Topic: Tmax 400 vs Ilford Delta 3200

[Urban Hafner]

Just a quick question: Do you prefer to push Tmax 400 by two stops vs pulling Ilford Delta 3200 by one stop? I'm not a fan of too much grain, hence I've been thinking of pulling the Ilford Delta by a stop. The problem with Tmax 400 at ISO 1600 is obviously that you have to be really spot on with the exposure (at least that's what I found) but the grain is still almost nonexistent. BTW, I'm talking about 35mm here. Developed either in Rodinal or any kind of Caffenol.

The answer "it depends" is allowed

[SLVR]

Ive never shot Tmax, but i would assume it would depend on the shooting scenario. If you were shooting something high contrast, like hard 12:00 direct sunlight then maybe pulling delta would be a good choice. If you want something higher contrast or are shooting something that could use the bump in contrast then I would go with the Tmax.

I found examples of Tmax pushed in Tmax Developer and they had grain comparable to some delta 3200 pulled to 1600 that i shot a long time ago. Its really the contrast that changes the game.

p.s im sure there is a lot more technical info others can throw out there.

[Urban Hafner]

Thanks TinTin. I might need to try it myself then (the Delta 3200 I mean). Too bad that Neopan 1600 isn't around anymore :/

[Francois]

TMY will push to 800 without any change in the development time. It was designed for that. So a 2 stop push isn't much for it.

[Urban Hafner]

Thanks Francois. I shot a roll in my Fujica Drive by just guessing the exposure time and it didn't work out that well. But I guess that is more a problem with my guessing than with the film ... I guess I should give it another chance.

[Francois]

TMY is really a nice film in many ways. I often feel it gets a bad wrap for nothing.

[Urban Hafner]

Considering what Carlos is doing with it, I have to agree. Interestingly it isn't much more expensive than Fomapan around here. Maybe 15 (euro) cents more in 120.

[DonkeyDave]

I've used both, and the Tmax is far less grainy at ISO1600, however as mentioned contrast makes a difference.

I wouldn't use Rodinal, you will accentuate the grain for sure, I've been mainly using Ilford DDX.

[Urban Hafner]

Thanks Dave. For various reasons I'm stuck with Rodinal and Caffenol. I will definitely give Tmax another chance.

[Photo_Utopia]

I've been shooting both for years, TMax has a different grain shape/style and is finer grain. The main difference comes in the contrast, Delta 3200 is a ISO 1000 film that can be pushed to EI 25,000 and is one of the lowest contrast films at published speed/dev/time combinations.
T max will give you finer grain but less shadow detail (marginally) and a lot more contrast with similar EI; pushing Delta has peppery grain in 35mm when pushed hard.

Here are some Delta 3200 images in Rodinal

rated at EI6400 low agitation Rodinal 1:25


Rated at 12,800 low agitation Rodinal 1:50


Rated at 3200 1:25 low light and low agitation