Back to basics D76 & TriX

Yes, its wonderful stuff. With the demise of 120 Neopan 400, this is my standard oldie in 35mm and 120, mainly because with semi-stand I can get a true 640-800 out of it and so take up the slack with Neopan 1600's departure too.

I use DDX or Xtol and to be honest the result is vey similar to D76 1:1. You would not tell the prints apart really. I prefer to have that extra half stop of speed from these devs.

As for master printers, I have been working closely with one for two years on a project, and doing some of my own prints. These are my observations on large prints:

Its all about sparkle and grain OR the absence of grain. TriX will give you the grain and a good printer will ensure everything is perfectly aligned so every grain is crisp into the corners and get the contrast and density right throughout the prints so the tones glow. I just had an amazing print back (portrait) from TriX in Xtol 1+2 at 800 and frankly this print needs to be 30" or 40" long. It has such incredible tones, sparkling grain and graphic look that it could go that big and look amazing. Sure, you can print 120 D100 this big and it looks wonderful, but 35mm D100 won't look as good as the TriX because the grain will be visible, but not as crisp and the sparkle wont be there. I try therefore to keep a print either in the 'sumptuous and glowing' category or the 'crisp and sparkling' camp. It works... but the middle ground seems not to nearly as well.

The film is amazingly consistent, bullet proof and flexible. While the resolution is actually quite poor, the prints just look amazing pretty well no matter what you do.

For a new project I decided to shoot D400 in 120. I had planned to shoot it all TriX, so the reason? I have come to realise how biased galleries are to very large prints and I know I can achieve this more easily with D400 (either wet or scanned) than TriX. Its a shame, because I know which I prefer... but at the end of the day I need to sell prints. I will also use up my last 10 rolls of 120 Neopan 400 :(
 
sparrow6224 said:
Tom eats that film for lunch. Late night snacks too. 1000 rolls, it's nothing.
Click to expand...

A bit crunchy for lunch, but better than IXMOO and Nikon reloadable cassettes. A bit of pesto and/or horseradish helps!
Only 600 rolls are for me - the rest is being parted out to other analog shooters. Probably means that I have to re-order in December.
 
Tom A said:
I have to take something called Revlimid. It is a drug used to suppress a bone-marrow cancer (Multiple Myeloma). Every couple of years it pops back and the Doctors look for something else to try (so far it has been Stemcell transplant, several years on Thalidomide and now this latest concoction.
It is mainly the side-effects that are brutal. Nerve damage to the legs which can make walking a bit difficult, a bit of "shake" - 1/250 can cure that.
Not fun, but sure beats the alternative!
I have so far survived for almost ten years and I plan to use up all the film in the freezer and even restock!
Click to expand...


Hi, Tom...

Sorry to hear about the MM...a retired neighbor,now walking buddy, down the street has just finished his 8 months of chemo and stem cell treatment and it was a rounding success. I have been keeping an eye on him to make sure he is okay. He went to visit the kids in California last week and hopes to get back to walking the neighborhood when it warms up.

So, it sounds like a pretty good treatment. I hope and pray things go well for you.:)
 
dave lackey said:
Hi, Tom...

Sorry to hear about the MM...a retired neighbor,now walking buddy, down the street has just finished his 8 months of chemo and stem cell treatment and it was a rounding success. I have been keeping an eye on him to make sure he is okay. He went to visit the kids in California last week and hopes to get back to walking the neighborhood when it warms up.

So, it sounds like a pretty good treatment. I hope and pray things go well for you.:)
Click to expand...

MM is certainly not for sissies! I have had a stem-cell transplant in 2001. They dont last that long (at least in my case - about 18-20 month), then it was back to heavy medication (Thalidomide for 3.5 years) and the the values were down below measurable level. Crept back up this fall and my hematologist does not believe in "soft pedalling" so she put me on Revlimid and steriods. Kind throws you for a loop for a while. Body seems to adjust now (after three month) - but it will be another long slog.
Og, well, it beats the alternative!
Give my best regards to your "walking buddy" and now being a 10 year expert on the damned thing - he should do OK.
Tom
 
Tom A said:
MM is certainly not for sissies! I have had a stem-cell transplant in 2001. They dont last that long (at least in my case - about 18-20 month), then it was back to heavy medication (Thalidomide for 3.5 years) and the the values were down below measurable level. Crept back up this fall and my hematologist does not believe in "soft pedalling" so she put me on Revlimid and steriods. Kind throws you for a loop for a while. Body seems to adjust now (after three month) - but it will be another long slog.
Og, well, it beats the alternative!
Give my best regards to your "walking buddy" and now being a 10 year expert on the damned thing - he should do OK.
Tom
Click to expand...

Tom,

I hope you can beat this. I lost my dad to MM in September of 2008. It tore me and my sister up pretty bad to watch him go. To this day, when I hear of somebody having this disease, I get very emotional about it, even when I don't know the person. This is something I would not wish on anybody. In my view, it's not just a disease, it's an obscenity. Get well!!

Mike Sullivan
 
Zathros said:
Tom,

I hope you can beat this. I lost my dad to MM in September of 2008. It tore me and my sister up pretty bad to watch him go. To this day, when I hear of somebody having this disease, I get very emotional about it, even when I don't know the person. This is something I would not wish on anybody. In my view, it's not just a disease, it's an obscenity. Get well!!

Mike Sullivan
Click to expand...

Mike, one advantage of living in Vancouver is that they have a very good MM facility here (and it is free - medication and all). They are trying to get it to become a "chronic condition" rather than a terminal one.
Sorry to hear about your dad - it is a serious cancer, but there are more and more medications coming on line and though the side-effects can be bad - even that is a better alternative.
I am also stubborn and a born optimist - and the fact that I have at least 2000 rolls of film in the freezer - keeps me going.
Tom
 
a constant scare tactic of people against healthcare reform here in the U.S. is that we don't want to become like Canada, but having lived there from 76 to 87 I have nothing but the greatest respect for their system. I am sure you are in good hands.
my question ..... when you order 1000 rolls of film how much does customs charge you?
(I showed the picture to my wife as kind of warning that my film addiction could take a dramatic turn at any time)
 
I showed that picture to my wife also. Her remark was something like ... "Wow, a film hoarder. I'm glad you are not like that.". I'm glad she hasn't looked in the fridge in my darkroom lately ;)
 
This thread has inspired me to give D76 another try. In my previous attempts with D76 my agitation method was too gentle because i was used to Rodinal.
 
MISH said:
a constant scare tactic of people against healthcare reform here in the U.S. is that we don't want to become like Canada, but having lived there from 76 to 87 I have nothing but the greatest respect for their system. I am sure you are in good hands.
my question ..... when you order 1000 rolls of film how much does customs charge you?
(I showed the picture to my wife as kind of warning that my film addiction could take a dramatic turn at any time)
Click to expand...

Ye, Canada has a good health care system. Medication such as revlimid can cost as much as a dozen M2's for a 3 week cycle - and I rather have the m2's!
The Arista Premium 400 is a "Made in The US" film so there is no duty on it - only "harmonized" (now, there is a misnomer if there ever was one!!!) sales tax. For a $2000+ order it came out to about $ 120 in total. Price ended up being about $2.55/roll with FedEx shipping overnight. Just about 40% of the cost of buying TriX here in town.
 
I have used Tri-X in D76 1+1 for 10 min for about 90% of my photos. However, I am trying Rodinal out this year for a bit of a change. Why not? I will probably return to the D76 eventually...
 
Hi Tom,

I read your comments as it was bible and I'm very interested to know how is your agitation experience ? I do first 30 seconds and 4 agitations every minute. Get well.

For people around Europe we can buy Trix as ProFilm Tri-X Pro 135-36, ISO 400 in Firstcall for £3.05 (3.6 euros). The drawers of the refrigerator have lots of them :)

Thanks.
 
My agitation is standardizd. 30 seconds initially (active shake and rock/roll) - three 1/4 turns and flips every 60 seconds. Only change is if the films are shot in high contrast light = I tend to agitate less (either 2 flips/60 sec. - or 3 flips/120 seconds).
 
freax said:
Hi Tom,


For people around Europe we can buy Trix as ProFilm Tri-X Pro 135-36, ISO 400 in Firstcall for £3.05 (3.6 euros). The drawers of the refrigerator have lots of them :)

Thanks.
Click to expand...

But for the UK, although they are based here, that is NOT a great deal. They want £7.50 P&P so on ten rolls the price per roll is £3.12. 7 Day shop
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cat=1&type=1180&man=39&filterwords=&go=SEARCH&comp=
are at £3.19 NO P&P for Kodak. I know they don't do Europe but still the unbranded even at Firstcall doesn't show the savings made in the USA.
Maybe Firstcall would do a deal on 500 ;)
 
I recently bought D-76 1L bag and tried it with few film all looks great (T-max 100, Tri-x, Arista premium pushed to 1600 and Ilford Delta 400)
I really like the result from D-76 especially with Delta 400.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top