tmy2 in xtol problem...

hmmm, i think i can read the numbers just fine. so back to the exposure question???

if this is just an exposure problem, what would i do to gain more detail in the trees in particular??

Looking at the FP-4, you clearly have an agitation problem. Perhaps you also under-agitated the TMAX, but didn't get surge marks.

TMAX is more unforgiving on errors of exposure and processing than other films. It is deliberately more sensitive to small changes in development time, temperature, or agitation. You need to have your technique "down pat" to get the best out of all the TMAX films.

if this is just an exposure problem, what would i do to gain more detail in the trees in particular??

Click to expand...

You would give it more exposure. If you were uisng an in-camera meter it may have been fooled a bit by the fountain and sky. You could shift the view for metering purposes so that there are more of the trees in the metering area.
The edge markings look ok, possibly slightly light. IHO the biggest problem is not enough exposure by a stop or so. More developing time wouldn't help that, though it would increase the highlight density (which looks dense enough already, to me) .

thanks for the input john. the sensitive nature of the tmy is steering me towards not buying more for the time being. that roll of fp4 is the first time i've had that problem, but it was in a different tank than i used for the other rolls. i was using a metal tank, but the fill cap went funny, meaning it was clogging when i was pouring chemicals in. that roll was in a plastic tank that i hadn't used before.

Just use a higher grade when you print to bring back contrast due to lack of development and I'm sure these will come out relatively fine. The negs look fine.

All film is sensitive to underexposure. If your TMY negs are consistently underexposed, perhaps by a stop as someone suggested, just try changing the film speed on your camera/meter and try another roll before moving on. TMY in Xtol is a great combination. Moving on to FP-4 or any other film will give you a new can of worms anyway.

hi jerold,

the tmy was actually the new can. i've been shooting fp4 since i got back to film a couple months ago, and i've been having decent results. i'm going to close that can (the tmy2 can that is) for now.

I've also recently posted regarding the exposure calculated by my camera, so now i'm back to my belief that my meter is not perfect. i guess no meter is perfect.

BimmerJake said:

hi jerold,

the tmy was actually the new can. i've been shooting fp4 since i got back to film a couple months ago, and i've been having decent results. i'm going to close that can (the tmy2 can that is) for now.

I've also recently posted regarding the exposure calculated by my camera, so now i'm back to my belief that my meter is not perfect. i guess no meter is perfect.

Click to expand...

All meters lie, if you want to see how, find a white wall and a black wall with the same light, meter on the white wall, take a picture, then meter on the black wall, take a picture, develop both, and they both will turn out roughly the same shade of grey.

The solution for this, is to memorize the zone system shades, figure your meter is going to be somewhere around zone 5, if the scene is zone 8, then open up 3 stops, putting the image into zone 8, if the scene is zone 2, then close down 3 stops from what the meter tells you. Yes we all have automatic cameras now, and some cameras have 47 different exposure settings, but really we should only use the M mode for most shooting.

The other issue of course is that if your camera is a little older, ( I have two film cameras one a little over and another a little under 30 years old, so I can relate), the meter could be a little off, as could the shutter and aperture. Best solution here is to run tests with film, find a scene that is close to zone 5, and evenly lit, set the camera to 2 stops under, and take an image in 1/2 stop increments to 2 stops over. Process the roll, and print the images, see which image looks closest to properly exposed. If using 100 ASA film and one stop over looks best, then 50 ISO is what should be set on your camera for that film.

If your camera has not been serviced in a while, then you could also send it to a reputable shop for a clean, lubricate, adjust which will set it back to within factory specs. I need to do this with one of my cameras, only problem is it needs a few things done to it, so I might just trade it in on a refurbished one.