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c/analog-photo-shareskyler516skyler51624d agoProlific Poster

Heard a guy at the lab say to develop Tri-X at box speed for honest shadows

I was dropping off some rolls at Austin Camera Lab last week and this older guy next to me was telling the clerk he shoots Tri-X at 400 no matter what because pushing kills shadow detail on that film. Made me think about all the times I've pushed 2 stops and gotten muddy blacks. I tried it on my last roll of HP5 too and the shadows actually came out clean. Anyone else ever waste film trying to push when you didn't need to?
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joseph448
joseph44824d ago
Shot three rolls of Tri-X at 800 last month for a gig and the negatives looked like I shot through fog. A buddy who develops for a news desk told me box speed gives you usable shadows you can actually dodge in the darkroom without fighting grain. I stopped pushing unless I'm in a dark bar and now my prints have way more depth in the low end.
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gavinperez
gavinperez24d ago
Dude yes, same thing happened to me with HP5 last year. Pushed it to 800 for a show and the shadows just disappeared into this ugly muddy mess. Box speed really is the sweet spot for Tri-X, those negs are so forgiving in the print.
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