Andrew in Austin Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 I bought a marked down packet of Microdol X over the summer that wasnear its sell by date. Now as it is even nearer to that date, I'vedecided to use it. I have four rolls of Ilford Delta 3200 120 to develop. The box for the120 recommends 13 minutes @ 68 degrees at a 1+0 dilution, i.e. stocksolution for an EI of 1600. To cut to the chase, are the Ilford recommended times accurate forthis developer? I like doing single inversions at 1 minute intervalswith a wrist swirl at the 30 second interval. Also, Kodak only recommends 4 rolls per litre of Microdox X before itis spent. Am I pushing my luck try to do 4 rolls of 120? Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted September 28, 2004 Author Share Posted September 28, 2004 One other question: Has anyone use Microdox X at a 1+1 dilution for Delta 3200 at EI 1600? Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay_de_fehr Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Andrew, I've never used the combination you're considering, but it seems a strange choice. Microdol is well known to give fine grain at the expense of 1 stop or so, of film speed. Not recommended for push processing, which is essentially what you'd have to do to get an EI of 1600 out of Delta 3200, which has an actual speed of around 1000, suggesting that an EI of 500 might be more realistic for the combination. At EI 500, you might well prefer a 400 speed film like Tri-X or HP5+ in Microphen or Diafine. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew in Austin Posted September 28, 2004 Author Share Posted September 28, 2004 Sounds to me as you are saying that I'd be better off saving this batch of Microdol X for a traditional emulsion such as PX or TX. Best Regards - Andrew in Austin, TX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_carper1 Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 I have to agree with Jay; Microdol X (and the similar ILFORD PERCEPTOL) give a natural speed LOSS. They are not very good at push-processing (which you are doing with the Delta 3200, even when rating at 1600), unless you are looking for fairly high contrast. Even then, the negatives will be lacking in shadow detail, more so than with other developers. As far as the capacity, a 120 roll is the same amount of film as a 36 exposure 35mm, so no problem there. But the developer does not have enough activity to support going to 1+1, at least not without extremely long times. I'd recommend using a developer with some speed enhancement. My top choice would be ILFOTEC DD-X, but MICROPHEN, Xtol, and T-Max all give good results. David Carper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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