. Delta 400 pictures have a darker rendition then TMAX 400. Even though TMAX 400 is said to be the sharpest film for its speed, because of the contrast on Delta, Delta looks sharper? How are you finding these two films comparing? Also would Delta 400 look a lot more like Tri-X, other then grain size?

Developer will be ID11, and done at the lab.

This might all be correct, if you do not test your films but shoot them at box speed and develop them by standard times from some data sheets. And that is probably what your lab does.

Then I try a new film, I will always sacrifice two rolls of 135 film to test. with two rolls I can do 4 iterations to get my Zone I density to 0.1 and my Zone VIII density to 1.30 (average gradient around 0.55). I do this with all my films and then I get a real film speed and real exposure time (I use XTOL1+1).

If you do not do this, then yes, the films might be VERY different. If you do it and shoot and develop them accordingly, they will look very much the same and only differ in 1. the mid tones (curve might be linear or a bit higher or a bit lower in the middle), and 2. in the way the render different colors.