Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/07/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Simon writes: > ... it will have to go to a lab, and the pro lab > I normally use state that they use TMax developer > for black and white. T-Max will be a disaster, as will just about any other normal developer with normal development conditions. I tried going that route, too. I took a roll to my lab and told them to run it through their usual B&W processing, even though they warned me that it wouldn't come out. Sure enough, it came out looking like line art. One or two images I was able to salvage through extremely aggressive manipulation of the scans, but that was all. Pro labs wanted $60 or so to develop Tech Pan, since they had to do it as special one-shot development. That's what made me decide to look into doing my own B&W development again, and since it turned out not to be very difficult, I ended up doing all my own B&W film development--including Tech Pan (using Technidol), with very good results. Doing your own prints requires significant space, money, and time, but doing your own film development is much easier. I have everything I need to do it in two small plastic trays in the bathroom. > I guess your view is that Technidol is the only way > to get the best out of Technical Pan, anything else will > have too much contrast. I believe Tech Pan is derived from microfiche emulsion, and is really designed just to produce clear film and complete opacity. You can only get intermediate levels of gray by greatly overexposing the film (hence the low EI ratings for pictorial use) and by using a very gentle developer that holds contrast in check (i.e., Technidol).