New Kodak B&W film: Kodak just announced that they were resurrecting the P3200 TMAX film. https://petapixel.com/2018/02/23/kodak-bringing-back-t-max-p3200-film/ I have not processed...

TMcL

Kodak just announced that they were resurrecting the P3200 TMAX film. https://petapixel.com/2018/02/23/kodak-bringing-back-t-max-p3200-film/

I have not processed film in over a decade and had only a very basic familiarity at that time. The article mentions that "the “P” designation means that it’s designed to be push-processed to EI 3200 or higher." Can someone explain what that means?

I would love to be able to try out this film on the one remaining film camera I still own!

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

TMcL wrote:

Kodak just announced that they were resurrecting t... (show quote)

Pushing film just means to underexpose it and then extend the development. The actual ISO of this film is about 800-1200 depending on who you ask, so to shoot it at 3,200 you are severely underexposing it. If you'd develop it as you would for ISO 1000 you'd have underexposed, underdeveloped negs...so you over develop the negatives.

Unless you have some specific reason for shooting this particular film, why not shoot something else?

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

TMcL wrote:

Kodak just announced that they were resurrecting t... (show quote)

Push-processing is merely underexposing and increasing development time or temperature. Note that Ilford still offers Delta 3200 in 35mm and 120 rolls.

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

TMcL wrote:

Kodak just announced that they were resurrecting t... (show quote)

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Well, EI stands for Exposure Index...Think of EI 3200 as the film speed 3200 ASA...ISO..I followed the link, and it was all explained. Well, I understood anyway.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

TMcL wrote:

Kodak just announced that they were resurrecting t... (show quote)

Real ISO is around 1000. P3200 means they EXPECT you to push it to 3200.

Pushing film means extending development in special developers that build highlight density more slowly than they build shadow density. You use gentle agitation, and keep all solutions at a precisely uniform temperature. The longer the extension of development, the higher the “effective speed” or (more properly stated) the Exposure Index.

The worst penalty for pushing is a loss of shadow detail. The higher the Exposure Index (pushed ISO), the less shadow detail you get, the more contrast you get, and the coarser the grain becomes.

Films like this were originally used by spies and desperate photojournalists working in very dim conditions. They didn’t expect high quality. But they did have to come back with an image.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

rpavich wrote:

Unless you have some specific reason for shooting this particular film, why not shoot something else?

Back when it first came out, some of us used it for special effects (“golf ball” sized grain).

These days, I’d rather use a digital camera and reduce the noise, then dial in grain if desired.

anderzander

I pushed higher ISO and Infrared back in the day because I was interested in high grain and unusual contrast in Infrared, those films are fun to experiment with and not much more. If you watch Rebel without a cause, Marlon Brando, there is a night shot sequence that definitely looks like Infrared film. That is the fun of BW.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

anderzander wrote:

I pushed higher ISO and Infrared back in the day because I was interested in high grain and unusual contrast in Infrared, those films are fun to experiment with and not much more. If you watch Rebel without a cause, Marlon Brando, there is a night shot sequence that definitely looks like Infrared film. That is the fun of BW.

I used a lot of Tri-X in Acufine developer at E.I. 1280 or so. A 1.67 stop push was about all the quality loss I could tolerate. I also used Ilford HP5 in Microphen.

Kodak gave me some samples of P3200 in the early 1990s, which I used to photograph a high school prom. I pushed it to 3200 in T-Max developer. I was not terribly impressed. But I decided that it would be useful for special effects (grain).

As for infrared, I never really used black-and-white. But I did some work in college with Ektachrome Infrared. Unfortunately, that stuff was designed for Process E4, which was just nasty (unsafe), complicated, and slow.

BebuLamar

rpavich wrote:

Pushing film just means to underexpose it and then extend the development. The actual ISO of this film is about 800-1200 depending on who you ask, so to shoot it at 3,200 you are severely underexposing it. If you'd develop it as you would for ISO 1000 you'd have underexposed, underdeveloped negs...so you over develop the negatives.

Unless you have some specific reason for shooting this particular film, why not shoot something else?

I love film but I wouldn't use high speed film. At high speed like 3200 ISO film can't hold a candle to digital. When I shoot film I only use ISO 100 or 160 that is the lowest speed film available. Some like the grain of film but using film for more than 40 years I never like the grain just like I don't like the noise of digital. They are both the down side of the medium not the up side.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

TMcL wrote:

Kodak just announced that they were resurrecting t... (show quote)

I have not used this film since Kodak first introduced it. If I remember, it was only slightly better pushed processed than Tri-X. I recommend using distilled water to mix your developer. Stop and fix don't matter and then distilled water for your final rinse to prevent water spots. Use whatever developer they recomend at the recommend times and temperatures. Remember that this is a fast film and your darkroom or darkroom loading bag must be absolutely DARK or you might get fogging. I'm sure all here would be interested in your results, so please post some photos after your tests. Happy Shooting.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

BebuLamar wrote:

I only use ISO 100 or 160 that is the lowest speed film available.

Not quite so:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=2545&fct=fct_iso-asa_3107%7c20%2bfct_iso-asa_3107%7c25%2bfct_iso-asa_3107%7c50%2bfct_iso-asa_3107%7c64%2bfct_iso-asa_3107%7c80&N=4093113317&