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  #11  
Old 22nd April 2019, 06:20 PM
Svend Svend is offline
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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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Last edited by Svend; 22nd April 2019 at 06:24 PM.
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  #12  
Old 23rd April 2019, 06:10 AM
KPtheamateur KPtheamateur is offline
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Thanks everyone for the advice on negatives - if the lab is underdeveloping that would explain why I get so much better prints from XP2 Super with little/no magenta. I do plan to develop my own negs, the barrier has always been time as the 3 or 4 hours a month I can get into the darkroom I would rather spend making prints than developing negs. I'll have to have a think about whether to get the lab to develop for longer or do home developing!

Once again, I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to offer advice.
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  #13  
Old 23rd April 2019, 06:45 AM
KPtheamateur KPtheamateur is offline
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I should also probably add that I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon rewiring the enlarger head as it was looking to use a technical sparks' term, well dodgy. So hopefully any inconsistency in the lamp will be fixed now!
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  #14  
Old 23rd April 2019, 08:33 PM
big paul big paul is offline
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I have always used a condenser enlargers and I have got the results I want ,I did use a colour one once but could not get on with it so I bought a condenser head for it and I was happy again .first thing with everything is practice makes perfect and it takes a while to start getting prints you are happy with ,I always used graded paper over the years .now I use ilfobrom fb g2 paper and classic fb multigrade ,without a filter and treat it as g2 paper ,I always over develop my film a little bit to get the negative I want .The ilforbrom is more a brown shades and the classic is more black and white .don't get me wrong using what type of enlarger in the long run don't make much difference I have seen great prints made on both types ,so it must be what you are used too .keep it up you will get there in the end good luck.

here is one I printed on to Ilford classic FB MG paper 10x8 scanned (badly) print,Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_0008.jpg
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ID:	3112 the actual print looks much better..

www.essexcockney.com
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  #15  
Old 8th May 2019, 10:40 AM
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photomi7ch photomi7ch is offline
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I find if I'm having trouble with low contrast which is a rare thing or felling liaise I us kentmere RC gloss it increase the punch.
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