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B&W scanning and developing help?
This shot was taken last summer on Tmax 400, and developed in Tmax developer per their recommendations. It's pretty grainy for 400 - I haven't tried to print it either digitally or in a darkroom, but this is how my negs seem to turn out. Where am I going wrong? I haven't done any darkroom printing yet, just developing.
I haven't worked much with scanning negs lately (slides, not negs) because I always had bad luck with color negs. I used to shoot alot of Royal Gold 400 and got pretty good large prints but couldn't scan it for anything due to grain and color casts. I did try to scan some T400CN (C41 process B&W) the other day and the results were great.
My scanner is an Acer 2720S which is probably not the greatest but can't be the biggest problem here. First one is right out of the scanner (adjusted levels though) and the second one is after trying to reduce grain in Photoshop. Any suggestions?
Several factors that affect grain...
Quote:
Originally Posted by another view
Thanks, Trevor. I talked to two people I know who do their own processing, and they suggested that I try distilled water. I was using tap water with my chemestry and I know our water isn't the greatest.
Steve,
Ah, you're stirring up fond memories of my film processing days, and I have to admit, it's a nice change of pace from all the digital problems we have to deal with on an almost daily basis now.
I've only used Tmax a few times, but IMO your pic seems to show more than average grain for that film.
There are several variables that affect grain in bw film processing. The way you processed your film may have contributed to it without you even realizing it.
The first is dilution. The higher your development dilution, generally the lower the grain will be. This has a lot to do with developing time, because a higher dilution will require a longer developing time.
Solution temperature is another factor. Again, a lower temperature solution will mean longer developing times, and therefore less grain.
The third is agitaion. Longer, more rigorous agitaion will always give you grainier negatives. Shorter, more gentle agitation means less grain.
So you see, when you combine these factors, it can make a big difference in your results. 1:1 developer at 75° with rigorous agitation and a short development time will be a grainier (and higher contrast) than, oh say 3:1 at 68° with gentle agitation for a longer development time.
As for your scanner being the culprit, the only way you can truly gauge that is to compare your scanned results with a print made directly from the negative.
BTW, yes it is a good idea to use distilled water when mixing your development solution. I doubt, however, that contributed to the increased grain...