I have shot tmax 100 and tri-x in 4x5 side by side. The midtones in the tmax ( developed in tmax developer) are invariably less robust than in the tri-x. The film is a flat in comparison. Has someone compared these two films side by side and do you have a developer recipe that will yield tmax with the same robust quality as the tri-x?

-- (david@dswdesign.com), February 09, 2002

Answers

Why not try Rodinal or a glycin based developer? Glycin developers gives superb midtones, and great for portraits and landscape shots. The grain is similar to the result with Rodinal, but in the 4x5 size it isn't so important.

-- Patric (jenspatricdahlen@hotmail.com), February 09, 2002.

Mid to highlight tone is not the most tricky thing to squeeze out of the film. Indeed, any reasonably buffered, balanced fine grain formula should do that part. Since you are shooting LF D-76 stock or 1+1 should work very well. T-MAX dev may compress midtone a bit in exchange for stretched shadow and highlight. If you want nice midtone with most modern films, OVERDEVELOP slightly.

Note: Use good lighting for comparison. Exotic chemicals won't fix lighting failure.

-- Ryuji Suzuki (rsuzuki@rs.cncdsl.com), February 09, 2002.

I get excellent mid-value separation by rating T-Max 100 at 64 or sometimes 80 and developing in PMK or PMK+. You will find one of my nudes here that was made on T-Max 100 120 roll film (EI 80) and developed in PMK+ (amidol added) for 7.5 minutes at 80 degrees. It demonstrates excellent tonal separation

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), February 09, 2002.