Delta 400 at 100...help

[brian_miles3]

I recently shot a roll of Delta 400 at 100 ASA by mistake. Any

suggestions on the best developer/time to salvage this roll? I

normally use D-76 but I'm willing to consider other options.

 

Thanks.

[john_shriver]

Drop the developing time 10 or 15%. You may be pleasantly surprised by the results. (Lots of films produce better results below the "box" speed.) You will need higher contrast paper to print it.

 

If the pictures are really important, shoot another roll at the same speed, and test the developer/time on it.

[James G. Dainis]

Everexpose and underdevelop is a method that many people use to get adequate shadow detail and bring down the highlights to a printable range. Expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights, as we used to say. You can't do anything with the shadow areas, they will stay where they are but development time affects the highlights. You have overexposed two stops. Your zones 7, 8 and 9 have gone to 9, 10 and 11, pure white with no detail or blocked highlights. Giving N-2 development should bring them back down to zones 7,8 and 9. If you are using D-76 1+1 at 14 minutes, give the film 9 minutes instead of 14 minutes.

[jtdnyc]

Don't fret. Some of the nicest tonality I have ever achieved in black and white photography was the result of exposing TMY at 100 by mistake, developing normally, and then figuring out how to print the "bullet-proof" negatives.

 

I had to use Grade 0 paper, but the resulting prints have a tonal richness I had never seen in my 35mm work before and, surprisingly, no objectionable graininess when printed on so soft a paper.

 

Follow standard practice and pull the development if you want to produce a "normal" negative -- i.e., one that will print well on Grade 2 or 3. But if you're in the mood to experiment, try developing normally and printing very soft. You may like the results.

[neal_wydra1]

Dear Brian,

 

The Ilford data sheet contains starting times for Delta 400 exposed at EI200(this is probably as soft as you'ed want to develop anyway). Optionally, Kodak publishes detailed times and temperatures for Delta 400 in Xtol.

[magumi]

With a fine-grain developer such as Perceptol, the effective speed of Delta 400 drops by 2/3 to 1 stop at normal contrast, which gets you to 200 ASA (10 minutes for stock, if I remember it correctly), which is perfectly printable. You might try to agitate more vigorously and more often to maintain the contrast, although Delta with its thin emulsion is not particularly sensitive to small differences in agitation. Of course, as with every fine-grain developer, the developed film will appear slighly softer due to the finer grain than it would with D76.

[ned1]

Dilute the D76 1:4. This makes it a compensating developer. Not sure about the timing for N-2 but I'll guess around 14 minutes. I've gone as much as N-3 with FP4.

[brian_miles3]

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. I'll let you know how it works out.

[brian_miles3]

I opted to develop the film in D-76 for 5 minutes at 68 degrees F. The results were a great relief. In fact I think I prefer this look to the normal 400 ASA exposure. I think I may try using this film (or HP5) at 200 ASA for a while just to see what happens. Thanks again to all for the help!

[James G. Dainis]

I alway shoot Tri-X 320 sheet film at EI 160 and develop normally (unless I do want to change development for contrast control).

[martian bachelor]

Dittos here. My standard speed for Delta 100 is 50-64. If I were to give one extra stop exposure I'd prob reduce regular development 20-25%. As has been mentioned many times before around here the speed of modern films often seem over-rated if you like full shadow detail (perhaps unless the film is used with exactly the right developer).