Kodak Tmax P3200

tempra · Jun 30, 2007

I have four rolls (2 x 120 & 2 x 35mm) of Tmax. I'm guessing I either shoot in dim light or with a small aperture to be able to use it effectively.

Has anyone any experience of how much I could pull the film say to 1600, 800 and maybe even 400 and what would the results be?

**edit** sorry, just looked in front of me - the 35mm is Tmax 3200, the 120 is Ilford Delta 3200 if that makes a difference

Alpha · Jun 30, 2007

You would not be pulling @1600 or even @800. Notice that the films are not ISO/ASA 3200. They're EI 3200. Very different. IMO they're cleanest shot at 1600, dev at 1600 or shot at 800, dev at 800. If you really like grain, shoot at 800, push development at 1600.

tempra · Jun 30, 2007

Thanks for that Max, what does EI mean? (I just read it on the delta box, but the beer and my eyes can't read the small print on the kodak box)

Alpha · Jun 30, 2007

EI stands for exposure index. I'm pretty sure that Ilford, Kodak, and Fuji each call their films 1600 or 3200 just to indicate that they're super fast. True EI IIRC for most of them is about EI1000.
http://www.weatherscapes.com/techniques.php?cat=general&page=ei

Oddly enough, even the fastest C41 films are still rated with an actual ISO speed, as opposed to EI. For example, Fuji Neopan 1600 is probably around EI800 or EI1000, whereas their 1600 color film actually is ISO 1600.

tempra · Jun 30, 2007

Cheers bud, that helps a lot!

ann · Jun 30, 2007

i tested some and couldn't even get an EI of 800, all will depend on your equipment.

it was easier to use tri and push to 1600

ksmattfish · Jul 1, 2007

MaxBloom said:
whereas their 1600 color film actually is ISO 1600.

Shoot some at 1600, and some at 800, and compare the density to ISO 800 film shot at 800. At ISO 1600 it looks a bit thin. I don't believe there really is any film over ISO 800ish. C41 just has a huge exposure latitude.

Don Simon · Jul 1, 2007

If I try once again to get my head around the issue of what speed a film is or isn't really, it (my head) will explode. So instead I'll just address the original question... it depends on the chemicals and methods used in developing, and obviously requires a bit of testing to find out what gets the most acceptable results... but based on my experiences I would generally recommend sticking with ISO 1600 or a bit lower for 35mm (assuming you are developing according to the 'box advice' for 1600) - but with 120 film (if wanting 'normal' print sizes) you can IMO easily get away with shooting and developing at 3200. Either way can shoot at 400 or 800 if you want, but then I'm not sure you'd get any advantages over using 400 or 800 speed film.

deanimator · Jul 1, 2007

What are you thinking of shooting with this?

(You know you are going to get some issues with shadows, and contrast, and grain...)

tempra · Jul 1, 2007

Dunno yet - probably street on a murky day or in twighlight, or maybe in a pub or a gig at the cropredy festival as my mates playing there with his band

deanimator · Jul 1, 2007

Murky street scenes...should be nice and gritty. 800 asa and dev according to the instructions in TMAX dev

Concerts: Harsh lighting! 1600 or 3200 is fine...you want the speed to control the fast movements and to counter your shaky hands with presumeably a longish zoom. Meter very carefully...try for spot reading on faces and expose with +2 stops. Be careful to keep your agitation down a bit when developing this. I would use TMAX again...time for the asa but agitate only every minute and 10% longer in order to keep your highlights and maybe get a bit more out of the shadows (although shadow detail isn´t usually so important here).

If you are up for it, I would strongly recommend you try Tri-X at 800, or even TMAX-400 rated at 800 or 1600 at the same time.
Bottom line: properly handled, these films do what they say they´ll do. It´s just smart thinking to see how it works in YOUR hands...and what results you like best.

(I was a Tri-X fan for 15 years until they changed the formula...now I prefer Fuji Neopan 400, although there are one or two east European trad films around that are supposed to be as good as the original Tri-X)

tempra · Jul 1, 2007

Thanks for that, I have some tri-X400 a couple of 120 rolls, so I'll put them through the rollei, with regards to the concert, the ones my mate does doesn't really have harsh lighting - in fact the first time I shot them, they had no lighting at all apart from little wall lights in the pub, now they have some cheapo disco lights, but they are very dim.

And I need to find a lab that does the developing as I don't have a darkroom although I could take a weekend out and go and steal my dads enlarger and stuff but then I have nowhere to put it.

I'm a part time film shooter, mainly digital, but I have a few film cameras to choose from - I'll give it a go.
Cheers!

deanimator · Jul 1, 2007

Well ok

If your lab is half-decent, tell them what speed you shot at and they´ll adjust the time accordingly...you won´t get any other control than that.

PS...when using a lab, no matter what they tell you about their quality control checks...try to find out when they change their chemicals...Mondays perhaps, because fresher will always be better with tricky exposures and films like TMAX 3200

tempra · Jul 1, 2007

I think I found one that specialises in tmax, as the make a note that all tmax film is developed in tmax developer, so I'll probably give them a shot.

Fujilab used to do black and white, but seem to have dropped it now, and they used to claim they developed any film to the correct spec. The 120 3200 film is Ilford Delta and they develop themselves so I can use them through my local chemist as long as I write on there what I want them to do, they seem pretty good.

Or I could send em to plasticspanner, he like messing around with film!

PlasticSpanner · Jul 5, 2007

tempra said:
I think I found one that specialises in tmax, as the make a note that all tmax film is developed in tmax developer, so I'll probably give them a shot.

Fujilab used to do black and white, but seem to have dropped it now, and they used to claim they developed any film to the correct spec. The 120 3200 film is Ilford Delta and they develop themselves so I can use them through my local chemist as long as I write on there what I want them to do, they seem pretty good.

Or I could send em to plasticspanner, he like messing around with film!

Messing around with film??? You sound like my wife! :lol: