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View Full Version : high speed 4X5 film: HP5 in Microphen vs. TXP in Diafine?



Henry Carter
3-Sep-2004, 21:55
For 4X5 photography I occasionally resort to hand-held press style photography.

In low light I have been pleased with HP5 rated at 1600 and developed in Microphen.

Unfortunately regular 400 speed Tri-X is not available in sheet film. How well does its cousin, Tri-X sheet film (TXP 320), react to pushing? Would Diafine be the way to go with TXP? What useable speed do you acheive with Diafine? The 'massive development chart ' suggests rating TXP @ 1000 to 1200.

David A. Goldfarb
4-Sep-2004, 07:06
I've used TXT (haven't tried it with the new Tri-X sheet film) in Acufine for this purpose, and I find I can get an acceptible EI 640.

I've been experimenting with XR-1 (see article at unblinkingeye.com), and thus far I've been able to get reasonable shadow detail at EI 1280, but the results are a bit flat even with development times extended to the maximum reasonable limit, and increased agitation. I'm working to see if I can tweak the formula to improve the contrast.

HP5+ is a little faster, so I suspect you'll get more speed with it, but I prefer the tonality of Tri-X.

Henry Carter
6-Sep-2004, 07:09
Another suggestion has been to push Tmax 400 (TMY) and develop it in TmaxRS developer. Could this be a high speed 4X5 alternative to HP5/microphen?

What developers would you suggest for pushing TMY to 1600?

Regards, Henry