XTol is great for pushing film, but in a few weeks I have to take photos in a situation with a lot of contrast: a market at night. Pushing will increase the contrast further.
In the old days, 20 years ago, we used Diafine or Emofin. Results were okay, but not more. Are there more modern options today?
[quote=cmo;672161in a few weeks I have to take photos in a situation with a lot of contrast: a market at night.[/QUOTE]
Don't push! There is usually plenty of light. Use an F1.4 or faster lens, bring along a tripod or monopod if you can, TMZ or Delta 3200 shot at 1000 or so. Do a trial run or two before hand.
Shadows usually aren't where the interest is, so it can be best to meter highlights and open up two stops and let the shadows fall where they may.
If you want lots of shadow detail you will have to pull. Do the usual meter and expose for the shadows and then meter the highlights to find how many stops to pull.
I'm not a huge tester - I use the times given in a datasheets. Anyway, i've found that Tri-X in Diafine at 1250 is fantastic at controlling the highlights. TMZ can get a little toasty in the highlights if my metering is off a little or if the lighting is really contrasty. I think I prefer it at 1600, but 3200 is completely usable. I also like the look of Tri-X in XTOL at 1600 (or 800) but to be honest, for high contrast shots in dark settings, I find Diafine hard to beat. Its dead simple to develop in too and Tri-X is cheaper than the high speed films.
Diafine + Tri-X still beats the pants off any other film in it's speed class if you want a two stop push. OK, maybe it isn't great, but for a two stop push it is damned good. Lot's of whining going on about poor print quality from the combo. Pay no mind, learn to print better. You can do it. It's not hard.
Don't push! There is usually plenty of light. Use an F1.4 or faster lens,...
The Nokton 1.2/35 and the Canon 2/100 on my M6 will be okay, I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholas Lindan
bring along a tripod or monopod if you can,
Street photography with a tripod or monopod? Not even with an iPod
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholas Lindan
TMZ or Delta 3200 shot at 1000 or so. Do a trial run or two before hand.
That's a nice idea, I would rate it at 1600 probably. I will give it a try, I have some Tmax 3200 in the fridge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholas Lindan
Shadows usually aren't where the interest is, so it can be best to meter highlights and open up two stops and let the shadows fall where they may.
You give an answer to something I was going to ask - what's the best way of metering in such an environment? I did that often, but messes up many shots because I tried to meter some average gray, but there was only light or shadow.
That's a nice idea, I would rate it at 1600 probably. I will give it a try, I have some Tmax 3200 in the fridge.
My usual high speed combo was Tmax rated at 1600 and developed in DDX or Clayton F76, but last week I shot Tmax at 3200 and developed in Edwal FG7 with and without Sulfite, even at 3200 FG7 held the shadows really well, with sulfite fine grain, without very sharp. With this combo I think 3200 is normal and 6400 is a push.
holds 14+ stop range with linear, normal contrast, more detail and less grain than tri-x.
using minimal agitation, 1+1 or 1+2,
you can push the shadows and pull the highlights,
hold both end of the long, long, long scale with normal midtones.
No problem. A totally different game than the diafine and tri-x of the '60s.
I guess I'm one of the few who isn't impressed with the 3200 and 1600 speed films. I can get comparable contrast with Tri-X stand developed in Rodinal and definitely finer grain. I am going to test TMY in XTOL also, although I really hate powdered developers and hope there's some way I can make it work with HC-110, Rodinal, or TMAX dev.
__________________ Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah.
-Paul Simon
Pushing film, high contrast situation 
Linear Mode
