Stand development is sort of a catch-all. You use less chemicals & can do whatever film/ISO/Push etc in one bath.
I tried some 4x5 sheets & the results were OK. The contrast was kind of strange but thats what it's good for, flattening out a contrasty exposure. I agree w/ratty, picking the time & the soup mix is just as easy & w/more control
I'm going to let rattymouse address that as I'm only about 4 batches into my learning curve.
I used Rodinal & the results on some were a little grainy. I have some other developer chemistry that I will try on the next batch.
kwoodard wrote:
What do you all recommend for very little/no grain in a ASA400 film?
I haven't really shot it because I like the grain in HP5+ and Tri-X but if I was going to try to reduce the grain I'd probably give T-Max 400 (or maybe Ilford Delta 400) a shot.
Well, this is really an image thread, so at the risk of going OT ...
rattymouse wrote:
I would suggest that you try standard development on film that has been properly exposed. You'll find that your shadows are in good shape I suspect.
I certainly agree that if one is new to this one should get to know one scheme well before experimenting, but ... for BW negs "proper exposure" involves development method as well as scene brightness and film speed. Stand development is not appropriate for everything, any more than normal or push is, but it is the right tool for certain jobs.
dswiger wrote:
Stand development is sort of a catch-all. You use less chemicals & can do whatever film/ISO/Push etc in one bath.
I tried some 4x5 sheets & the results were OK. The contrast was kind of strange but thats what it's good for, flattening out a contrasty exposure. I agree w/ratty, picking the time & the soup mix is just as easy & w/more control
Stand dev is not a catchall, and is closer to the opposite of a push (pull is the opposite). It does frequently give you a speed increase, but unlike a push it's a true speed increase. Also you have to expose specifically for stand, just as you would expose specifically for a push or a normal.
kwoodard wrote:
What do you all recommend for very little/no grain in a ASA400 film?
Bigger piece of film?
Tablet grain films (TMY and Delta 400) are inherently finer grained than traditional films. Solvent developers (Perceptol, Microdol) give finer grain than acutance developers (Rodinal may be the best known, but just about anything at high dilution will work this way). You will also typically lose film speed with solvent devs, if that's an issue. Stand development gives the opposite results wrt grain (more) and acutance (more) than solvent developers.
dswiger wrote:
I'm going to let rattymouse address that as I'm only about 4 batches into my learning curve.
I used Rodinal & the results on some were a little grainy. I have some other developer chemistry that I will try on the next batch.
Rodinal is an acutance developer. You could try it at 1:25, but if grain is a problem for you that's the wrong developer. I do like Rodinal, though, for stand and semi-stand.
