Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Mike, no doubt this is true in regards to pictures you would actually PAY for, but the point of the original note was a test of lenses and for that Tri-x is not a demanding medium. As for Tech Pan's tonal qualities: I have found this film to be quite nice when properly exposed and developed. It is somewhat more red sensitive, but otherwise a very smooth and enlargable film. I don't find 25 asa a problem in outdoor photography. In fact just for shits and giggles I have done a fair amount of street photography with this stuff. You can isolate a person very distinctly at f 2.0.....It's interesting that 25 ASA today is unbearably slow, but was considered high speed by the photographers in the 30's who made this format, and the Leica a success. Technidol is the only way I know to get this stuff to work right, and it IS finicky! It goes bad in a heartbeat, and is VERY easy to overdevelop. In fact I have found Kodaks time reccomdations to be way too long for a usable negative; one that prints on #2-3 paper without special tricks or voo doo spells. That said, don't think I am bashing Tri-x....It is my film of choice for 75% of my shooting. (Illford delta 100 is second, on reccomendation some time ago of a LUG participant) Best Wishes Dan > >Tonal properties and gradation are more important than sharpness for >black-and-white photography. In this respect, Tri-X beats Tech Pan hands >down. > >--Mike (who is REALLY getting sick of receiving portfolios of rotten, >tonally awful pictures on Tech Pan developed in Technidol at the >magazine, from self-congratulatory "photographers" who think they're >doing something special and deserving of praise...present company not >implied to be included in this generalization. I did once receive a Tech >Pan portfolio that looked okay [from Bob Clemens, who was a Kodak staff >photographer for three decades], so it IS possible.) > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com