Tri-X HC-110

[ity]

Reference: OK, I've just processed a 35mm (Pentax LX) roll of "New" Tri-X rated at

400asa. HC-110 @ 1+9, 20c, 6mins. Twiddle agitation for 5 secs every 30 secs.

Paterson System 4 Plastic drum, one roll, 300ml fluid. The negs look awesome. The

kind of awesome that means they're very contrasty. I've scanned them (Minolta 5400).

On an Agfa IT8.7/2-1993 test scale photographed against a wall, black runs out at

around 16 or 17 on the long grey bars (bottom). Not a disaster, and some of the

shots have worked really well. It looks very Tri-X to me. Grain is rarther exagerated,

but ok. I'm a little disappointed with the mid range of course. Next roll will be done

the same except at 5 mins instead of 6. Hope this is of some help/reference. Mail me

if you need jpg's. Any comments/help/questions are most welcome.

[mike_scarpitti]

I would not just shorten here, but dilute more and lengthen the time a bit. Increase dilution by about double and add a minute or two.

[ity]

Thanks Mike, great idea. BTW, I forgot to mention that it's European HC-110, not the

USA syrup. I'd had to guess that the published Kodak times were at fault. 3.75 mins

just didn't sound at all right. But It sure as hell is not the old 7.5mins. Obviously I

don't want to go below 5 mins for consistency reasons.

[lex_jenkins]

Just one quick tip - scanning most b&w negatives will tend to exaggerate grain. Tri-X is one such offender. The tonality and general characteristics of the film usually come across when scanned but apparent grain will be about double what you'd see in a conventional wet darkroom print. Some scanners may differ, of course.

 

I'm not familiar with the other-than-U.S. version of HC-110. Can it be diluted further to allow a longer development time without a concurrent increase in contrast? I'm generally not comfortable with reel/tank development times under 7 minutes because pouring and agitation have to be factored into the equation. A longer development time gives you a bit more margin for error.

 

Alternatively, you could prefill the tank with developer, load the reel as usual in the dark, place the reel into the prefilled tank in the dark, pop on the lid and get right to work. That'll cut out the pour-in factor and eliminate one variable, which might be helpful when development times approach a mere 5 minutes.

[jorge_oliveira2]

European HC-110 is pre dilluted, so EU 1+9 is American B dillution.

 

The scanning problem is related to 'aliasing' - that's a fenomena related to the sampling theorem which states that if the sampling frequency (think of DPI here) is not at least two times the smallest details one wants to scan (grain here), there will be created 'artifacts' of lower frequency (larger grain here).

 

The only solution is a very high DPI scanner. The smaller the film grain, the more DPI one needs...

[__jon__]

FYI:

 

http://covingtoninnovations.com/hc110/index.html

[pascal_miele]

in the 1 liter bottle European HC 110 is like the US one,

but you have a 500 ml bottle with a pre-diluted HC110.