Plus-x 125 Grain Issue

[gmc]

Just a quick question on a grainy enlargement I made. Being totally

new to film developing, my first neg. turned out a bit flat with a

high degree of contrast. The film I'm using is 125PX (plus-x) and my

first 11x14 picture seemed to be grainy with still a good degree of

sharpness. The 8x10 looked much better. Am I asking too much from

this format far as enlargements are concerned? Still seemed to have

enough sharpness but I started loosing a great amount of skin tone

(sort of the ink blot effect). Is there a better film out there for

taking just casual shots of people? Help get me straight here.....

 

T.I.A.

gmc

[jeffrey_lan]

11x14 is a pretty big enlargement for a 35mm negative (which is what i assume you're using, since you say you're new at this). so i'd say that's largely responsible for the problem you're experiencing.

 

slower films tend to have finer grain, and you can use other developers than whatever you're using for grain that's finer still, but in the end, you can only take 35mm so far...

[silent1]

I might also suggest that 11x14 is a little on the large side for "casual shots of people." I wouldn't normally tend to enlarge snapshots beyond 5x7, and even Tri-X should show no visible grain at that size.

 

If you're after the biggest possible enlargements from 35 mm without grain effects, take the time to get comfortable with T-Max 100 (TMX) developed in Microdol-X. You'll have to shoot at EI 32 or so, but the result is comparable to Tech Pan in Technidol, and much cheaper -- you'll be able to enlarge 35 mm to 16x20 without excessive grain.

[avisualemotion]

I belive it could be also wrong way of development. I have never experience excepsive grain from Kodak 125PX even enlarged to 50x60cm (20x25). Normaly I am using 400 films (fuji neopan 400) and last time I enlarged them to 60x70cm and than I had grain but not terrible just nice visible grain.<br>

You mentioned flat negative with high contrast. Maybe you overdevoped or overexposed. This can bring a huge amount of grain.Just thoughts.

<br><br>

All films are good, I belive it is only question to find right developer with right film to fit your taste.<br>

<br>

--- <br>

richard vanek<br>

<a href="http://piskoftak.com/">http://piskoftak.com/</a>

[gmc]

Thanks for the response guys. I use 120-film shooting 6x6 (2 -1/4 sq.) neg. I have a few 35mm cameras but would never consider enlarging any of the pictures over 5x7. I've shot a lot of 120 film, but never dev. it.

Thanks,

gmc

[peter_langfelder]

You say the negatives were developed to high contrast - that usually means

overdeveloping, so more grain as well. Try to reduce the development time such that you

get good prints with normal contrast (grade 2 to 3); the grain should be less prominent as

well.

[andrew_hull]

I have many shots that are Tri-X in Microdol X 1:3 that don't exhibiti much grain. I would suggest that you develop in a fine grain developer for the minimum time required to have adequate shadow detail. Basically, the thinner the better.

[Troll]

Plus-X in 1:3 Microdol is a near perfect combination for maximum sharpness and minimum grain. Your effective speed will only be about ISO=80, however.

[photojim]

It's easy to get good 11x14s out of 35mm. Yes, you'll see some grain, but it is reasonable. Films like Delta 100 in XTOL 1:1 will be very fine grained. You should see little to no grain on that size of a print from rollfilm.

[lex_jenkins]

You say the negs are a bit flat *and* contrasty? That's a contradiction in terms.

 

Let's assume they're contrasty. That would indicate overdevelopment since you're dissatisfied with the grain. With many films (and developers) development beyond a certain point begins to build up grain faster than it does gamma/contrast.

 

(For example, a good way to achieve grainy HP5+ negatives, if that's the goal, is to underexpose it a bit - EI 800 - and overdevelop about 25% in Ilfosol-S. The negs won't be excessively contrasty but they will be grainier. I have some examples that are very appealing, if one likes that sort of thing. Normally I'd say HP5+ and Ilfosol-S are a mismatch but in this case it works.)

 

Also, Plus-X - at least the old emulsion - was never considered to have the finest grain among films in the ISO 100-125 neighborhood. It has other good characteristics, tho'.

 

To keep things simple I'd suggest pulling back on development time by about 10%-25% using the same developer and technique (agitation, temperature, etc.). See how this set of negs compares with the first set. Maybe you won't need to try another developer.