Hi all,

I wanted to follow up on another post regarding this subject.

I shot and developed my first roll of 35mm Tech Pan last night. Mainly, I wanted to get some test data to set my personal EI before I head off into the woods with this stuff. I exposed at ASA 50 with +/-2 full stops of 1/3 step bracketing for Zone 1, 5, and 8. ( I then finished up the last few frames on the roll with some high contrast and high detail picks at ASA 50 ).

I hand developed in 500 ml. of 68 degree TD-3 for 20 minutes using the 10 inversion per 3 minute method. The TD-3 was mixed 50ml of Solution A, 50ml of Solution B and 400ml of Distilled Water.

I was very supprised to find the negatives to be REALLY thin. If I am to believe my results the negatives that came out correctly are shot at ASA 12! These ended up with a Zone 1 density of .09 /fbf and had pretty appropriate densities for Zones 5 and 8. ( Once I repeat my Zone 1 testing I will adjust development for the high values.)

The interesting thing is that the pictorial shots, while very thin, have increadable detail and almost no grain at all, I had a hard time finding the grain with an Omega grain focuser at 8x10!

I will reshoot some more this weekend, time permitting, and post another continuation.

I have a couple of questions for those of you who have used TD-3 in the past. What ASA did you end up with, was that checked with a densitometer or "eyeballed", and what development method did you use.

Best Regards, -harry

-- Harry Pluta (hspluta@msn.com), January 29, 2000

Answers

I forgot to mention, I used a 2 minute pre soak as per the TD-3 instructions.

Regards,

-- Harry Pluta (hspluta@msn.com), January 29, 2000.

The thinness may in part be the base, which LOOKS thin even with Technidol. But I'm not surprised by the low numbers, either. I really don't think there is a way to get better ISO out of TP. 50 is probably the highest with the best of luck in combinations. I know someone who shot at 50 and developed in XTol. It was gross.

I've still to do it to any large extent, but I really think TP is an ISO 12 emulsion...

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), January 29, 2000.

Sorry I can't comment directly on your TD-3 results Harry. :-(

-- shawn gibson (SeeInsideForever@yahoo.com), January 29, 2000.

Shawn,

Thanks for the feedback. The .09 density was calculated above the filmbase and fog reading. This eliminates any varience in emulsion, fogginf, or staining. The way I work, using a grade 2 paper, a .1 density above fb/f gives good detail in the shadow areas, less then this and my shadows tend to go black.

Best Regards

-- Harry Pluta (hspluta@msn.com), January 29, 2000.

I gave TD-3 a try a while back; also ended up with EI 12 and no particular advantages in curve shape etc.

Lately I've tried Ethol TEC with a couple of rolls of TP; TEC 1:15 (not the recommended 1:31) 6'/68F EI 50. At first I thought I'd made a mistake, but a second test confirmed EI 50 for .10 DU above fb&f with a reasonable CI and curve shape.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), January 29, 2000.

harry,

I use the same dilution and agitation method you describe except I go for 23 minutes. I shoot at 25 and I get detailed shodows and incredibly fine grain. I agree the neg's appear thin but they print beautifully on grade 3 oriental FB.

-- Walter Massa (massacam@aol.com), January 29, 2000.

Hi again,

I just finished up a second roll. This one I based on 12 ASA and bracketed around that number. I got a .12 for my Zone 1 value which I expected, but I found something I had missed on my first roll, maximum density for this film ( the way I process it )is 1.14 above fb&f! This would seem to indicate that a base density around .06 is ok, which would mean I should be shooting around ASA 25. I can live with that!

We had a great snow fall last night so once it stops I will go out and shoot a couple of rolls in the woods. I plan to bracket around ASA 25 and then see what prints well. I will post back later this week once I've had a chance to do some printing.

Thanks for all the feedback,

-- Harry Pluta (hspluta@msn.com), January 30, 2000.