Ilford Delta 400 Questions

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Hello!

Have a few questions about Ilford Delta 400:

1. Does this film, when properly developed, have grain as fine as Kodak Plus-X ASA 125 (35mm)?

2. What developer works best for grain & sharpness with this film?

3. Does Xtol 1:2 or 1:3 work well with this film?

Am looking for film that is faster (400) than Plus-X, but keeps the fine grain & sharpness & tonal range.

Thanks to all!

-- Dan Stanley (speedstr@in.net), June 01, 2000

Answers

Dan, I can't compare it with Plus-X, but I use Delta 400 (at 320) developed in Xtol (1:3) and like the results I get.

-- Joe Miller (jmmiller@poka.com), June 01, 2000.

1. Yes. 2. XTOL. 3. Yes. Photo Techniques magazine describes it as a match made in heaven.

-- Brian Hinther (BrianH@sd314.k12.id.us), June 06, 2000.

Let me chime in. I find Delta in XTOL to be the best of the T-Grain films. I have developed Delta 400 (320 EI) in XTOL at full strength and 1:1 as well with excellent results. btw I pull development 20% from Kodaks' recomended development times to compensate for my condenser enlarger.

-- Robert Orofino (rorofino@iopener.net), June 19, 2000.

I tested D400 in Xtol 1:2 and got a true speed (0.1>B+F) of 400. While it will get the published EI, the fog is a little too high for my tastes. I recommend diluting Xtol at least 1:2 to avoid the unpleasant softening effects of the solvent action of undiluted Xtol.

Using PMK, the true speed is 250, 2/3 of a stop less, but with a dramatically superior result. The HD curve is nearly a straight line with no highlight blocking.

-- Michael D Fraser (mdfraser@earthlink.net), June 25, 2000.


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