[pure-silver] Re: DELTA 100 AS REPLACEMENT FOR Tmax 100
- From: Jim Brick <jim@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 08 May 2007 17:16:33 -0700
Someone mentioned diXactol...
I've been using Barry Thornton's developers for a long time. They are
pyrocatechol based developers. Before Barry, I used a highly
compensating Windisch pyrocatechol formula with great success.
I produced a zone exposure and development system, diXactol Ultra and
FP4, Exactol Lux and HP5, for use by my students (and of course, me).
Bob Adler helped me with the grunt work in producing this - it takes
several bricks (no pun intended) of film, hours shooting a gray card,
hours in the darkroom processing, and hours of densitometer work to
get it right. The compensating effect and staining effect of the
pyrocatechol makes densitometer use problematic, but persistence and
lots of testing have proven to overcome these obstacles. I've been
doing this for a very long time and the seat of one's pants usually
nudges one in the correct direction to make things work.
One of my students (a private one-on-one student) was taking a
photography/darkroom class at a local junior college at the same time
that I was teaching her. After teaching her the zone system and the
zone use of diXactol Ultra and FP4, her college instructor couldn't
believe the huge increase in the quality of her prints over her
previous work - the huge dynamic range increase, reduced dodging &
burning, and a perceived increase in fine detail.
I originally did the above type of exposure/development system for
Super-XX in D76, while at Brooks Institute in 1959. Super-XX was such
a great film! I have since done it for Tri-X, Plus-X, APX-100, etc,
in D76 1:1. Also for Adox KB/R-14, Panatomix-X, APX-25, etc, in
various developers. I have to say that my latest (Ilford films &
Barry's developers) is the best yet for creating consistently easy to
print, full range negatives. And, according to boB, they scan very well.
If someone is interested in using diXactol, they should go
to http://www.barrythornton.com/ and click on 'Developers' /
'diXactol Ultra' / 'About & Use' for more information. Also click on
'Technique guide' followed by clicking on your subject of interest.
If you want to purchase diXactol Ultra go to:
http://www.monochromephotography.com/shop.htm
Neither diXactol nor Exactol Lux, however, are a panacea. But they do
allow one to, without much fuss, produce fine negatives from which
fine prints can be made. You do have to understand the craft of film
photography, however!
I, and many of my colleagues/students like this stuff. Buy some and
try it. You might like it too. While you are at it, buy AND READ
Barry's book 'Edge of Darkness' to find out how all of this came
about. After you read it, read it again!
http://tinyurl.com/2gh9pn
MHO,
:-)
Jim
=============================================================================================================
To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your
account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,)
and unsubscribe from there.
Other related posts:
