 Andrew Laverghetta |
Kodak Plus-X, Tri-X, and T-MAX Hi, I have been using 100 Tmax (and P3200) for all of my black and white photography assignments. I would like to mess around more to find out what ISO they are best shot at but I don't have the time. I have a week to shoot two rolls with two contact sheets and 6 final prints, plus I need to finish the last half of my portfolio for the next higher class. I've got: I've heard that results with the Tmax are best when over exposed by a half stop. I'm using Tmax developer right now but I've just started using it after D-76. Does anybody have experience on some good ISOs to set the camera at in order to get better results? Does this require changes to developing time? What exactly does this do to make it better? I heard that shadows form early in the development while highlights form later. I'm not sure if this really has anything to do with my main question. Thanks for any help you can give. -Andrew
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Justin B. Renshaw |
Hey Andrew, you may have heard this already but- Expose for the shadows and develope for the highlights. Have you tested the accuracy of your cameras meter?
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Andrew Laverghetta |
Yeah, the meter works fine. I've used it for a while and on slide film. I know my exposure is good because the slides were exposed well. See, the thing is, I don't know how long it takes to develop for the highlights. I can't cut the developing time unless I further dilute the developer but I don't know if I can do that. It's already at 5.25 minutes as it is. Everything Kodak says that uneven results may occur with times less than 5 minutes.
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Jon Close |
Lots of information and exposure/developing data is at Kodak's website, especially the Technical Publications. Rating a film a fraction of a stop from its nominal ISO rating does not require a change in development times. You are not "pushing" or "pulling" it, but instead just fine-tuning the exposure to your taste. To determine what your preference is you'll need to shoot a test roll (or 2 or 3 or...) under controlled circumstances. Set the ISO on your meter/camera to the nominal rating (ie. 400 for TMAX 400). Set up a test scene - preferably one where the lighting will not not change from shot to shot. Meter with a gray card or incident light meter. This is the starting exposure ("0"). Take 5 exposures of the scene at -2/3, -1/3, 0, +1/3, +2/3. Or if your camera is limited to 1/2 stop adjustment, then -1/2, 0, +1/2. Repeat with several different scenes/compositions. Develop the film at the rated ISO (400 in this example). Examine the resulting negatives closely under magnification for grain and contrast. Ignore differences in depth of field due to the different apertures or motion blur from longer shutter speeds. If you find that you have a consistent preference for an exposure other than "0", then you'll probably want to rate that film at that preferred exposure. For example, if you consistently prefer the results at +1/3, then you'll want to rate this film at ISO 320 rather than 400.
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