Ilford Delta 400

[MDenton]

With the normal Ilford recommended development times,should this film be exposed at iso400 or something different ?

[Roger Hicks]

With the normal Ilford recommended development times,should this film be exposed at iso400 or something different ?

Depends on your meter; metering technique; camera; developer; enlarger (or scanner)...

Spot metering and exposing in my Pentax SV, then processing in DDX: EI 800-1000. Broad-area metering and using my wife's Alpa-fit 35/5.6 Apo-Grandagon, developing in Perceptol: EI 100-200. That's for wet printing. Add 1/3 to 1/2 stop for scanning.

ISO 400 is the true ISO speed in a middle-of-the-road developer such as D76, and as such is the best starting point. More exposure gives coarser grain and less sharpness BUT (in most people's eyes) better tonality. Exposure is always a compromise and a personal choice. Treat ISO speeds as relative starting points, and they are the best possible option. Treat them as absolutes, and you're on to a loser. See also:

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps%20iso%20speeds.html

Cheers,

Roger

[David Goldfarb]

If you download the technical data sheet, you'll see that even Ilford recommends different speeds, depending on the developer you're using, and Ilford data sheets will give suggestions as to which developer is good for what purpose. My favorite is EI 200 in Perceptol. D-76 1+1 is nice for EI 400.

[Chris101]

I expose delta 400 at 400 and develop it in HC110, dilution B for seven and a half minutes at 20 degrees C.

[MikeL]

Just another data point, I've been happy rating it at 400 with DD-X (1+4) at 7.5 minutes at 20C and my agitation scheme.