Shot TMax 400 at ISO 100 by accident - What should I do?

[plato]

Hi,

I forgot to change the ISO setting on my camera from 100 back to 400 when I loaded my Tmax 400 film in it. I don't do my own development so when I send it to the lab to develop, should I develop it normally, or should I ask the lab to pull it by 2 stops?

And what is the effect of doing so? I've read that pulling will decrease contrast, but I've also read somebody on another forum who said he deliberately pulled Tmax 2 stops and it came out fine, though he developed it himself.

Really appreciate any opinions on what I should do. I took a lot of evening shadow type of shots today (high contrast stuff), and I hope I didn't screw up my photos with this silly mistake.

[ngebor]

i never do pull development, but i believe to pull develop 2 stop is the right thing to do.
it also possibly helps your high contrast pictures. imho.

[plato]

Thanks!

[Yoricko]

Depends on what your definition of "acceptable quality" is. For most of us, even pushing or pulling 2-3 stops gives nice results.
Ask the shop to pull 2 stops.

Less contrast, slightly less grain.

[plato]

Originally Posted by Yoricko Depends on what your definition of "acceptable quality" is. For most of us, even pushing or pulling 2-3 stops gives nice results. Ask the shop to pull 2 stops. Less contrast, slightly less grain.

I'm not too worried if the result is just a bit less contrast since I can always bump it up again in photoshop right? Thanks for the advice, guess I'll just take it as a lesson and who knows, I might actually like the result

[sweat100]

In fact I think if you have developed normally at EI 400, you will get more shadow details to work with after the scan.

[Ah_Seng]

How's your metering? Did you meter for the shadows? Assuming you metered for the shadows and your metering is normally spot on, then i don't see the need to pull your film. Just develop normally at 400 and the extra two stops will allow for more shadow details which could be burn down later when you print or "correct" in PS.

But if you're those that tend to overexpose or already factored in the "compensation" in shadow details by allowing extra stops, then you can go ahead to pull your film. By how much to pull, that depends on your how much compensation you factored in initially (assuming you did). Anyway, most guys if they do use this method normally just factored in 1/2 to 1 stop.

[plato]

For what I was shooting, I metered for the highlights rather than the shadows. Also, my lens doesn't allow for half stop adjustments, so if the correct exposure is at a half stop, I normally overexpose. I already sent the film in for processing 2 days ago and told them to pull 2 stops... let's see what happens.

[IamJeFfy]

mmmm, anyone care to share what is the 'formula' for pushing and pulling?

[osocan]

deleted.

nvm...I re-read and understood it differently

[plato]

Originally Posted by IamJeFfy mmmm, anyone care to share what is the 'formula' for pushing and pulling?

Can you elaborate what you mean by formula? Are you asking for the definition or the darkroom technique for self-development?

If you mean definition, this is what I understand by it. You "push" when you set the film speed on your camera higher than what the film is rated for on the box. e.g. if the film is ISO 400, and you set it as ISO 800 on your camera, then when you develop, you may want to "push" it by 1 stop. "Pull" is the reverse.

I'm not usually so experimental, so I only push or pull when I make mistakes with setting the ISO on my camera

[IamJeFfy]

what i mean is, say it is 5 mins for this 100 film at 20 deg. if i want to push to 400, so what will be my dev time? 5 x 2 since it is 2 stop difference?

[fastshot]

No. You should refer to the development timetable provided with the developer chemicals you use relative to the film. In the case you mention, look at the timing recommended for ISO400 (push 2 stops from ISO100).

[IamJeFfy]

Originally Posted by fastshot No. You should refer to the development timetable provided with the developer chemicals you use relative to the film. In the case you mention, look at the timing recommended for ISO400 (push 2 stops from ISO100).

oh.

so you are saying that i can just use the dev time for developing ISO400 for the ISO100 roll? is that what you mean?

[Yoricko]

Originally Posted by IamJeFfy oh. so you are saying that i can just use the dev time for developing ISO400 for the ISO100 roll? is that what you mean?

Every film is different. Refer to manufacturer's timings as a STARTING point.
Tri-X at EI400 has a different development timings compared to TMax 400 at EI400. No such thing as using a general development time for ISO400 films because every film has different timings.

There isn't really any "fixed" formula, you'll have to experiment on your own.

------------------------------------

Heres how I manage to cough up some rough timings on Tri-X pulled to about ~EI150

(used from old version because Kodak timings is kinda screwed up for the newer Tri-X)

Old version Tri-X at 400 20ºC = 7minutes 30seconds
Old version Tri-X at 200 20ºC = 6minutes 45seconds
Which is about 10% off time.

Old version Tri-X at 400 20ºC = 7minutes 30seconds
New version Tri-X at 400 20ºC = 6minutes 30seconds
Which is about 15% off time.

Kodak timings for new Tri-X at 400 20ºC = 3 minutes 45seconds!?

Old version Tri-X at 400 24ºC = 5minutes 00seconds
Old version Tri-X at 200 24ºC estimate = 4minutes 30seconds
New version Tri-X at 200 24ºC estimate = 3minutes 50seconds
New version Tri-X at 200 24ºC estimate with Dilution H (x2 more diluted than Dilution B timings above) = 7minutes 40seconds
Roughened out numbers = 7minutes 15seconds at 24ºC

--------

massivedevchart:
PUSH PROCESSING (B/W)

These are general guidelines when no published development times are available. To use this chart multiply the published time at recommended ASA by the factor in parenthesis (ie. If Tri-X rated at 400ASA is normally developed for 6 mins in a standard soup, then when Tri-X is pushed three stops to 3200ASA development would be: 6 x 4.5 = 27 mins). Please use these recommendations as starting points only. In many cases these times will prove excessive, but when all else fails they can be a good guideline. Please note separate data for Tmax films.

Standard Developer
1 stop push = (x1.5)
2 stop push = (x2.25)
3 stop push = (x4.5)
Compensating Developer
1 stop push = (x1.4)
2 stop push = (x1.85)
3 stop push = (x2.5)

http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?doc=pushproc

[IamJeFfy]

alrighty thanks!

[plato]

Ok, finally done with the scanning and uploaded the pics to Flickr.

To recap, I shot the Tmax 400 at ISO 100 by mistake, and then sent it to Fotohub for development with instructions to pull 2 stops.

Full set of usable pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoka...7620989180206/

Overall, the negatives were low on contrast and quite over exposed, but I was surprised by how much detail I was able to pull back into the picture after some editing in Lightroom. Basically I increased the contrast, and used a generous amount of highlight recovery.

While I don't think I'll do this again (not deliberately anyway), it was nice to know that film gives a lot of allowance for dumb mistakes

[huggable]

Which photolab did you go to, for the pulling? I've "overexposed" a roll of film before, but I used centre-weighted metering. As the shop I went to doesn't do pulling, I went for normal processing. Luckily the pictures turned out OK.

Originally Posted by plato Ok, finally done with the scanning and uploaded the pics to Flickr. To recap, I shot the Tmax 400 at ISO 100 by mistake, and then sent it to Fotohub for development with instructions to pull 2 stops. Full set of usable pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoka...7620989180206/ Overall, the negatives were low on contrast and quite over exposed, but I was surprised by how much detail I was able to pull back into the picture after some editing in Lightroom. Basically I increased the contrast, and used a generous amount of highlight recovery. While I don't think I'll do this again (not deliberately anyway), it was nice to know that film gives a lot of allowance for dumb mistakes

[plato]

I normally develop at Fotohub, but only because it's cheap.

[swimmingskies]

Originally Posted by plato Ok, finally done with the scanning and uploaded the pics to Flickr. To recap, I shot the Tmax 400 at ISO 100 by mistake, and then sent it to Fotohub for development with instructions to pull 2 stops. Full set of usable pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoka...7620989180206/ Overall, the negatives were low on contrast and quite over exposed, but I was surprised by how much detail I was able to pull back into the picture after some editing in Lightroom. Basically I increased the contrast, and used a generous amount of highlight recovery. While I don't think I'll do this again (not deliberately anyway), it was nice to know that film gives a lot of allowance for dumb mistakes

i like these

will probably try doing the same thing