John,(posted 8997 days ago)Thanks for your experience and technical background info. I'm not a professional photographer so I had to look up some background info on tone curves and what a "long" tone curve means in a print. I think I've got it.
I also think a friend clued me in that the Tech Pan films you traditionally use have a sharper, punchier, look to them than the Tri- X or HP5+ films I was using. I'm starting to think that the Chromogenics are more similar to the Pan films (sharper, more clearly defined tonal changes, etc.) than they are the traditional film types. I've looked at some photos taken by others and am gaining confidence in this theory. You seem to support this line of thought.
I was wondering though, when you mention "extended-red look" are you implying the film responds to reds in a way that creates a dark neg. and therefore a light print for red tones?
You may be right too in regard to the print contrast. My printing was done by a commercial lab so I don't know how the contrast range was determined. It's very possible the HP5+ prints were done by one person who thought a softer look was better for that subject (littler girl in frilly white dress and hat) and someone else, months later, did the Chromogenic print and liked a punchier, higher contrast look.
I must admit, both looks have merits. I'm not sure which I prefer.
Thanks again for your earlier advice.