Re: [Rollei] Tmax and Rollei Planars

[Allen Zak <azak >]

>All in all I love TMX as a very versatile film.  Can't say
> the same about TMY.  I'm going to try some Fuji BW film in the 400 asa
> range, as I don't currently have a 400 film I'm nuts about.

Initially, I was put off by TMY after a 20 roll trial with it, and reverted
to TX/D76, my default combo since 1956.  Some time later I gave TMY another
try and eventually learned to prefer it over TX.  My best results were
obtained with TMax developer diluted 1:9, and later Xtol.  About 2 years ago
I got seduced by Delta 400 in Xtol, largely through Mark Rabiner's
endorsement, and was very pleased with it until experiencing a bad roll of
D400 and an Xtol out-of-the-blue failure.  While I like the performance of
Ilford products, over years I have always had bouts of bad luck with them,
with defective batches of ALL their films from FP3 (1960s) to the present.
I have also encountered bad samples of printing papers, film developers and
rapid fixer (one such in my darkroom right now).  OTOH, until that Xtol
failure, I never had in 48+ years a bad Kodak anything, and that with Kodak
accounting for 80% of all my b&w supplies, with Ilford,  Agfa, Fuji and
everything else sharing the remaining 20%.  I know of people who have had
different experiences, so I don't claim anything definitive on this issue,
but my tendencies include sticking with whatever Kodak has to offer in any
b&w category and learn to massage it for my needs.  The sole exception is
D3200, for which there is no Kodak equivalent in 120.  I always carry a few
rolls in my Rolleiflex kit, and now we are back on topic :-)

Allen Zak



 

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