Tmax400 in 8x10 E.I?

[Chris Strobel]

Hi, I 've done a bit of searching on Tmax 400 and am still a little confused.I have a box of 50 sheets 8x10 and some Xtol already mixed up and ready to go.I also have a couple of JandC 8x10 film tubes.In Simmons book He list the suggested e.i. for Tmax 400 at 200-250, yet I've read where people shoot it at 400-500.What would be a good e.i. to start experimenting with given my developer and film tubes.Thanks

Chris

[Jay DeFehr]

Chris,

your EI depends upon many factors, including the developer in use, the contrast you're developing to, and the exposure conditions, to name a few. Xtol will give Box speed with TMY when developed to normal contrast for printing on enlarging papers under normal exposure conditions. Xtol/TMY is a great combo, good luck.

Jay

[Walter Calahan]

Also factor in that your light meter is not like others, it is unique, so you'll need to test various ISOs. The accuracy of your shutter and aperture will influence your exposure too.

Test test test till you get what YOU want, not what others are saying or writing about.

[Michael Kadillak]

Find a scene that has a normal tonal relationship and a fairly large shadow area. Meter the shadowed area carefully and expose as you are comfortable with. I would start out shooting a normal scene at ASA 400 and the same scene at ASA 320 and develop both sheets for the identical time and temp and evaluate the negatives that you produce and also proof them. Make adjustments as necessary.

TMY is a marvelous emulsion that can build density to the moon. At this point it is the only film I find I want to expose in both LF and ULF.

Cheers!

[John Powers]

Bracketing is a very cheap investment towards helping you find your own film speed. Using Rollo Pyro in a CPP-2 Jobo my best negs are usually 1/2 to 1/4 T Max box speed. It seems that something should be wrong with that. I've got twenty 16x20 prints to get done in two weeks from 8x10 negs for my photo course and consistently the best ones are shot at 1/4 box speed using a Sekonic 508 light meter. That is how my testing has worked out. You have to find your sweet spot.

This might be a good time to plug Les McLean's book Creative B&W Photography, about $25.00 US at Amazon. He starts out saying essentially that before you can accomplish anything else you have to establish your personal film speed, and then he shows you how. Everything else is based on that.

Good Luck,

John Powers

[Ron Marshall]

I recently began experimenting with TMY. It gives me EI 400 in Hc-110. I will also try XTOL which should give another 1/3 stop.

One can overexpose by 1 stop to ensure shadow detail, since TMY has a long curve.