Hello and thank you very much,
Well, the specialist lab I’m talking about is a proper, reputable one.
They handle both black-and-white and colour. They can develop any film, of course; at the moment they use Ilford DD or Tetenal.
I’m not really concerned with the basic choice between HP5 and Delta.
Klaus
Hello Klaus,
You can’t develop yourself, but you trust your lab to handle the processing and don’t mind a bit of grain. In that case, of the films mentioned, I’d go for the new Tri-X. It’s a very solid and forgiving all-rounder. If that’s too much of a stretch, there’s the as-yet-unmentioned APX 100, aka Turapan 100 (good and cheap).
The Deltas and TMAXes require precise processing; I’d only want to process those myself, although even here, exposing at the rated speed and then developing strictly according to the data sheet doesn’t lead to optimal results. The exposure can easily be a bit on the generous side. With standard development, I’d expose the Tri-X at 260–320 ASA and the APX at 80–100 ASA. A little more density in the shadows has never really bothered anyone, whereas too little is a serious problem.
Why not test before you leave to see if you’re happy with the lab’s performance? Perhaps a CN film is the better choice after all. It would be a shame to ruin your holiday snaps.
