Really pushing T-Max 400

darin3200 · Aug 22, 2005

So I went to a gathering with some of my friends and it was dark. The only film I have is kodak uc 400 and tmax 400. I put in tmax and discover I need to shoot it at 3200 to get decent shutter speeds. With a 30% time increase in the developer I pretty much have to double the dev time.
It should be fun to see if it works. I'm too tired to develop tonight, so first thing tomorrow morning this film is going to get developed :mrgreen:

Meysha · Aug 23, 2005

That sounds awesome. I'm too lazy to develop my own stuff... and I'm also too addicted to digital - that doesn't really help.

This got me wondering, and sorry if I hijack your thread, but are you able to do the same thing to normal colour negative film and drop it into a lab (or would it have to be a pro lab - not just a machine)?

KevinR · Aug 23, 2005

A pro lab would be the best bet. When I managed mini labs, I would occasionally push process if it came up. But it was kind of hit and miss with the automated developing machines. I would shut the drive down and guesstimate the developing.

ksmattfish · Aug 23, 2005

darin3200 said:
With a 30% time increase in the developer I pretty much have to double the dev time.

I'm confused. Adding 30% to the dev time wouldn't be anywhere near doubling it. That would be adding 100% to dev time. A quick look at the Tmax 400 tech pub, and I think adding 50% to 100% the dev is about what you want to do, depending on the developer you are using (for instance 6.5 min dev time at ISO 400 with Tmax RS jumps to 12 min with Tmax RS at ISO 3200).

Tmax tech pub

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/prof...#small-tankprocessing(8-or16-ouncetank)—rolls

darin3200 · Aug 23, 2005

meysha said:
This got me wondering, and sorry if I hijack your thread, but are you able to do the same thing to normal colour negative film and drop it into a lab (or would it have to be a pro lab - not just a machine)?

Like KevinR said pro labs could probably do it, but our town has a wal-mart and I don't know if I would trust them

ksmattfish said:
I'm confused. Adding 30% to the dev time wouldn't be anywhere near doubling it.

Ooops, I meant to say a 30% increase in development time per stop pushed, 400 to 800 to 1600 to 3200 would be 3 stops times 30% gives a 90% increase. Thanks for the spec sheet, its very helpful.

darin3200 · Aug 23, 2005

UPDATE: So I developed the film for 16 minutes. The develope I used was some cheap stuff branded Adorama but from what I read it was pretty much generic D-76. Agitation was an inversion every 30 seconds. The shots came out looking underdeveloped but I have quite a few shots to work with. :thumbup:

Patrick · Aug 24, 2005

darin3200 said:
UPDATE: So I developed the film for 16 minutes. The develope I used was some cheap stuff branded Adorama but from what I read it was pretty much generic D-76. Agitation was an inversion every 30 seconds. The shots came out looking underdeveloped but I have quite a few shots to work with. :thumbup:

Did you use it stock or diluted?
I've got some tmax 400 Might have to go play for awhile...LOL
I can't imagine inversions every 30 seconds for say 18 min or so.....:thumbup:

darin3200 · Aug 30, 2005

Patrick said:
Did you use it stock or diluted?
I've got some tmax 400 Might have to go play for awhile...LOL
I can't imagine inversions every 30 seconds for say 18 min or so.....:thumbup:

I really don't know, the stuff I was using was generic 'film developer' from adorama. I'm guessing it was stock though because I typically developed T-Max for 8 minutes which the recommened time with d-76 stock.

And the picture came out nicely, here's one of the nicer ones with some marks showing my carelessness in the darkroom

sample pic

DocFrankenstein · Aug 31, 2005

3 stops of 30% increase wouldn't be 100% increase.

you have to 1.3^3=2.20

Which is about 120% increase in dev time. How grainy is it?

santino · Aug 31, 2005

take a look at http://www.kbcamera.com/techniqueweeklytip.htm
if that would work, oh boy, tmax in a tri-x look

darin3200 · Aug 31, 2005

DocFrankenstein said:
3 stops of 30% increase wouldn't be 100% increase.

you have to 1.3^3=2.20

Which is about 120% increase in dev time. How grainy is it?

Interesting, I never though to go exponentially. The film could've used a little more development. The film is grainy but terribly so.

darin3200 · Aug 31, 2005

santino said:
take a look at http://www.kbcamera.com/techniqueweeklytip.htm
if that would work, oh boy, tmax in a tri-x look

That's a crazy development technique. I haven't used tri-x before but I plan on buying some soon. And while I'm at it maybe some new 'print' developer

ksmattfish · Aug 31, 2005

My new favorite high speed film/developer combo is Tri-X in Diafine (the pic below is an example). I'm shooting the Tri-X at ISO 1250, but many folks have great results at ISO 1600.

terri · Aug 31, 2005

Matt, that is amazing! I would never have guessed you had the ISO that high.... looks smooth as silk and that tonal range is awesome. :shock:

How did you develop it? What dilution did you use? I really want to pick up some Diafine. I know you and Doxx swear by it, and this image at that ISO is just a slam dunk.