what's the practical difference between t-max / x-tall. ? I used to
develop films in D-76, and now now I have 8 films shot, in which I want to reduce grain and increase quality These films are Ilford Panf 50 and some Tmax 400 films, exposed as800, 1600iso. Which developer do you advice me for that task, and what's the practical difference between them ?
D 76 is a metol-hydroqunione, high contrast, single part developer. Xtol is an ascorbic acid, low contrast, multipart developer. The biggest difference chemically is the no HQ in Xtol. As powders they both are "to make" a certain volume of stock solution, they are not concentrates as most liquid developers.
X-toll has the advantage of providing a good response with a great deal of existing films. As Lowel Huff said it, it's rather a 'low contrast' type, provides fine grain and works goods equaly int the shadows and highlights.
Tmax developper on its end, is rather 'high contrast', is sold in liquid solution, is specifically designed for T-grain films (such as Tmax).
From my experience, I had problems with TMY (tmax400) pushed 2 or 3 stops. Highlights were totally blown up and it was a total mess to print. This seems to be a problem specific to TMY films which need no too much agitation during developpement and a low contrast developper otherwise problems with highlights could appear, especially with pushed films.
I would advise using microphen or Xtol for TMY films, with specific attention to the temperature and agitation during developpement.
Hope it helps. Keep us posted on your results please.
T-Max and T-Max RS developer are particularly high-speed developers and are usually good to push with. But you got to have consistency of the gods to get it to work right if you're doing it by hand (in other words, save yourself the trouble and get yourself a machine processor).
I'm sure there are plenty of other high-speed developers out there that are much more forgiving. Microphen, perhaps?
what's the practical difference between t-max / x-tall. ? I used to 