I am trying out Ilford Delta 3200 Professional film, one of the fastest black and white films you can get. When I was researching online on what developer to use, I was amazed at the variety of opinions, and just how tricky it is to get this film “dialled in” in terms of exposure and processing. My first try was using D-76 developer at a 1:1 dilution, which was not completely successful in terms of graininess. When shooting available light (or available darkness!) subjects though this is the kind of film stock I will need to master, so I have one more roll, and I will try another developer next time. The fun is in the discovery though!
My Third Eye 
At the resolution in the post, the grain isn’t that noticeable – but when you click through to Flickr and look at the full size image it becomes apparent, mostly in the foreground, on the floor (can’t tell if it’s wood, tile, stone or brick).
There’s also graininess in the plinth that the statue is on, although the statue itself seems to be sharp and relatively unaffected by the grain – divine intervention, perhaps? 🙂
Interesting shot, nonetheless – very atmospheric!
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It seems that the grain shows up in the areas that have the least amount of light; this film will definitely take some effort to master, and I like that!
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John, Bracket a series of shots on the subject and you will most likely obtain a negative that reflects what you’re striving for. (Standard procedure is to expose for the dark areas (camera) then burn for the lights (darkroom) since the tonal range of film is limited and requires darkroom maniipulation for obtaining a full range of tones and textures. (Here, the exposure is based on the lights). Another approach (higher level) is to shoot a neg for the lights and one for the darks (use tripod) then blend the two shots together at the printing stage). Lots of fun, not to mention, time.
Best regards, Rodney {aka seeknsally)
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That is what I will have to do; what is especially challenging about this film is that no one can even agree on what E.I. it should be shot at, let alone how it should be developed. 🙂
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Film can be manipulated many ways but the results are similar in the end because the nature of film responds to equivalent values. What’s important when testing is to keep certain aspects as constants with one variable. The answers to the variable can be extrapolated to manipulate the other values in equivalent ways. Spreadsheet?
Rodney
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