Pushing Film - What Density Readings?

Ok, if I calibrate a film/developer for normal I look for the combo of exposure/dev time that gives densities of .1 for zone 1 and 1.15 for zone 8. Zone 5 is something in the .60s<br>When I push a film what densities should I look for? Do I forget about zone 1 and just try and make zone 5 come in the .60s again? And what happens to zone 8? is it still 1.15 or is it higher? Thanks...

"Expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights" - is still the

best rule of thumb to go by.<br>The usual (some would say only) reason

for pushing film is to bring a low contrast subject up to a normal

printing density on the negative, and you should develop to get the

highlights to whatever density you consider 'normal'.<br>If you get

highlights of 1.15 density with a normal contrast subject and normal

development, then you should aim for the same highlight density from

your low-contrast subject.<br>Pushing a normal contrast exposure just

gets you blocked up and unprintable highlights.

If by pushing you mean rating the film at a higher EI during

<em>exposure</em> then you will get lower densities. You won't be

able to compensate for lost shadow detail by developing longer.

Exposure controls density, development controls contrast.

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You will lose shadow detail; the low zones are significantly affected

by underexposure. You will get a contrastier negative because the

high zones won't be affected as much; Zone 8 will be less dense but

not as thin as, say, Zone III compared to film exposed at your normal

EI. If you develop the film to get the same density for Zone 8 you'll

get a "normal" looking print with dark, impenetrable shadows

-- I'm not saying that's bad, it may actually be the effect you're

looking for.

I don't think the previous answers addressed your question. First,

look at your "normal" densities. If you check out most film

calibration articles or books, the recommended density for Zone V is

in the 0.65 to 0.75 range, and the density for Zone VIII would be in

the 1.25 to 1.35 range, IF you are using a diffusion enlarger head.

The values for a condenser enlarger would be slightly lower.

 

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If you develop your film for a longer time, the increase in density

is not linear for all Zones, which is what allows you to achieve the

desired effect of increasing the contrast of the negative relative to

normal development. The Zone I will not change very much, Zone V

will change more and Zone VIII will change even more.

 

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To achieve an N+1 development, expose for Zones I and VII, and

increase your development until the Zone VII exposures match your

normal Zone VIII density. You will notice that Zone I does increase

some, and you might want to decrease your initial exposure by an

amount that brings Zone I into the normal 0.1 above base and fog

density. That might only be 1/3 stop or so. Development for higher

than N+1 would require greater reduction in exposure. How much

reduction is a function of any particular combination of film and

development method. You would have to experiment to find what YOU

need to do. This can be tedious, but it can be rewarding, too. Don't

get so caught up in worrying about it that you don't take pictures.

That can happen.

The last answer is getting closer to what I am looking for. But now

another question: is N+1 the same as a 1 stop push? I mean do I still

shoot and develop a zone VIII for zone VIII? Or am I moving a zone

VII up to a zone VIII density? thanks...

I would say that N+1 is the same as pushing the film 1 stop. However,

you will find "pushing" and "pulling" used for either exposure or

development changes, or both. The Zone System, in its many forms, is

more precise as to what constitutes a normal negative, or the

deviations from normal.

 

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N+1 results in the increase of density of a Zone VII exposure to

match the density of a NORMALLY processed Zone VIII. This is

accomplished by increased development time. (Although you may have to

compensate for the slight increase in Zone I density by a slight

decrease in exposure, as I said in the first answer.)

 

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N-1 is accomplished by reducing development time to the point where

the density of a negative exposed for Zone IX is lowered to match a

NORMALLY processed Zone VIII. (And you may have to slightly increase

the initial exposure to counteract the slight lowering of Zone I

density)

 

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Other Zones react to the change in development, of course. Lower

densities react less and higher densities react more. If you expose a

scene that contains a full range of light values and develop it for

N+1, Zone VII will go to Zone VIII, by definition. Zone V will be

somewhere between a normal V and VI. If the scene contained Zone

VIII values to begin with, they will now be higher than Zone IX,

because they were denser than Zone VII to begin with, and they react

even more than Zone VII to the increased development.