Developers for T-Max?

[thornton roby]

I've been told that standard developers (such as HC-110) are fine
for T-Max shot at rated speeds. What other developers have people
tried? Is T-Max developer worth the cost if you`re not pushing?

--
Thornton Roby, Auto-trol Technology Corp.
12500 N. Washington St., Denver CO 80241-2404 +1 303 252 2407
{...}!ncar!ico!auto-trol!thorob tho...@auto-trol.com

[donl mathis]

In article <6...@auto-trol.UUCP>, tho...@auto-trol.UUCP (thornton roby) writes:
> I've been told that standard developers (such as HC-110) are fine
> for T-Max shot at rated speeds. What other developers have people
> tried? Is T-Max developer worth the cost if you`re not pushing?

I found that the highlights fell off in HC-110 1:7 (dilution B). I
switched to T-Max developer, and have also had problems with the
highlights falling off at 1:7; i now use the recommended 1:4 dilution.

I would urge you to consider the cost of the developer in relation to
the cost of the film (i.e. work it out in cents-per-frame or whatever),
and then if you find that the cost of the developer is completely
insignificant in the grand scheme of things, as i did, don't even
consider the developer cost when you're choosing the "right" one.
--

- donl mathis at Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA

do...@sgi.com

[Tim Henrion@Eng@Banyan]

> I've been told that standard developers (such as HC-110) are fine
> for T-Max shot at rated speeds. What other developers have people
> tried? Is T-Max developer worth the cost if you`re not pushing?
>

One interesting developer I have seen but never tried
(I don't shoot a lot of T-Max anymore) is something called
"Press-MAXX". It is a third party developer developed
specifically to process T-Max films. Part of their
sales pitch includes two micro-photographs of TMX and
TMY processed in both T-Max developer and "Press-MAXX".
The "Press-MAXX" negatives BLEW AWAY T-Max developer
in both grain size and sharpness, especially sharpness.
If you're interested and can't find any, W.B. Hunt
in Melrose, MA (they advertise in Shutterbug) is where
I saw this stuff.

Tim Henrion
t...@banyan.com --or-- ...!bu.edu!banyan!tim

[j.w.wolford]

From article <6...@auto-trol.UUCP>, by tho...@auto-trol.UUCP (thornton roby):

> I've been told that standard developers (such as HC-110) are fine
> for T-Max shot at rated speeds. What other developers have people
> tried? Is T-Max developer worth the cost if you`re not pushing?

I have used HC-110 Dilution B and along with a reduction if film speed
I got alot grainier (sp ?) negs...

Then I read the Kodak T-MAX pub... and they said HC-110 cut the E.I. rating
of the film in half... they did not make any comment on grain...

Some people say that the grain shows up more because the HC-110 provides
for a sharper neg... but I'm not sure of this at this time...

> Thornton Roby, Auto-trol Technology Corp.
> 12500 N. Washington St., Denver CO 80241-2404 +1 303 252 2407
> {...}!ncar!ico!auto-trol!thorob tho...@auto-trol.com

Jeff Wolford uunet---+
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[Grant Cunningham]

> EID:572b 14379dae
> UFGATE newsin 1.27
> From: tho...@auto-trol.UUCP (thornton roby)
> Date: 18 Jan 90 22:52:24 GMT
> Organization: Auto-trol Technology, Denver
> Message-ID: <6...@auto-trol.UUCP>
> Newsgroups: rec.photo

>
> I've been told that standard developers (such as HC-110) are
> fine
> for T-Max shot at rated speeds. What other developers have
> people
> tried? Is T-Max developer worth the cost if you`re not
> pushing?

After much experimentation in the pro- and tech-oriented B&W lab that I own, I can tell you this: The best all-around Tmax developer for film at rated speed is good old D-76 1:1. The Tmax developer, and especially HC-110, have a severe problem with highlight blocking. I've found that people unhappy with Tmax suddenly become happy when their film is souped in D-76!

--Grant

--
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