film for creamy look in 35mm

[charjohncarter]

On that TriX shot which I did without a tripod, so if you see it blown up you would see camera movement; I used HC-110h and agitated every 5 minutes 3 inversions. That is how I treat TriX, above said not to use Rodinal and I concur. But I don't like grain so that is the only reason I don't use Rodinal. More contrast: longer development time, but keep the agitation the same (for grain minimization).

[Dana B.]

Originally Posted by charjohncarter

On that TriX shot which I did without a tripod, so if you see it blown up you would see camera movement; I used HC-110h and agitated every 5 minutes 3 inversions. That is how I treat TriX, above said not to use Rodinal and I concur. But I don't like grain so that is the only reason I don't use Rodinal. More contrast: longer development time, but keep the agitation the same (for grain minimization).

Agitate *every* five minutes? Wow. Might as well put it in a blender ;p.

[shadowfox]

Originally Posted by Dana B.

Agitate *every* five minutes? Wow. Might as well put it in a blender ;p.

How is agitating every five minutes like putting anything in a blender?

[Micah]

Not sure what the OP means by "creamy," but it might be worth reading Mike Johnston's column (published 10 years ago tomorrow!):

"I know what she meant. That rich, soft, pearly look that some master prints have. As if a soft light were coming from deep within the paper."

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/co...02-04-28.shtml

Note for example what he says in #10, on contrast.

[Dana B.]

Originally Posted by shadowfox

How is agitating every five minutes like putting anything in a blender?

Whoops. Sorry. I'd read seconds instead of minutes. Gonna need a new pair of granny glasses ;p.

[print44]

I love the look of this picture - can you give some more details of exposure and processing/development of it.

[charjohncarter]

Thanks James, Tmax100, rated 50, HC-110h (I added a milliliter of Rodinal to 500ml of solution), 17minutes, 30seconds initial agitation, 3 inversions every four-five minutes, 68 degrees F (20 degrees C), tripod, Pentax 6x7. Exposure I have no notes on that but normally I use f5.6 with this lens and I think I was lazy and used the on-board meter for the shutter speed.

[print44]

Thanks for all the details - am I right in thinking you mean that you add 1ml of Rodinal in addition to the HC110 mixture, or is the 1ml Rodinal/500ml water an alternative mix?

Cheers

[Steve M.]

T Max or C41 B&W films will do a fine job, but Tri-X in 120 format will give you tones, as well as smoothness, that you can'r duplicate in a smaller film. I'm glad John and others manage to get nice looks from T Max, because all I ever got was flat and gray w/that film (like the plant photo).

My solution? Just shoot Tri-X. If you nail the exposure and development, it will look great. This was w/ a Leicaflex SL and an R 90 Elmarit w/ Tri-X rated at box speed w/ D76 development. There's a little bit of grain, but I like it.

[DominikDUK]

Micah thank you for the link enjoyed reading the article, don't necesseraly agree with all the points but still good reading.

Dominik

[charjohncarter]

Originally Posted by print44

Thanks for all the details - am I right in thinking you mean that you add 1ml of Rodinal in addition to the HC110 mixture, or is the 1ml Rodinal/500ml water an alternative mix?

Cheers

After I mix the HC-110h to 500ml I added 1 ml of Rodinal so the final mixture is 501 ml. I don't know if it does anything but I used to think it gave a litlle snap to my images. Lately, I've just used HC-110h but I'm still trying to decide if they are poorer. I guess if I can't tell I have my answer. Now I use more Rodinal when I do TriX and Tmax400 and that does make a difference. It is a hassle to do it though.

[Ti29er]

We always shot Kodak CN400.
5 photographers shooting weddings each week.
Sharp as anything. Looked good through the M6 35mm f2.
Lovely creamy skin tones.
D&P in the hight street
Found out over time that lots of photographers whose work I loved did the same too!

[print44]

since first reading this thread a few weeks ago I've tried a few experiments - mostly inspired by Charjohncarter's still life of clock etc.

This is TMX100 rated at roughly EI50 (I guesstimate), then devved in HC110 dil h (I think - as per his post above) with very little agitation. Leica CL/40mm Summicron-C




this is Acros 100 rated similarly at around EI50 and devved in the same HC110 dilution/agitation but for 2.5 mins less. This has also had a little tone added in LR. Nikon F2A/Nikkor-S 35 f2.8



This is also TMX - from the same film



I think both films look pretty smooth as the tones move away from high contrast, and recommend the HC110 dilution H and limited agitation.

Cheers

[charjohncarter]

James, everyone has their own likes and dislikes. I even use different developers for different 'feels' but I like very much what you have done. I'm glad to see that we were able to get similar results, at least I'm not crazy.

I'm not sure what is the cause of the smoothness and the tones, but the minium agitation is suppose to hold back the highlights a little. And the 'H' is to extend the development time so middle and shadow tones develop fully while not allowing blow outs in the highlights (low agitation). Sounds logical to me but I really don't know if that is it. Although minium agitation does reduce grain so that would add to smoothness too.

[NickTrop]

Creamiest = Kodak C41 BN. At work, can't post my own but here's a link to a nice Flickr example if interested, see if you don't agree. The word that comes to mind with this film is "creamy" to me. When I want creamy I reach for this film.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/f8onfil...4102/lightbox/

[Photo_Smith]

You're going to get a million different combinations. I shoot mainly medium format is this creamy?



If so that's quite hard in 35mm, I would go with the advice to try Kodak C41 which is tonally very smooth:



Another possibility is the EFKE films which are also smooth especially in Rodinal at lower dilution, Ignore the advice that Rodinal is too 'grainy' it has about the best smooth tonal range in the mid tones and although it will give a little coarser grain pattern the mid tone is just wonderful.
I shot this on Fuji Neopan 400 developed in rodinal:


Grain is only part of the story with tonality... IMHO

[mfogiel]

Another approach could be Tri X @ 400 in Diafine, here a couple of examples:

2008080312 by mfogiel, on Flickr


2008080305 by mfogiel, on Flickr

[whitecat]

Amazing shots.

[wblynch]

This is my interpretation of creamy tones...

Plus-X in HC-110

[rxmd]

I would try a microfilm together with a low-contrast developer, such as Agfa Copex developed in Spur Modular UR.

If you can live with the 25-32 ASA of such a combination, that gives you ultra-high resolution together with very fine tonality, the closest I've ever seen to medium format that you can get from 35mm.

The pictures here that are downscaled to 640x400-ish are pretty much worthless for a visual estimate IMHO. You could have a 400 ASA shot that looks grainy on an 8x10 print and it would look smooth just from the downsampling.