Acutance with Ilford Delta 3200?

[tom_smith15]

After reading the forum posts here, I've been shooting Ilford Delta

3200 and developing in Kodak HC110b - seems like this is a favourite

for many photographers.

 

My results haven't been terribly sharp, but the ones which are, just

look like they lack punch and the classic acutance look of rodinal

with slower emulsions like Adox (Efke 25).

 

I go back to my hamlet (village home) tomorrow afternoon for the term

break and all I have there is HC110b. I've got time to try and get

another developer to experiment with. I'm looking for a sharp

acutance look with Delta 3200 - grain doesn't bother me too much. I

don't like the golf-ball grain with rodinal though.

 

If there are any suggestions out there with examples it'd be great to

share them. If not, have a good Christmas vacation.

[scott_eaton]

Delta 3200 is a soft, mushy film to begin with. Try TMZ or Neopan.

[lex_jenkins]

With Delta 3200 you can either have better acutance with the appropriate developer (Rodinal, Neofin Red, etc.) at something closer to the film's true speed of around 1200 or better usable range and popcorn grain with a speed enhancing developer like Microphen, DDX, Acufine, etc., at 1600 and up.

[lowell_huff1]

We have very good results with our F 76 plus and all the Delta Films

Dilute: 1+9

Delta 3200

Develop:13? minutes @ 68?f

Delta 400

7 minutes

Delta 100

5? minutes

[tom_smith15]

Thanks Scott - I'm starting to learn that Delta 3200 isn't all it's cracked up to be ;(

 

The light here is so gloomy and dim - I can't get anything on ISO 1000 either. I'm shooting with a Yashicamat so I need 120 film....

 

A side-question - would I be better off pushing Neopan 400 to 3200 and developing in Microphen (If I can find it) or something similar than trying Delta 3200 with Neofin Blue? I think I can get Tetenal Neofin - is that it?

 

I'd still like to shoot at ISO 3200. What about Ilfosol and Ilfotec? I remember seeing bottles of these lying around...

[kevin_hundsnurscher]

I haven't had any acutance problems with Delta 3200 in HC-110. Actually, the results have been pretty sharp, albeit grainy.

[marco_buonocore]

People really do expect a lot with this film - I know I did when I originally started using it. I'd rate it at 3200-6400, shooting my Mamiya 645 handheld at 1/15 f2.8, and kept wondering "why are these shots so soft/mushy/etc?"

 

Any film can look lousy in these circumstances. But I'll tell you what, when you start being more reasonable with this film, rating it at 1600-2000 and take well exposed shots, the prints stand up to some scrutiny.

 

I develop it as per John Hicks' reccomendation, in DDX 1:4 for 11m at 75F. I shoot 120 film, and have taken many indoor shots - in pubs, particularly. I've made 8x10 prints that are just fine. Certainly, there's a real difference in quality between this film and a 100asa film, but being able to handhold is a blessing indoors.

 

While it's not perfect, it is a very useful film to have in the arsenal - just don't get to greedy with pushing the film speed, and it'll do all right.

[jimvanson]

I also use

<a href="http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Times/D3200/d3200.html"><b>John Hicks'</b></a> advice/times for both Xtol & DDX. I prefer the results using 1+2 Xtol to those of DDX (plus the Xtol is much more reasonably priced).<P>And I must say that I'm very pleased with the accutance D3200 gives me especially the 120 I've exposed with my Pentax primes or the superb 6x9 negs I've gotten with my Fuji GSW 690.

[lex_jenkins]

Tom, if I'm recalling correctly Tetenal recommends Neofin Blue only for slow films and Red for faster films. You can check this on the JandC Photo or Tetenal websites. My literature from Tetenal is in storage.