Hi, I am a student at the New School in NY. This is my first year in B&W Photography. Over the past year I have used Tri-X 400 per my professor instructions, and using Kodak D-76. However, I have noticed that my pictures seem to have a lot of contrast to them. I know I have the right temp for the developing chemicals (68F). Can someone give me some insight as to how to controll the contrast, or better film to use, I also notice some grain when enlarging.

Thanks Bill

-- Bill Gaines (wgaines691@aol.com), May 30, 1999

Answers

Bill, I use Tri-X almost exclusively for portrait work and develop in D-76 1:1 at 68 deg. for 10 min.( Kodak's recommended time at 68 deg). I usually get good but not excessive contrast. What are your lighting conditions and subject matter when you are shooting? This can have a lot to do with your contrast level on the negative even if you do not exceed the "recommended" development times per Kodak. If you are also having a grain problem you might be over developing based on your exposure. Also, strict temp control throughout all phases of development can control grain. Pre wash, dev, fix, and rinse should all be done at 68 deg. if that is your selected dev. temp. Knowing more about your subjects and lighting might help lead to the answer.

-- Greg (wca@idt.net), May 30, 1999.

Bill,

Try shooting at 320, develop in straight D-76 @ 68F for 7 to 7 1/2 minutes. This will give you finer grain than the 1 to 1 dilution and will decrease the contrast somewhat. Shooting at 320 will help bring in your shadows a little better, and the 7 minute development will pull the grain tighter while holding back the highlights. Kodak recommends an 8 minute development time for "normal" contrast, but if that's too contrasty for you, chop off the last minute.

Good Luck,

Walter

-- Walter Massa (Massacam@aol.com), June 03, 1999.

If your the type of person who doesn't like alot of grain in your enlargements you might want to consider moveing to a film with a slower ISO rating. My personal favorite is Ilford Delta Pro 100. Not only is the contrast incredibly easy to control but I can enlarge prints up to 11 X 14 (with 35mm film) with acceptable grain qualities. If you want to stick with Kodak, then Plus X is also a good choice. I find Kodak's T-Max films to be very difficult to work with expecially for a begginer so you might want to stay away from that. Just a thought!!

Andrew Kaiser

-- Andrew Kaiser (akaiser@rushorder.com), June 06, 1999.

Thanks everyone, for your help. I will take these suggestions in upcoming processing.

-- Bill Gaines (wgaines691@aol.com), June 06, 1999.

Although I have not used Tri-X for quite a few years, I did get very good results rating the film at EI 250 and reducing my developing time by 30%. The results were finer grain and lower contrast. Remember, exposure controls density and developing time controls contrast.

-- Michael Purcell (photog@zipcon.net), June 24, 1999.

Tri-X is a great film for starting out in photography because of its latitude but I suggest you try T-Max 400; same speed, finer grain. Another suggest you may want to try is water bath development.

-- Karin Karnes (Karink23@aol.com), June 27, 1999.

I've been using Tri-X rated at 200 and developing in D76 1:1 for five (N-1) to seven (N=1) minutes and getting excellent results. The recommendations from Kodak assume a diffusion enlarger - I'm using a condenser enlarger.

-- David Parmet (dparmet@bestweb.net), August 05, 1999.

even though you're just starting out and only have D-76 as a class available chemical, you should check out Rodinal. it works a lot better than D-76 (i haven't used that in decades!) and you'll have BETTER results. Plus, on a price-per-roll basis, you'll also find it's CHEAPER (favorite word for students and cheapskates alike). good luck and let's see your work sometime!

-- Tony Lee (fototaker@usa.net), August 17, 1999.