Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dan Post wrote: > > Tahnks for the info- I'll see what shakes out. Sounds like an opportunity to > play mad scientist and mix up some chemicals. If you see a low, dull glow on > the horizon one night, figure I failed.... :) > Dan'l While you're playing mad scientist, you might want to try highly diluted TMax developer for Tech Pan. I had my best results by rating the film at 16, developing for 6 minutes in TMax diluted 1:14 at 20 degrees C. Unlike Technidol, I found that using TMax allowed me to use a relatively standard agitation scheme- brisk agitation for first 30 seconds, 4 brisk inversion/rotations every 30 seconds. Develpment was much more even than I was ever able to achieve with Technidol. Tonal rendition was OK- very good for subjects with predominantly dark tones- I did some fine rock pictures this way- but lacking in tonal separation in higher values. Snow scenes in relatively flat light tended to look muddy compared to conventional films. (I shoot a lot of snow scenes up here.) I haven't used Tech Pan for a few years because I prefer the tonal rendition of 100 Delta. It may be possible to produce better high value separation by fine-tuning dilution and time- I haven't gotten around to it. (I also experimented with 1:19 dilution but that seemed to result in underdevelopment due to developer exhaustion.) Good luck!