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Old 22nd April 2019, 06:20 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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Kieran, I don't have much to add to the already excellent advice here, other than to second the recommendation to develop your own films. It really is very easy to do, and well worth the small investment in a tank (which will pay for itself in short order).

The fact that you are getting all greys from FP4 and PanF seems to indicate that the lab is underdeveloping (likely for the reason that David noted). Both of these films should give nice punchy contrast when developed normally in a standard developer.

Another factor which does not favour diffusion enlarger heads is that manufacturer's stated developing times are geared to give "middle of the road" contrast index values, intended to work with both diffusion and condenser heads. In reality these may not be ideal for either type. Back in the '80s when I started with film developing, Ilford in their tech docs provided two times for each film/developer combo -- one for condenser heads, and a second (longer) time for diffusion heads to give more contrast. Nowadays there is only one time listed that gives an in-between contrast index. In your case, this may be giving you a double-whammy against good contrast: to start out with, a "standard" dev time that is too short for diffusion heads; and then a further shortened time for scanners.

Developing your own films allows you to dial in what works best for you, your equipment, and how you want your images to look.

Hope this helps.
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Svend

Last edited by Svend; 22nd April 2019 at 06:24 PM.
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