When photographing in very low light scenes with black and white film there are several choices that you can make. When trying to do that hand-held versus using the traditional tripod approach then you have even fewer options. I have found over time if I want limited grain in high contrast scenes that I expose from a range of EI 400 to 1250 then I use Tri-X 400 and develop in Diafine. When I need to EI rate above 1250 as a general rule or I want more pronounced grain for artistic reasons then I really like using Ilford Delta 3200 and develop in HC-100B up to EI 3200 or Microphen up to EI 12,500 or even EI 25,000. I use HC-110B as my standard developer for T-Max and Tri-X fine art photos when using the zone system. You may find it to be a good choice for your Delta 3200 exposures as well. In order to maximize your EI rating I would suggest following Ilford’s quality recommendations and use Microphen when rating the film at EI 3200 and above. The main reason I use Delta 3200 over Kodak Tmax P3200 is because P3200 is only available in 35mm format as opposed to Delta 3200 is available in 35mm and 120 formats. Since I rarely use 35mm equipment the obvious choice for me is Delta 3200.
However, if you are a Kodak film person then I will briefly mention that Tmax P3200 can be an excellent choice for 35mm when photographing low-light scenes. If you use any of the traditional Kodak developers (D76, HC110, Xtol, etc) then you may lean towards P3200 when photographing in 35mm format. I think you will find very good highlight separation in P3200 and like Delta 3200 can be pushed to EI 25,000. The best way I’ve found to do this is to underexpose by three stops and use a three stop push development process as outlined in the Kodak data sheet to further increase contrast and grain. As you would expect with P3200 or any film in this scenario you will have some additional loss of shadow detail under these conditions but this may be exactly the artistic look you are wanting. In addition with it being a 35mm negative this can impact your final print size options. The grain may also be a look that you want and variations at different EI’s and development times will produce different results. You will just have to test and experiment on your own to figure out what like best for your style of photography.
Exposure Times Longer than 1/2 Second
If you read the Ilford Delta 3200 data sheet you should play close attention to the exposure compensation chart for long exposures and make your adjustments accordingly. Only time and experience is going to help you on this one, but if you have the option to bracket a couple exposures that is always a smart idea. Fundamentally, if you are using an exposure time longer than 1/2 second then you should refer to this chart. This range of shutter speeds would indicate the use of a tripod. For example, if your exposure time is 10 seconds per your meter reading then your real exposure time would be approximately 30 seconds. If you refer to the chart above it is self explanatory. I would highly recommend just keeping the chart with you if you plan on doing some long exposure night photography with Delta 3200. For me personally I would not use a high speed film for traditional night photography.
With all of this being said, the main reason I would even use Delta 3200 is for hand-held photos in difficult lighting scenes and I would not be needing long exposure times requiring a tripod. If I were going to do that I would just use T-Max 100 or Delta 100 and call it a day. If I am using one of my cameras like the Mamiya 7 Rangefinder that has a leaf shutter in the lens I can hand-hold shutter speeds at 1/15th with no problems or if I am using an SLR camera like my RZ67 Pro II then I would use a shutter speed of 1/125th at a minimum.
Developing with Microphen or DD-X
If you review the development chart below for Delta 3200 you will see that Ilford DD-X and Microphen are recommended developers and both can be used for EI ratings up to 12,500. I haven’t tried it but many people have claimed good results at EI 25,000. DD-X is a liquid developer and Microphen is a powder developer that you mix. Most people use DD-X as a one shot developer and think of it as the liquid form of Microphen. I use Microphen at stock and as a one shot developer as well. I always mix Microphen as a stock solution and use the development times in the Delta 3200 data sheet as a guideline. One thing to note is that if you need more contrast then develop at the next time up. For example, if you photographed at EI 3200 and want more contrast develop for EI 6400 which tends to be the norm for my taste in contrast and tonal range. Remember as a fundamental rule in b/w film development, the longer you develop the film your highlights will continue to develop while your shadows will not have much change over their initial development at the front end of the process.
Depending on what “look” or style you are trying to achieve in your photography you will need to try the developers for yourself and see what you like as opposed to someone telling you what they like. Each photographer’s style and approach can vary greatly and you should never take anyone’s word for something so important. My comments should be a good reference and starting point for your own work.
If you are going for a high grain gritty look or simply need a photo under extreme low light conditions for documentation purposes you can even push Delta 3200 to EI 25,000 as outlined in the table to the left. I have never personally needed or tried EI 25,000 but when I get the chance in the future I will give it a try. The reason this is such a problem is that I would not likely have the need to develop a full roll of 120 medium format at EI 25,000. When using traditional b/w developers you can’t mix EI ratings on the same roll of film like you can with Diafine so that forces the full roll of film that I referenced.
Contrast Considerations at Higher EI Ratings
One thing that I will call out that may be of help to you is the contrast curve of Delta 3200 at higher EI ratings. When exposing for higher EI ratings like 12,500 or 25,000 your development time will significantly increase as expected. If you look at the chart in the section above for EI 25,000 you will notice development times ranging from 17 minutes to 25 minutes depending on the developer used and temperature. Now look at the contrast curve to the left and you will notice a flat-line at around 21 minutes. This basically means you should not expect any additional contrast expansion after this time. Based on these two pieces of information if I were shooting EI 25,000 I would use DD-X as my developer.
Processing the Film
When developing and processing Delta 3200 there are a couple things that you should note and pay attention to. Besides my normal recommendation of keeping all of your chemicals as close to your developer temperature I have a couple notes to share. First is the agitation technique and time. I develop my 120 film in steel tanks with steel reels so keep that in mind when reading this. I invert the tank for the first 10 seconds (about 4 revolutions) after I get the developer into the tank and at each one minute mark throughout the development time. If you want more grain then you can agitate more in addition to altering your developer temperature.
Next, use your normal acid stop bath and all should be well. Ilford recommends non-hardening fixers and so I would go with that suggestion. I use the Ilford Rapid Fixer which is non-hardening. I use a plain water wash time of 10 minutes although Ilford claims 5 minutes for non-hardening fixers. I strongly suggest using a wetting agent as your final step to help aid the drying process and to avoid streaking. If you want to stay with Ilford chemicals they make Ilfotol or you can use any wetting agent that you already have or even Photoflo that I prefer.
As a general rule when using high speed films it is a good idea to process as soon as possible for optimum results. If you do need to store the film for a while before development then just put it in your refrigerator and then let warm up to room temperature upon removal before development.
My Process for the Sample Photos
All temperatures are at 68F. I mixed the Microphen developer per the instructions at 104F with parts A and B to make 1 liter of stock solution. I put all of the chemicals in a water bath at 68F before starting. Once all the chemicals measured 68F I started the development process.
- Presoak for 1 minute
- Developer for 12 minutes (EI 3200, developed for 6400 for expanded contrast). Agitate 4 inversions every 1 minute for entire development time.
- Stop bath 30 seconds
- Fixer 5 minutes
- Rinse 2 minutes
- Hypo Clear 4 minutes
- Final wash 10 minutes
- Photoflo for 3 minutes
- Hang film to dry
Sample Photos
For the sample photos I went up to my local town center at dusk and looked for different lighting situations with my Mamiya 7 Rangefinder. Don’t pay attention to the scenes in these photos as I was not trying to be creative or serious about the subject matter. I was trying to find the threshold of where my highlights might blow out and where my shadow detail would block up so that when I use this film again I would have some sense of my boundaries. I also wanted to get a feel for the level and type of grain at my exposed EI rating. I metered at EI 3,200 and developed at EI 6,400. All of the photos were hand-held as this was one of my criteria for using the high-speed film. If I wanted to use a tripod I would just use Tmax 100 and not go to all the hassle with the high speed film and developer.
Keep in mind when viewing my sample photos that I scanned the negatives and edited in Photoshop as opposed to optically printing in the darkroom. By adjusting luminance and sharpness values in the software you impact the look for grain and acutance so I avoided adjusting for luminance in the first four photos so you could see the grain I got under my test conditions and see the difference when I had adjusted for it in the last two photos.
If your final print is made in the darkroom then more attention should be paid to the development process, enlargement size and variable contrast filters used during the print making process because the edits that I can make in Photoshop take seconds, but in the darkroom can take an hour or longer if they are even possible. In other words, if the grain is on the film then it will be on your print.
Final Thoughts
There are so many variables even within one film and developer combination much less different films. Delta 3200 is definitely a specialty film that is a little more expensive than your every day low and medium speed films, but I am okay with that because it is a specialty item that can help you accomplish your goal that would otherwise not be possible.
In my test photos for this article being able to hand-hold my medium format camera at night and get very usable photos was all the validation and testing I needed to know. I will use Delta 3200 again without hesitation. They key to making the images work is the high speed developer and the development process. Either DD-X (liquid form) or Microphen (powder form) is the only viable option in my opinion. Since you are using the developer as a one-shot the cost per roll can get expensive pretty quickly so make all of your images count. I think I paid about $6.50 for 1 liter of Microphen and that will basically develop two 120 rolls of film.
I think of Delta 3200 as an EI 1000 film that when developed with a special high speed developer (DD-X or Microphen) can give me the ability to expose as high as EI 25,000 with 6,400 or 12,500 being the upper end of the norm depending on my technical and artistic requirements. It is nice to know that you can do it if you want or need to. My tests were literally only one sample and you would need to test at a lot of different EI ratings and lighting conditions and development variables on your own to figure out what you want and/or need from a film like this.
Based on my results under the conditions I photographed I would likely still use EI 3200 again but develop at EI 3200 as opposed to EI 6400 therefore shortening the development time and expansion of contrast.
For me personally I would use Tri-X with Diafine up to EI 1250 without a hesitation or HP5+ to EI 1250 or 1600 as an alternative. Tri-X or HP5+ is really just a personal taste. As a matter of fact your could push Tri-X 3 stops (EI 3200) and probably get very similar results with DD-X or Microphen but that would not be my preference. Beyond EI 1600 is where I see Delta 3200 making sense for me. I see it allowing me to get low-light photos with a reasonably fast lens (i.e. f/4) not otherwise possible and I also see it from a creative mindset when I purposely want the big grain. If I were to use a faster lens like a f/2.8 or faster then even more possibilities may present themselves. All things being considered I was very pleased with the tests and plan on keeping some Delta 3200 and DD-X/Microphen on hand for the future.
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Tim Layton
© Tim Layton – All Rights Reserved – 2011. You may not republish or use any information or media of any format, in part or in whole, without my written permission. For permission and more information you can contact Tim Layton on the web at blog.timlaytonphotography.com or via email at tim@timlaytonphotography.com or via the telephone at 314.972.4900. Visit Tim’s latest photos online at Flickr.
