Your question about making enlarged negatives.
When you talk about problems with grain, surely these are just because you
chose to enlarge a 400ASA negative (you don't say what size this was or the
degree of enlargement.)
If you want to avoid grain, start by using a slow film or large negative (or
both). If you need 400 ASA use Ilford XP2 which is significantly finer
grained. For finer grain try T-Max 100 developed in T-Max developer, or, if
you can get it, Paterson FX-39. Or you can go even slower to Agfapan 25. Of
course nothing beats using large format film, though I never got used to
using an 8x10. 4x5 is a good compromise if you don't like grain at all.
I'd certainly avoid the use of a fast pan film such as Tri-X for making
contacts. The best method is to make an enlarged postive on a film like the
Agfa one you are using. An cheaper alternative would be to use something like
Kodak Fine grain positive which is a cheap 35mm film (in bulk rolls) you can
handle in normal safelighting and print developer and is MUCH finer grained
than TRI-X.
The instructions given by Palladio for making enlarged negs are very full
(or were when I got them) and produce excellent results - so I don't think
any problems you have come from this area. Personally I've never thoughts
direct positive materials quite gave the results I wanted, fog levels in
particular were normally higher than I like.
I used to work with Tri-X and liked it - and its fairly pronounced grain.
Peter Marshall
Pictures on Fixing Shadows: ----------- http://fermi.clas.virginia.edu/~ds8s
Future Press and elsewhere... E-Mail: petermarshall@cix.compulink.co.uk