decreasing grain using TRI X

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For my portrait work, I use TRI X (400 or 320(MF)). I meter my studio at 200. I use HC110 (B) solution, although I double the dilution and time. (1:14, 12min 45sec) I got the times out of Anshell's book. It was 7.5, doubled would be 15 min. I deduct 15% for rotary (JOBO) processing. I mix everything with distilled water. I don't use Stop bath, but a water bath for 30 sec. Fix for 5 minutes, rinse for 2, hypo for 2, wash for 5, edwal wetting agent is the final step. My prints for either 11x14 or 16x20. (8x10's are fine). In fact, the grain is not so bad, but there are times when I would prefer smaller or less grain. I would appreciate any advise. I'm hesitant to use Xtol, although I have, but so-so results. thanks for any help. carol

-- carol maurin (cbmaurin@earthlink.net), September 16, 2000

Answers

Hello! One good combination I know is Tri-X exposed at 200 Asa, developed in Microdol-X 1+3, 10 - 10,5 minutes at 75 F (24 C). It will give you very fine grain and a good soft contrast for portraits.

Paterson Aculux 2 will also give very fine grain with Tri-X and you will not lose any speed with this developer. For softer results you can expose at 320 Asa and develop a little shorter time than recomended.

-- Patric (jenspatric@mail.bip.net), September 16, 2000.


Try D-76 straight or 1:1; it should give you somewhat finer grain than HC-110 with good sharpness.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), September 16, 2000.

Hey! This developer sounds interesting! The text is from Photographers' Formulary http://www.photoformulary.com

FORMULARY MCM-100 FILM DEVELOPER contains catechol and -p-phenylenediamine. MCM-100 produces extremely fine-grain negatives with good sharpness and superb tonal gradation.

It is recommended for Tri-X, TMAX and HP5 films; however, it is also excellent with slower films. The contrast can be controlled by development time.

The chemicals in the kit will make a working solution with a capacity for six rolls of film.

The shelf life of the working solution is six months.

Solution Size Cat. No. Price 1 liter 01-0200 $14.25 2 liters 01-0201 21.00

It's not cheap, but maybe worth to try!

-- Patric (jenspatric@mail.bip.net), September 16, 2000.


If your concern is grain,almost any developer will give better results than HC110 with TriX.If you don't want to use Xtol,i would go with D76 1:1 as someone already suggested.

-- Cem Topdemir (tacuma@earthlink.net), September 16, 2000.

Tri-X in D-76 1:1 will give finer grain than HC-110 and with my set up a true EI of 400. My personal favorite, however, is Tri-X rated at EI 250, developed in Microdol-X 1:3. Based on my very unscientific visual inspection Microdol-X 1:3 gives Tri-X the finest grain.(I am referring to the 35mm version of Tri-X by the way.)

-- Robert Orofino (rorofino@iopener.net), September 16, 2000.


Carol,

If you have the Anchell books, you probably already know that grain is a characteristic inherent in the formulation of the film and cannot be much affected by developers. That said, it is possible to "knock the edges off the grain" by using developers that contain silver solvents, which dissolve some of the silver of the reduced grains and redeposits it in the area immediately surrounding it. This gives a smoother, but somewhat more "mottled" look (which I find unattractive personally), and is done at the expense of accutance. HC- 110 is a high-accutance developer with little, if any, solvent properties. It will not give you the "fine grain" look of developers with silver solvents (e.g. D-76 1:1 or Microdol-X). You should be aware, however, that by using such developers to mask grain you trade away a little sharpness (accutance). Try some to see if the trade-off is acceptable for your application.

Another possibility to mask grain without the loss of accutance incurred with silver solvents is to use a tanning developer (PMK Pyro is my recommendation due to its ease of use) which smooths the grain two ways. First, it forms a dye image which is inherently less grainy, and second, due to the added density of the dye image, it is not necessary to develop the silver image as much, thus also reducing grain. Photographer's Formulary stocks it in pre-mixed stock solutions.

If you really need significantly less grain, and PMK is not your cup of tea, then the best way is to change to a finer-grained film or larger format. If you need the speed, then T-Max 400 or the Ilford Delta 400 will have a bit (but only a bit) less grain than Tri-X. Slower films may be impractical, but will definitely have better grain. The only way is to try some out. Hope this helps. ;^D)

-- Doremus Scudder (ScudderLandreth@compuserve.com), September 17, 2000.


thanks everyone. I have appreciated the time and energy to all answers. carol

-- carol maurin (cbmaurin@earthlink.net), September 18, 2000.

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