Re: KOdak Tri-X processing

Philippe Monnoyer (Philippe.Monnoyer@fundp.ac.be)
Sun, 03 Aug 1997 00:30:57 +0200

>
>Philippe,
>
>For me, more important than grain is the tonal quality from a film
>developer combination. I use Kodak HC-110 with Tri-X film.
>
>Of course you may want finer grain for another reason.
>
>In comparing films, the grain in Tri-X actually helps produce better
>sharpness (in a Pt/Pd print, maybe in other types too, but I can only
>speak from my experience.)
>
>Try making prints from Kodak Tri-X and Tech-Pan (or other extremely fine
>grain) films. For a subject make sure there are power lines or similar
>in the distance. With a loupe these lines will be better resolved on
>the Tech-Pan film. However, the print from the Tri-X will have sharper
>lines. (Magic?, no, optics.) In fact, in my test, the power lines from
>the Tech-Pan negative barely show up in the pt/pd print.
>
>So what? you ask. Why is finer grain of interest when you can use a
>larger format camera?

Well, because I cannot afford a large format camera yet. I am building my
own slowly, piece after piece. But I plan to use 35mm tri-X shots for alt
processes. What is seducing in tri-X of course is its tonal range, and I
wondered if it would better suit to platinotypy, just for that reason.
I noticed that one may have huge grain differences when processing tri-X
with different developpers.
Maybe some old recipes with slow developpers could suit for finer grain ?

Thanks for your mail

Philippe Monnoyer