As promised here is a sample image (my wife Eve Ogden Schaub of Life=Art) in Puerto Rico pushing the new TMY-2 (Tmax 400) to an E.I. of 1600 and processed in Xtol Straight using Kodak’s suggested time/ temp . The light was very, very low as even at an E.I. of 1600 my exposure was still 1/8 at F1.4 (hand-held.) The image was made with a Leica M7 with a 50mm Summilux.
So what are my thoughts????
Please note: click on the thumbnails for a larger view.
1. Of course there is more grain than the 400 speed test I posted a few days ago (click here) but not a lot considering this is a 2 stop push! It is not as crisp and lacks some fine image detail as the other test image had due to the increased grain and I am sure the slow shutter speed and the f1.4 working f stop ( I do the best I can, but on 10 shots of espresso a day what do you expect?)
2. Good shadow detail and the highlights still have nice separation especially considering the light source.
3. Easy to scan- no problems with excessive contrast or anything…the scan was as easy as my last test scan. (Scanned on an Imacon Scanner at 3200 dpi, 16 Bit, wet mount, no sharpening.)
So what does this mean??? Where do we (I) go from here?
Well I for one will shoot this film as my NEW primary film at box speed (400) – but it is nice to know that in a pinch I can push this film to meet my needs no matter what they are… I am going to continue my exploration of different developers (stay tuned!!) for this film, but for now- Xtol works fine. Once again in my opinion – Kudos to Kodak! (It’s been a long while since I’ve been able to say that twice in one week!)
Image Copyright Stephen M. Schaub 2008
Figital Revolution 
Hi,
I wonder what was the dev.time in Xtol for TMY – 2 in XTOL@1600 or 400.
How do you scan this film at its best (Vuescan or Silverfast)?
Would be nice if you put some guidelines/settings on this for doing this.
Thanks
Edwin
Edwin- my processing time for TMY-2 in Xtol are directly from Kodaks web site(Link):
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f4043/f4043.pdf?id=0.2.26.14.17.14.18&lc=en
and I found these times to be very good, especially for scanning! I use an Imacon scanner so specific information for the Vuescan or Silverfast is not available. I did just post an article on scanning and color management, url link here:
https://figitalrevolution.com/2008/03/29/scanning-color-mangement-and-photoshopthe-diafine-and-tx-sagepart-2/
The article is on Diafine Developer but the scanning info is universal.
Best-
Stephen Schaub
How would you compare this to Tri-X 400?
I really like TX pushed to 1600…there is something really nice about the grain and I for one love grain. They TMY-2 is amazing stuff and always have a few rolls in my bag… I say shoot a roll of each, have a cigar (nice!) and make your own decision… I for one use both but for different reasons/ looks.
Cheers-
Stephen
What kind of cigar do you find best? I find that a big robust Honduran with a deep Maduro wrapper works for any film/developer combo. Just don’t blow the smoke into the tank.
Only when I’m sitting around a campfire somewhere but if I have my choice….Montecristo #1
That being said the last one I smoked was 2 years ago! I need to get out more often.
Cheers-
Stephen
Yes, Stephen, you do. Are you aware that starting today a HUGE new tax is being placed on large cigars? It used to be a nickel, now it will be 40 cents, if I understand correctly. This is part of the tobacco taxes to help fund the Schips health care for kids program. Cigarette taxes went up about 100%, why not the same for cigars?
I’m all for suffering a bit for the kid’s health care, but this is nuts. I put an order in for two bundles last night. Consuegra Presidentes, about $1.50 a stick, smoke likes three times that price. Segundos.
Well, that was a nice off topic journey.
Now we return you to our original programming…..
PS I like the informative work that you do. Always intelligent and independent paths.
Nice, I’m currently experimenting with pushing various black and white films to an ISO of 51200.