TMY2/TMAX-400 Developer

Hi all,
Been getting into film developing and processing and settled on TMY-2 as my film of choice. I have done a lot of searching and reading at both APUG and across the net trying to find out what developer is most likely to suit my needs - plenty of "just try and see what works for you", but I go through such a low volume and it's not economically viable given the quantities often needed so I want to try and get it spot on as soon as really.

My requirements are:
Liquid (no budging, I find it miles easier to work with liquid)
Long long shelf life
A developer that leans towards contrasty and sharp sharp negatives

Based on this, it seems Rodinal is the best route to go? Are there any other options that I may have missed?

PC-TEA meets the liquid and long shelf life criterea, plus full film speed and ridiculously low cost. Rodinal is a speed reducing developer. Not sure how sharp it is vs. Rodinal.

T-Max or (my preference) T-Max RS. For one shot use you can dilute it 1+7 or 1+9 rather than the Kodak 1+4 stock solution. For RS, just add the little bottle of second solution into the big bottle, mix, and then dilute that for one shot as needed.

Rodinal isn't necessarily speed reducing, depending on time and dilution. You can push with Rodinal but you'll get a surplus of grain. T-Max and RS work great with the T-grain films they were designed for.

Actually I've heard that the only thing that T-Max developer shares with T-Max films is marketing.

For that film, I'd use T-Max developer at 75F. HC-110 would be a good choice, generally speaking, as well as Rodinal, but for getting T-Max films to really shine to their full capability, my favorite is T-Max developer.

I know you don't like powder, but i still have to remind your bout the magic potion, Xtol.

I've found Rodinal 1:50, 20C, 8 minutes is a nice look with T-Max 400.

Pyrocat-HD in glycol. suupppeeerrr long shelf life, mix as one shot at time of use, 1+1+100@20c.-14mins. 30sec initial agitation, 10 sec every minute remainder of time.

If you like pyro look, I think http://hypercatacutancedeveloper.blogspot.com/ would be sharper.

I have some of Jays "Halcyon" to test, probably should start that soon. I love Pyrocat-HD, more of a tanning developer than a staining one. Very forgiving, closest thing to obtaining a 3-D look I've ever used.

caffenol c or caffenol c with 30cc of stock print developer ( doesn't mater .. whatever you like ) / 1L (mixed caffenol developer )

bwrules said:

Actually I've heard that the only thing that T-Max developer shares with T-Max films is marketing.

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Well it was originally designed for it, and I think the early TMX had some issues with some other developers and it was developed for it, but that's just something I heard somewhere.

What I do know is that it (T-Max RS at least) is a damned good developer that I like a lot and works great. It's rather expensive but if that doesn't bother you, and it doesn't bother me, it's good stuff. Well worth trying for anyone who hasn't.

freecom2 said:

Hi all,
Been getting into film developing and processing and settled on TMY-2 as my film of choice. I have done a lot of searching and reading at both APUG and across the net trying to find out what developer is most likely to suit my needs - plenty of "just try and see what works for you", but I go through such a low volume and it's not economically viable given the quantities often needed so I want to try and get it spot on as soon as really.

My requirements are:
Liquid (no budging, I find it miles easier to work with liquid)
Long long shelf life
A developer that leans towards contrasty and sharp sharp negatives

Based on this, it seems Rodinal is the best route to go? Are there any other options that I may have missed?

Click to expand...

Tetenal Ultrafin-Plus has a good reputation for T-Max films. I know that George E Todd, the author of 'From Seeing To Showing' switched to this product when Perceptol became temporarily unavailable in Germany some years ago and he stayed with it ever since.
He reckons that it is an excellent developer for most B&W films.

http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/tetenal-ultrafin-plus-1l-603-p.asp

Thank you for some excellent posts from all. Just to address a few of them:
I've considered using XTOL but I do this processing in a community darkroom and I don't really get through enough film that I think the mix would go bad before I had shot sufficient rolls. And additionally I don't want to have anymore outlay on storage bottles or the like.

I'm leaning towards the T-Max Developer route. It's not too expensive in the UK so that may become the choice. If I don't like the "look" of it, I'll enquire into possibly HC-110 or maybe once more Rodinal.

I've read a bit on Rodinal generally being better suited to slower speed films, does anyone generally believe that is the case or would argue against?

The reason Rodinal is usually recommended for slower speed films is simply that it is not a fine grain developer. Some people add sulfite to make it finer grained at the loss of some of its famous sharpness. With slower films one can afford a bit more grain. All that said modern films especially T grained ones are much finer grained than older films and you might like the results. Its also a bit format dependent. I don't worry about grain at all in 4x5 and a bit in MF but 35mm is a different story of course.

My two favorite developers have been Xtol 1:1 and HC 110 dil B. The HC110 has performed very well for me with TMY. It has a great shelf life, easy to mix and easy temp control and results are very consistent and very good. Also, it's cheaper than TMax developer which, by the way, I haven't used and cannot comment on.

T-Max Developer is cheaper for me to buy, although the dilution amount needed is much higher so it probably works out more expensive in the long run. Going to process this roll of 120 TMAX 400 in LC29 (developer currently available) and then hopefully it'll be T-Max Dev from there for now, fingers crossed the results are to my liking. Thanks all, once again.

I'm using a bottle of HC-110 from 2009 and still getting good results with TMY (rated at 250). I dilute the concentrate 1:47.

Developed using T-Max Developer, 1+4, 6 minutes at 23 degrees celsius. I liked the results! Nothing to post as of yet here (scanner was dusty) but I'm happy with the results.

I use T-Max developer per intructions and have gotten excellent results.

Jeff

I certainly had no technical problems with TMY-2 and TMAX developer. It worked very well, if a bit contrasty for my taste (I could have experimented more by reducing development times, temperature etc).

Tmax Developer was actually designed for pushing Tmax 3200, but it is a great general purpose developer and works well with the Tmax films as well as normal films like Tri-X. The Tmax 100 and 400 films work beautifully in D-76 1+1, though Tmax 3200 does not in my opinion.


TMY-2 in D-76 1+1

I haven't tried any of the TMax films with TMax developer. But if you pay attention to exposure, and you are careful with developing the film, it is really hard to pick a bad developer for them.
I have heard accounts of people not liking the TMax films with TMax developer, that Kodak's published times are somewhat of a push process, leaving a sometimes wonky tonal quality in the negatives that can be difficult to print.
I can say that I have tried TMax 100 and TMax 400 in Rodinal, HC-110, Ilfotec DD-X, Ilfotec-HC, Sprint, and FA-1027. I got great results from all of them.

What I think should be conveyed is that once you pick a developer, and any of the ones I listed above are really great developers, you need to apply yourself and critically examine your exposures (shadow detail) and development technique, in order to get the most out of it. Print your negatives often. Get a Stouffer step wedge and make contact sheets. Bracket your exposures, change developing time, take notes, study how the film / developer combination reacts in different lighting situations, change how long your agitation intervals shape the mid-tones and particularly the highlights.

There is a lot to learn about a single developer / film combination that has to do with technique, and just changing how long you develop the film for will alter your results more than changing developer.

Pick one that is readily available and start working. That's the best way to get results.

- Thomas

Ezzie said:

I certainly had no technical problems with TMY-2 and TMAX developer. It worked very well, if a bit contrasty for my taste (I could have experimented more by reducing development times, temperature etc).

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Adjust times or dilute it more. The standard instructions are for a 1+4 dilution. Many people use 1+7 or 1+9. I used 1+6 most often.

The Kodak recommendations are, as mentioned above, probably a bit too long/concentrated, but I've found this is usually the case with most of their development times. They are aimed at shooting at box speed and printing with a diffusion enlarger. The T-Max films come closer to box speed than older style films, but I still got best results with a bit more exposure and a bit less development, printing with my Omega D2 condenser enlarger.

Roger Cole said:

Adjust times or dilute it more. The standard instructions are for a 1+4 dilution. Many people use 1+7 or 1+9. I used 1+6 most often.

The Kodak recommendations are, as mentioned above, probably a bit too long/concentrated, but I've found this is usually the case with most of their development times. They are aimed at shooting at box speed and printing with a diffusion enlarger. The T-Max films come closer to box speed than older style films, but I still got best results with a bit more exposure and a bit less development, printing with my Omega D2 condenser enlarger.

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And therein lies the proof, right in the pudding. How you print determines how you develop your negatives.
When I used my Omega Pro-Lab 4x5 for 35mm printing, I had to develop the negatives for about 10-20% less time to give similar contrast to my newer diffusion enlarger.
And like Mr Cole says, I get exactly box speed out of TMax 100/400, Fuji Acros, and even Tri-X 400 when I use the diffusion enlarger.

The key is to make sure exposure and subsequent development suits your work flow and printing technique / materials. That is paramount to eking the very most out of your materials, if you truly wish to see what they are capable of.

- Thomas