Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 20 of 20

Thread: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

  1. #11
    Corran's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    North GA Mountains
    Posts
    8,924

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    Indeed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bernice Loui View Post
    Likely going to get !!!! for this, but if one moves up to 5x7 or 8x10 or larger film size, the issue of grain on print is greatly diminished for an enlarged print of not more than 4x. IMO, 4x5 is too small a film format for anything larger than 11x14 due to film grain -vs- developer -vs- print visual quality tradeoff.
    When enlarging T-Max 100 4x5 negatives to 16x20 and 20x24, I have a hard time focusing the grain because it's almost invisible at 4-5x.

    IMO, anything past 4x5 gives NO real benefit for enlargements - while also vastly increasing cost and complexity when it comes to the enlarger needs. The trade-offs between size of film and resolution loss due to further stopping down needed to get the same DOF makes it all come out mostly equal. Larger formats are best for contact printing.
    Bryan | Blog | YouTube | Instagram | Portfolio
    All comments and thoughtful critique welcome

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Poland
    Posts
    5

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    Quote Originally Posted by Corran View Post
    Indeed.
    When enlarging T-Max 100 4x5 negatives to 16x20 and 20x24, I have a hard time focusing the grain because it's almost invisible at 4-5
    I agree. I have develop T-Max 100 - (135 !!!) in Pyrocat HD. I have problems too with grain focusing by 12x16 inch (12 times enlarging)

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Sep 1998
    Location
    Oregon now (formerly Austria)
    Posts
    3,397

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    I'm happy to get fairly grain-free 16x20s from 4x5 negatives. N+ negatives almost always show some grain at that size. At 20x24, there's always some grain, but at normal viewing distances for that size of print, it is unnoticeable.

    That said, I'm not worried about a bit of grain in my prints; they are photographs, after all... I do use faster film; 320 Tri-X and 400 TMax films mostly since I find I need the extra stop or so do deal with subject movement and DoF. TMax 100 would likely give pretty grain-free 16x20s.

    For the kind of work I do, hiking over rough terrain, in canyons, scrambling over rocks in the field, or bicycling around the city with my camera, lenses and tripod, 4x5 is the perfect size for me. I just couldn't do all of that with a larger camera; heck, many 4x5s are way to heavy for what I do.

    11x14-inch prints are my "standard" size. There's absolutely no way I could lug an 11x14 camera around to the places I go.

    Best,

    Doremus

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    now in Tucson, AZ
    Posts
    3,618

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    In 2010, I thought that it was time for a change from the Tri-X Pan Professional I'd been shooting since 1981. So I ran the exposure/development tests with FP4+ and Pyrocat HD... the results were all I could hope for: beautiful tonality, very sharp and grain-free. That's been my preferred setup since. Although I was recently given a quantity of outdated TMX-100, and will use that until it's gone, I will return to FP4+ and Pyrocat-HD.

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    1,078

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    Dilute Pyrocat M and Minimal agitation/ long development times for control of normal to high contrast scenes. Lovely gradients with acutance.
    HC110 1+63 agitation every 2 minutes for more punch in low contrast scenes.
    The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
    http://www.searing.photography

  6. #16
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,338

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    If you define "sharpness" in relation to edge acutance, that can affect your developer decision. I prefer PMK pyro for FP4 sheet film for a combination of traits, in which excellent acutance is just one. A developer which I previously used was Perceptol. When used at the usual 1:1 dilution, Perceptol creates a very highly detailed image but with relatively gentle acutance. When used at the higher 1:3 dilution, the solvent effect exhausts, and edge acutance is significantly enhanced, but with it, also grain crispness, and hence the appearance of grain itself. It's a tradeoff, depending on what you want. Pyro is a staining developer, so has that benefit, helping to hold highlight printability. FP4 is a lovely versatile film. You can use almost any common developer with FP4 with decent results.

  7. #17

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    If you define "sharpness" in relation to edge acutance, that can affect your developer decision. I prefer PMK pyro for FP4 sheet film for a combination of traits, in which excellent acutance is just one. A developer which I previously used was Perceptol. When used at the usual 1:1 dilution, Perceptol creates a very highly detailed image but with relatively gentle acutance. When used at the higher 1:3 dilution, the solvent effect exhausts, and edge acutance is significantly enhanced, but with it, also grain crispness, and hence the appearance of grain itself. It's a tradeoff, depending on what you want. Pyro is a staining developer, so has that benefit, helping to hold highlight printability. FP4 is a lovely versatile film. You can use almost any common developer with FP4 with decent results.
    Completely agree with pyro and FP4+. Use it on 8x10 negatives all the time. Acquired some FP4+ in 8x20 and tray developed it in pyro and I got a terrible dichroic fog over the negative that surprised me no end. I came to the deductive conclusion that Ilford must have added something unique to the film they cut for the ULF special order that precipitated the reaction I experienced.

  8. #18
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,338

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    Perhaps some incorporated developer agent, or an excess of it? You should ask them if there's any difference from their usual coating or not. Do you pre-rinse?

  9. #19

    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Posts
    3,901

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    Began using PMK Pyro with FP-4 in the early 1990s shortly after Gordon Hutchings's Book of Pyro was published. Back then Pyro developers were mythical as there was SO many off the shelf developers available at that time. Experiments began with 4x5 FP-4 using a Nikkor tank. This evolved to using PMK pyro in the Jobo and 3006 drum with 5x7 FP-4+ and other films. FP4 (+) & PMK pyro is a good combo.

    Suggest getting a copy of Gordon Hutchings's Book of Pyro.


    Bernice

  10. #20

    Re: Develop for sharpness and fine grain with FP4+

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Perhaps some incorporated developer agent, or an excess of it? You should ask them if there's any difference from their usual coating or not. Do you pre-rinse?
    Yes, standard 5 minute water pre rinse. The image I made was not as stimulating as I originally thought and I just made sure I did not go down this road again. Probably should have contacted Ilford about this but suspicions that they would not have a reason why this happened convinced me to just move on. Shortly thereafter I was tray processing a number of 8x10 T Max 400 negatives in pyro and one FP4+ negative slipped into the bunch and it processed beautifully.

Similar Threads

  1. fine grain developer for foma iso 100 4x5 film
    By zsolt in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 15-Aug-2014, 00:23
  2. First Acros Develop w/ Rodinal - Shadow Grain
    By Jim Cole in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 6-May-2008, 06:39
  3. Fine-grain films?
    By rkarlsba in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 28-Jul-2006, 08:39
  4. Film grain and sharpness Question
    By brian steinberger in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 16-Mar-2006, 13:39
  5. fine grain film
    By Warren Williams in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 23-Sep-2004, 19:53

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •