ilford delta 3200 @ 3200 in D-76

[johnmyers]

i just bought my first roll of ilford delta 3200 a few days ago and

i will be doing some night street photography w/o a tripod...so i

need as much speed as i can get. so i plan to use it at an iso of

3200, but i've heard the contrast is terrible at that speed...i will

be developing in d-76 (haven't been developing film for very long,

so i want to stick with what i am familiar with). so do any of you

have any suggestions for development dilutions/times for this

film/iso/developer combination? i would like medium to low contrast,

if possible. for reference, i consider my night tables shot in my

folder to be a medium contrast photograph, and that is what i would

like to achieve with delta 3200@3200. thanks in advance.<div></div>

[lex_jenkins]

My advice would be to choose another developer. Seriously. I understand wanting to stick with what's familiar but D-76 won't cut it with Delta 3200 @ EI 3200. I've used the Ilford equivalent, ID-11, at various dilutions, with Delta 3200 - too much base fog, mushy tonality, poor shadow detail. It isn't the contrast that's the problem - that will depend on lighting conditions. It's the overall mushy tonality. I wouldn't use ID-11 with Delta 3200 above EI 800-1200.

 

Try Microphen. It's a true speed developer. I've had excellent results with it.

 

Xtol is also recommended by some folks as a speed developer, tho' I'm still undecided about the stuff. Avoid the 1-liter packets, they're unreliable. So far the only good results I've had with the stuff came when I developed for considerably longer times than the data suggests.

 

Diafine sounds promising, if you can find the stuff.

 

TMax developer is also touted as a speed developer. Ilford's Core Shell emulsion in Delta films is reportedly close enough to Kodak's T-Grain emulsion that TMax may work well with Delta 3200.

 

Go ahead and shoot the film if it's burning a hole in your camera but tuck it into the fridge afterward 'til you can pick up a more suitable developer.

[gareth_harper]

If you look through the forum history there are loads of threads of Ilford and Kodak 3200asa films recently.

I've used Ilford 3200 at 3200 and 6400, plus I've heard of folks using it at 12800asa. I developed it in LC29 the recommended developer. It is contrasty and difficult to print, split grade printing helps.

See http://www.photo.net/photo/663980 an indoors shot at 6400asa. and http://www.photo.net/photo/1318345 indoors at 3200asa.

[colmmccarthy]

I have had zero luck with delta 3200 rated at 3200 and developed in D-76 - almost invisible negatives. I'm told you should rate it at 1600 or 1250, but I can't be bothered with it if I can push Neopan to 3200 (or even Tri-x) in D-76 with no problems.

[lester_hawksby]

Funnily enough, the basic Ilfosol S that they sell in liquid form has always worked pretty well for me, and you can buy a very small bottle if you don't use much 3200.

 

As others have said, D-76/ID-11 isn't much good with this film. I was disappointed even with films exposed at 1600.