Click to Enlarge

Back in the old film days, the Associated Press was known for doing things with film processing that were considered amazing. One of their best kept secrets was an amazing way of pushing film that was quick and worked very, very well. This "formula" came from the Associated Press office in Miami and works well with Tri-X film:

"Rate" Tri-X at 1600 ISO

• Mix Acufine developer 1:1 from stock solution and heat to 85 degrees, Presoak the film with normal water at 85 degrees. Pour developer, tap and invert tank one time per second for a total of five seconds. Agitate the tank for five seconds every 45 seconds. Develop the film for a total of 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

• Use tap water heated to 85 degrees and rinse film after development.

• Pour rapid fixer heated to 85 degrees and fix film for twice the time it takes to clear at that temperature (usually, about 1.5 minutes).

• Wash film at 85 degrees and Photo-flo film at 85 degrees and dry.

"Rate" Tri-X at 3200 ISO

• Heat the developer and all chemicals to 95 degrees and process the film in Acufine 1:1 from stock solution for 1.5 minutes using the steps outlined above, but all at 95 degrees rather than 85 degrees.

• It's important to remember that pushing film to such extremes must be done with consistent processing temperatures. Big variations in processing temperatures will cause reticulation, which looks like very large, clumpy grain. Even processing temperatures and attention to details will yield great results.

• Print
• Stumble It