Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/09/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Feli, It goes without saying that A&I used an automated system so time and temperature were within about 0.1 degree. My experience has been however, that unless your temperatures vary many degrees between solutions then the apparent grain will not change much. As to the smoothness, does the grain look a little melted under a loop? If there are no crisp edges then they were using a solvent developer like Microdol-X. FG-7 can also give a smoother grain structure than D-76 and is commonly used in commercial labs. My experience with Xtol and Tri-X does give a finer grain than D-76 but the grain is still very evident. If you really want to get to the bottom of it, why don't you ask A&I what they used? Don dorysrus@mindspring.com -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Feli di Giorgio Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:32 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: [Leica] Lab vs. home processing. Recently I was going over some older Tri-X negatives that were processed by A&I and noticed just how fine grained they were. In comparison my TX/D76 negs were not nearly as smooth. I've been looking at my work flow and have come up with the following: a) They are not using D76, but maybe something like Xtol? b) I am using Namco Super76. Perhaps the Kodak or Ilford version of D76 is different and dissolves more grain? c) Temperature control. I can guarantee that their work flow is far more consistent and controlled than mine... Any ideas? I try to be very consistent with my processing, but maybe I am missing something. Is this level of quality only achievable with automated processing? thanks, Feli _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information