TMax vs. D-76

[Greg McCary]

At first I was developing with Tmax and have since changed to D-76 powder. Mainly because it is cheaper. I was wondering what are the main differences if any with changing. It seems I was getting a muddier look with the Tmax and am getting a lot better tones on the dark side of the scale with the D-76.

[Xia_Ke]

I haven't had a chance to work with either of those yet. Going by Kodak's literature, D76 is supposed to provide "normal" contrast levels while TMax is going to give a bit more contrast. Seems to fall in line with the results you have had. I suppose it all depends on the look you want to achieve.

[another view]

I only tried TMax developer once (well, a handful of rolls of film) and it is a lot easier to mix because it's a concentrate. It didn't take long to realize that good 'ol Tri-X and D-76 was the look I was after. TMax 100 and 400 film in TMax developer is very crisp and sharp with very little grain and somewhat low contrast, which is a whole different world than Tri-X with D-76.

[photophorous]

I don't know much about Tmax developer...never used it. But, I can tell you that D76 is an older formula and it gets along well with pretty much all films. So far I've processed Tmax100 & 400, TriX, PlusX, Delta 400, Acros 100, and Neopan 400 with it. I liked all of them except Tmax400, but that could have been my fault. It's typically used diluted 1 to 1, which will increase sharpness and grain slightly over the stock solution. It's also cheaper that way and gives you longer times to help with consistency from roll to roll. The stock solution is good for push processing or when you want to reduce grain.

Paul