Tmax developer

[Tachi]

Hi, would like to check if anyone has tried it on Tmax 400 film (135 & 120 format), developer solution mixture 1:4. The problem is with the tap water temperature at 28 degC.

It seems like the datasheet does not recommend to go beyond 24degC for Tmax 400 film.


Regards..

[LTG]

You can either refer to the chart or by cooling down the tempreture (use of ice pad)...

[catchlights]

get a bucket fill with ice and water, put the cylinder of developer in the bucket till it cool down to 20 degree C.

[o00001]

i usually dilute the dev liao den put in the fridge till the req temp... the temp increase during the developing itself is negligable

[sweat100]

I use a plastic bag to put ice and immerse it to the developer, then monitor the temperature and take out the ice. In this way the dilution is not changed and it reaches 20C fast.

[Tachi]

Thanks for the tips. I found another way i.e. leave the stock solution in air-con room for a few hours. In my case, the room temperature set to 26 degC, and the solution reaches 24 degC.

So, I guess I would have to normalize the development tank, the stock solutions (developer & fixer), before starting. Since, I plan to dry the negatives in an air-con room anyway.


Regards..

[modusoperandi]

would advice you to cool down all your solutions (develeper, stopbath, fixer) to 20 degrees celsius before pouring them into the tank. crucial.

[Tachi]

I've modified a little from sweat100 suggestion i.e. pour the developer solution into a measuring bottle, put it in the refrigerator for 15 mins. Then take it out. I've checked the temperature, looks pretty stable over 8 mins, only increases 0.5 degC.

So, besides the water bath, I will use this method to control the temperature of the developer solution.

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions.


Regards

[frametology]

i usually leave a 1.5 litre bottle of water in the fridge. i use it to mix with the chemicals and normal (room temperatured) water, this way, you can control the temperature of the chemicals you need for the tank, by adding more cold or room temperatured water.

[Tachi]

Thanks for all the advice, happy developing..

[merelyok]

Btw, anyone having good results with Tri-X?

I tried it and it doesn't look as good as the Neopan i tried with T-max.

Anyone got any good recipes to share for the Tri-X/T-max dev combo? or maybe i should just forget it and try some HC110 or DDX.

Hmm.

[Alliance]

Tmax film developed in Tmax developer seems to me to be quite sensitive to temperature variations during development. I use a water bath and ice to temper all chemicals to 20 deg. This includes an amount of water as pre-wash before starting the development process. Without the prewash, the developer temperature can sometime rise by as much as 1 to 2 degrees during the development time. The development drum is placed into the water bath after each agitation. Why 20 deg instead of 24? Just personal preference I guess.

Following this, I seem to get more consistent results with Tmax.

[Yatlapball]

Originally Posted by merelyok Btw, anyone having good results with Tri-X? I tried it and it doesn't look as good as the Neopan i tried with T-max. Anyone got any good recipes to share for the Tri-X/T-max dev combo? or maybe i should just forget it and try some HC110 or DDX. Hmm.

For what it's worth.. I just shot and processed a roll of TX400 with the Tmax developer... Results look ok to me... But I'm still very new to this. So maybe I'm not qualified to comment properly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjom/se...7616944565341/

EI400. Tmax Dev 5:45 @ 22degC. Agitation every min.

Didn't bother with any of the other temperature control stuff other than the developer... used some cold water from the fridge when mixing. If not its too fast!

Fixer at room temperature was around 27degC. Tap water coming out was around 30degC, which I used as the stop bath and final wash...

Why Tmax? Uh.. coz I'm noob I just said Ok to whatever the uncle gave me. Need to rethink now though... Tmax is rather expensive compared to other alternatives like D-76 and HC-110...

[Yoricko]

I also used whatever the Uncle gave me also ... will get HC-110 next.

Anyways the shots came out pretty nice to me

[Dream Merchant]

Originally Posted by Yatlapball For what it's worth.. I just shot and processed a roll of TX400 with the Tmax developer... Results look ok to me... But I'm still very new to this. So maybe I'm not qualified to comment properly. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjom/se...7616944565341/

Looks fairly typical of TM's d-Max range, which is to say, (digs out cobwebs from dusty brians) a little on the heavy side. Translation: You're doing OK. You could always use the old newspaper trick to check your negs. It's a very inexact test, but it helps give some sort of indication.

If you're really really interested in knowing, do a search for Kodak's range of professional publications which details each film's characteristics and D-Max curves and so on. It's fairly vital if you want to experiment with the chemistry.

[adamadam]

What is this old news paper trick?

[maddyks]

Originally Posted by adamadam What is this old news paper trick?

Before DM gets back, I'll try

In normal "office lighting" place a newspaper or other printed matter on a table top. Hold your negative in your hand at half arms length, slightly above the printed material, and try to see the type.

If you can easily read the type, too thin. If you can't see it, too dense. Just barely make out the type, just right.

[Dream Merchant]

Originally Posted by maddyks Before DM gets back, I'll try In normal "office lighting" place a newspaper or other printed matter on a table top. Hold your negative in your hand at half arms length, slightly above the printed material, and try to see the type. If you can easily read the type, too thin. If you can't see it, too dense. Just barely make out the type, just right.

YOU CHEAT!!!

You took classes.

[maddyks]

Originally Posted by Dream Merchant YOU CHEAT!!! You took classes.

Ha ha no la. I learnt this from photo.net