> Artur, In my very non-professional opinion, Kodak Tri-X and D-76 make an > excellent film developer combo for those just beginning b&w. My first batch > of Tri-X I'm sure was way off specs for temperature and time but I still got > acceptable results.
Evan, I'll second my professional opinion as a photo educator and former photo magazine editor. Tri-X in D-76 may not be everybody's choice (it is mine, BTW), but it's a great choice to start with. It's friendly and forgiving, and yields good results with ordinary care. I shoot Tri-X 400 at E.I. 200, and hand develop 3 rolls at a time in a 4-reel tank with a generous airspace, using D-76 diluted one-to-one with water. At 68 degrees, I develop for 8.5 minutes agitating by inversion once per minute. This gives nice, fully exposed, easily printable negatives. If you like more grain, use a condenser enlarger; if you like less grain, use a diffusion enlarger. Bear in mind that most enlarger light sources are neither fully diffuse nor collimated. The range from most diffuse to least looks something like this: Cold light Dichroic-style (quartz bulb with mixing box, i.e., color enlargers, Leitz V35) Large frosted bulb with single condenser (i.e., most Dursts) Large frosted bulb with multiple condensers (Omega D series, etc.) True condensing (e.g., Leitz Focomat II) Point source enlargers I prefer dichroic-style enlargers or standard Dursts (non-VC heads) with Tri-X. --Mike "Photography is simple. The only complicated thing is keeping it simple." (Ken Archer) * * * Find out about Mike Johnston's unique photography newsletter, "The 37th Frame," at http://www.37thframe.com. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
