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  #1  
Old 28th August 2010, 07:31 PM
mark d mark d is offline
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Default Acutance developer or fine grain developer

If I use a high acutance developer on 120 pan F film I should get very sharp negs against courser grain. If I use a fine grain developer I should get minimum grain but against less sharp negs, because I am using 120, would I be better going for a high acutance developer as I am not enlarging them to much. I plan to print 12"x12" but may go to 16"x16". I want to get the best quality negs to print from.
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Old 28th August 2010, 08:30 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is online now
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All speculation on my part but if high accutance is what you'd like to see then Pan F in 120 at only 12x12 might still be relatively grainless with high accutance.

Short of looking at an actual 12x12 print of a 120 neg developed in a high accutance developer to see if it meets your needs, I think you can only give it a try. A low resolution scan of such a print would I think be next to useless for comparison purposes.

Do you have a specific fine grain and high accutance developer in mind?

Mike
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Old 29th August 2010, 08:31 AM
mark d mark d is offline
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Default which developer

I was thinking of using Rodinol as a high octanes developer as I have used it in the past and had some good results or one of the fine grain developers from Ilford like microphen or perceptoll which I have never used. I have 7 rolls to developer and I want to get it right as I think I have some good pictures. I was wondering what others would do as they have much more experience than me.
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Old 29th August 2010, 08:52 AM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Mark,
Look at the other recent threads on this subject. I do not believe it is a case of sharpness OR fine grain. With Pyrocat HD, Prescysol EF or Perceptol 1+3 you can have both. These developers are just as sharp as Rodinal, and can give very fine grain.
Perceptol at 1+3 works best in sunny conditions, as you may lose a bit of film speed with it. Pyrocat HD is a bit awkward as you have to make it yourself from raw chemicals-but it is very cheap. Presycol is available ready to use. You won't lose film speed with it, or with Pyrocat. I have never used Pan F but in a direct test with FP4+ these three developers led to prints that were indistinguishable from each othe in terms of grain, sharpness and tones.
Take your pick, but if the films you have already taken have some potentially good stuff on them I would be loth to risk them in a developer I had not tried before. I would be tempted to shoot a few rolls on nothing important, to experiment with.

Alan
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Old 29th August 2010, 11:43 AM
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Mark-NY Mark-NY is offline
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Like Alan, I too do not believe it is a case of either one or the other: sharpness or grain. My usual developer is Xtol and have had absolutely no issues with grain in enlargements up to 14" -- the largest I have made.

In my limited experience, I have found grain the be mostly determined by the film used while developer choice is a secondary consideration. That being said, I have never used Rodinol . It would be interesting to hear others' thoughts here.

This chart listing the characteristics of various Kodak developers might be helpful.

As a side note: "Grain whispers at you from 12 inches while tonality shouts at you from across the room." I can't remember where I read that but would have to agree.

In any event, I would doubt that grain would be an issue for most 120 films enlarged to the sizes you indicate. In that case you also might consider just using your normal developer for these important rolls rather than experimenting - it took me a large number of rolls just to get good developing times for my films and process.
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Old 29th August 2010, 07:32 PM
ShaunH ShaunH is offline
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Ilford Pan F+ can be a pig of a film to use if you have any deep shadow areas in your shot. To get the best out of Pan F+ I would always use Ilford Perceptol at 1+3 and put up with a painfully long development time. The clarity of the final result will be astonishing and the action of the developer will give an excellent tonal range. Ilford Pan F+ is my favourite film on 120 roll but at the moment I am developing in Tetenal Neofin Blue.
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Old 29th August 2010, 07:52 PM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Hi Shaun,
I know you also like Adox 25. What are the differences between this and Pan F?

Alan
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Old 31st August 2010, 12:40 PM
ShaunH ShaunH is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Clark View Post
Hi Shaun,
I know you also like Adox 25. What are the differences between this and Pan F?

Alan
Alan, a very good day to you. I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. I hope the darkroom work is doing well.

I do like Adox CHS25 yes but of the two films I honestly think that Ilford Pan F+ is a more refined film to use and to get results from. The Adox has issues when it is wet straight from the tank in that the emulsion is just so delicate and Ilford Pan F+ has issues regarding how it handles deep shadows but out of convenience, I think Pan F+ wins by a tiny margin.

One thing to bear in mind is that I have only used the Adox film on 35mm whereas I have used Pan F+ in all formats. I think that Pan F+ is sharper, just and I think that Pan F+ has a better rendition of very fine detail. CHS25 is a very fine film but obviously there is a one stop penalty when using it and I have found that this film is better on 'diffuse' days when the lighting is near perfect. It is crucial that this film is not overexposed as it does not handle highlights well. It produces a gorgeous range of midtones on skin especially with a hint of TTL flash in daylight.

Because these films are quite unique, I find myself using both of them but out of convenience I would chose Pan F+.
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Old 31st August 2010, 01:14 PM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Thanks Shaun,

I have used Adox 25 in 35mm, and got bad tram-lines with it, but liked the look it gave. Maybe I should give Pan F a go.

Alan
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Old 1st September 2010, 07:54 AM
ShaunH ShaunH is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Clark View Post
Thanks Shaun,

I have used Adox 25 in 35mm, and got bad tram-lines with it, but liked the look it gave. Maybe I should give Pan F a go.

Alan
The most likely cause of tramlines would be the use of a film squeegee or the use of fingers to squeegee the film. This simply cannot be done with this film as it definitely will result in damage. Utmost care has to be followed taking this film out of the spiral and no further contact should be made, the film being simply hung up to dry.

I would recommend you give it another go. It really is a fabulous film especially when developed in Neofin Blue or Rodinal. The advantage with Ilford Pan F+ though is that you can use Perceptol at 1+3. That just has to be good.
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