Picked up a few rolls of Ilford Delta 3200 for Xmas Eve shots. Any advice on using them? I'm figuring to shoot and process at ISO 1600, unless someone suggests otherwise. Best to all this holiday season.

-- Gulley Jimson (gulleyjimson@hotmail.com), December 23, 2001

Answers

Gulley: I found that I like the result (density) best when I expose it at 1600 and develop it for 3200.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), December 23, 2001.

Gulley,

I agree with Jack, though I sometimes expose it at EI1000 and develop in a high-contrast developer like Kodak D-19. D3200 or Neopan 1600 in D-19 yields wonderfully 'Ralph Gibson'ish negatives that benefit from the hyper-elevated density. you must love the airey grain however, which I think is Delta 3200's most endearing quality. it enlarges better than any I have experienced. I think pushed HP5+ for high- contrast works better, but best of luck.

-- daniel taylor (lightsmythe@agalis.net), December 23, 2001.

Delta 3200 is pretty happy at EI 1600 in Microphen or DD-X. Try 7'/75F in straight Microphen or 10'/75F in DD-X 1:4. It also works fine in Xtol 1:1.

Do _not_ use D-76/ID-11 or undiluted Xtol; these give only around EI 640-800 in "real" speed (based on shadow density) while Microphen, DD-X and diluted Xtol give around EI 1200.

If you can, test first before shooting something important.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), December 23, 2001.

I actually like shooting Delta 3200 at 3200. But then again, I also shoot tmax 3200 at 3200. I find the delta to be smoother than the tmax. Of course when you are looking at golfball sized grain, smoothness is relative.

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), December 23, 2001.

I usually expose it at EI 3200, and develop it using Ilford's recommended times for EI 6400. Oddly for a negative film, I get the most consistent results by using an incident meter. Develop it in Microphen 1:1 or Xtol 1:1.

-- Chuck Albertson (chucko@siteconnect.com), December 24, 2001.

I tried it once.Definitely slower than 3200,1000 probably ok. Has anyone tried it in Rodinal? time and dilutions reqd....

-- jason gold (leeu72@hotmail.com), December 24, 2001.

Exposed at 1600 and pushed about a stop, Delta 3200 has excellent shadow detail and beautiful tonality.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), December 25, 2001.

I'm w/Josh Root, having had good results w/Delta 3200 shot @ 3200 & developed by local pro labs, but there's no harm in experimenting!

-- Chris Chen (furcafe@cris.com), December 27, 2001.

Anyone who's used both like to offer a comparison between Delta 3200 and Kodak TMZ (T-Max 3200)?

On another note, I saw "Ocean's 11" this afternoon. Good movie but what I particularly noticed was the interesting pattern of grain and color shift in the film. I've just started playing with Provia 400F, rated at 1600 and I except to see similar results. It would be interesting to know more of the film's technical details but unfortunately, www.imdb.com does have anything yet.

Fergus

-- Fergus Hammond (fhammond@adobe.com), December 27, 2001.

Gulley: An alternative to pulling Delta 3200 to 1600 (& a superior alternative IMO) is to push Delta 400 to 1600.

-- Chris Chen (furcafe@cris.com), December 27, 2001.

Fergus--

I've used T-Max 3200 (extensively) and Delta 3200 (a little bit). I've run the T-Max thru T-Max, D76, Rodinal, and I can't remember what else. I've run the D3200 thru T-Max and D76, and I think in Xtol a couple of times. For me, T-Max 3200 is a Godsend: I shoot at ISO 800-1600 in contrastier light, 2000-2500 in flatter light, process in T-Max developer, and the results are astoundingly good: yes, you'll see grain, but also very high sharpness and tonal ranges that print up very nicely. Really, some of these negs are just ridiculously easy to print. D3200, on the other hand, just never worked for me. It seemed a bit finer-grained, but not as sharp nor pretty. YMMV.

-- Douglas Kinnear (douglas.kinnear@colostate.edu), December 27, 2001.

I've only shot it once, at 1600 and processed for 3200, I'm not sure I found enough reason to use it instead of just shooting the Tri-X I always carry at 1600, which I've done many times.

Horsey, Delta 3200, Copyright 2000 Jeff Spirer

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), December 27, 2001.