Film, Developer Combination for Paper and Scanning B&W

[gmfotografie]

Hi my friends,

can you suggest me a film developer combination for a very sharp, grainless negativ( 4x5)?
(for my medium format i use 400tx with d76 and i'm satisfied. with this combination i will only make prints 8x8)

for 4x5 i want to make bigger enlargments and will use the negative also for scanning. therefor i suggest using a fine grain film like a tx100 or hp 5, would this be a good choice?!

i prefer liquid developer, otherwise i will also use powders.

i like sharp pictures with good overall contrast.

i know there will be several possibilities because everybody has his favorite.

maybe you can send your prefered film/developer in combination with 1-2 pictures

best michael

[John Kasaian]

TMY & Tmax RS sure impressed me. Ilford Delta and Fuji Acros have fans as well. I personally find FP-4+ or HP-5+
and D-76 more than adequate for what I do though---grain is never an issue, but I contact print 8x10s.

[gmfotografie]

it seems that many uses the pyrocat hd developer...after reading some article this developer is toxic and for me to complicated.
ilford100 should be also a fine, sharp film… but the developer is the key for a good overall negative.

[LuisR]

it seems that many uses the pyrocat hd developer...after reading some article this developer is toxic and for me to complicated.
ilford100 should be also a fine, sharp film… but the developer is the key for a good overall negative.

Nearly all photo chemicals, especially developers are toxic. That said, in liquid form, the risks are minimized as there is no inhalation of powder chemicals. Personally I use Rodinal and have recently switched to Pyrocat HD in glycol, both available in liquid concentrates. Films, nothing beats Acros100, which I use in medium format, though its expensive in 4x5. PanF is also excellent in 120, the equal of Acros though one stop less and if you are inclined to venture into slow shutter speeds, you have to deal with reciprocity failure to which Acros is more immune. Cost wise FP4+ and Delta 100 cannot be beat in a price/quality basis. With all these films, I have had excellent results scanning them.

[Lenny Eiger]

Hi my friends,

can you suggest me a film developer combination for a very sharp, grainless negativ( 4x5)?
(for my medium format i use 400tx with d76 and i'm satisfied. with this combination i will only make prints 8x8)

for 4x5 i want to make bigger enlargments and will use the negative also for scanning. therefor i suggest using a fine grain film like a tx100 or hp 5, would this be a good choice?!

best michael

Michael, I scan for a living and see a lot of film.

Personally, I like Ilford Delta in Xtol. TMY2 is also good. (Ilford is cheaper than Tmax 100 and I like to avoid Kodak when I can) Pyro also works very well.

HP5 is not a fine grained film. I would avoid it.

Lenny

[Ken Lee]

The finest grain I've ever seen is with Fuji Acros and Divided Pyrocat HD. The grain is only barely discernible with a 15x loupe.

[gmfotografie]

yes i will give it a try...acros 100 which i ordered form bdager and pyrocat hd form lotus.