Tri-X in Ilfotec HC

[artflei]

Hello,

 

I have only very recently started developing film, and have the

following question: I want to process Kodak Tri-X 400 pushed to 3200

in Ilfotec HC. A good idea? How about the developing time?

 

Another, more general question, concerning agitation: Kodak says

agitate every 30 seconds, but in the information for Ilfotec HC it

says every 60 seconds. Do I agitate according to the information for

the developer or for the film?

 

Thank you very much for your help!

[silent1]

Lacking any other information...

 

I've read in several locations that Ilfotec HC is similar to HC-110; if there is no better information, I'd start with the HC-110 times and try some test rolls. I don't recall the 3200 numbers offhand (and I'm not near my documentation), but HC-110 B (1:31 from syrup) has a "best" recommendation of 6 minutes at 68 F for EI 400; to get 3200 would require at least doubling that time, probably more like tripling -- I'd try a test roll (shot in similar lighting to your good shots, if you've already exposed) at triple the Ilfotec normal IE 400 time for Tri-X and see how it looks. HC-110 isn't the best for pushing that far, and Ilfotec HC likely has similar limitations -- you might find you're better off doubling the dilution (use a bigger tank, if necessary, to make sure you have enough concentrate for the amount of film) and then doubling or tripling the time for the original strength, possibly with minimal agitation (every 3 minutes instead of every minute); Anchell and Troop suggest this is a better method of pushing modern films.

 

For agitation, you can use either one -- Anchell and Troop recommend 30 second intervals if dev time is under (IIRC) ten minutes, one minute intervals if longer, but I routinely agitate on one minute intervals with dev times of six to nine minutes and get fine results. Most likely either one will be fine, as long as you do it the same way on every roll.

[artflei]

Donald,

 

Thank you very much for the detailed answer!

 

Since posting my original question I have found another thread on this forum, where someone reported having used HC-110 for pushing Tri-X to 3200. Having also read somewhere that Ilfotec HC and Kodak HC-110 are said to be essentially the same, I decided to give it a try.

 

So I developed my Tri-X in Ilfotec HC (1:31, 20°C) for 15 minutes with agitation (2 inversions) every minute. The result is quite good!

 

As I have already mentioned I am really a beginner and therefore have not much to compare the results I got to, but I have also recently used Kodak T-Max 3200 which I also developed in Ilfotec HC, and the results I now got with pushed Tri-X are at least as good.

[frank.schifano]

You wrote: "...recently used Kodak T-Max 3200 which I also developed in Ilfotec HC, and the results I now got with pushed Tri-X are at least as good." This doesn't surprise me too much. XTOL is a much better developer for "pushing" film. The best results I've gotten with T-Max 3200 have been with XTOL at 1+1 and agitation for 10 sec. every 60 sec. once every minute. It prints reasonably well with grades 2 to 3 filtration with my diffusion enlarger.

[artflei]

Frank, thanks for the info. Concerning XTOL: I have no experience whatsoever with powder developers, and I understand that when you use XTOL the minimum developer solution you get is 5 liters - is this correct?. This really isn't an option for me, since I don't develop that often, and, frankly, I don't even have a large enough container to mix or store 5 liters of solution!