Ilford Delta 400

With the development process used, the correct ASA for Delta 400 is 200. This note describes how that was determined.

Exposure Test

1. Set meter to ASA 400.

1. Pick scene in back yard, prop up the 18% gray card and take reading which was 1/500 @ f11.

1. Open stops to f2 and then take one picture each from f2 through f16 and a final one at 1000 and f16.

1. Process in 1:1 XTOL. The recommended development times are 13 min at 20 deg C and 9:30 min at 24 deg C. The temperature was 22 deg C, so the development time was 10:30 min.

Equivalent Film Speed

Time Temperature Charts

This is the XTOL chart from Kodak for Delta 400. They are assuming small tank development and 100 ml (3.5 fl. oz) of developer per roll. At 1:1 we are using 4 fl oz per roll, so there should be enough developer solution for the following tables to be correct. However, we did not get rated ASA in this test even with extended times!

FRESH, DILUTE DEVELOPER
ROLL FILM	FORMAT	EI	CI	DEVELOPER DILUTION
				1:1
				68°F 20°C	70°F 21°C	75°F 24°C	80°F 27°C
ILFORD DELTA 400	135	100/200	0.52	9	8	6	4¾*
		400	0.58	10½	9½	7	5½
		800	0.65	12¼	11	8½	6½
		1600	0.75	14½	13	10	8
		3200	0.85	17	15½	12	9½

It seems to be a common complaint that the Kodak recommended times are too short. The author of this note suggests the developer volume is too low, but per the current recommendation in the previous paragraph, this is not true.

This chart is from the inside of the Delta 400 box. Notice, these times are much longer than shown on the Kodak literature. Do you suppose that's one of the reasons for doing these tests?

FRESH, DILUTE DEVELOPER
ROLL FILM	FORMAT	EI	DEVELOPER DILUTION
			1:1
			68°F 20°C	75°F 24°C
ILFORD DELTA 400	135	500	13	9½
		800	15½	11½
		1600	20	14
		3200	-	18

Scott Eaton suggests Microdol-X and a respondent to that article is using XTOL 1:1 at an EI of 320.

Here are the times recommended by the Massive Development Chart that Scott Eaton recommends. The EI 500, 20 deg C times are the same as the table above, so this chart is following the manufacturers recommendations.

Developer	ASA	35mm	Roll	Sheet	Temp
Xtol (1+1)	200	9	9		20°C
Xtol (1+1)	500	13	13		20°C
Xtol (1+1)	800	15.5	15.5		20°C
Xtol (1+1)	1600	20	20		20°C
Xtol (1+1)	3200	18	18		24°C

Test Shots

	A 'V' was cut into the processed negative at each picture boundary. The films were scanned so the 'V' was visible. The exposure adjustment was set for manual adjustment. Here is the result at a gamma of 1.8.
	And here is the scanner exposure set at a gamma of 1.4. You can see that in this exposure, the black between is black where in the shot above it is not. This setting sets the black exposure.
	Here is the ASA 100 exposure, too light - overexposed.
	Now the best exposure becomes clear and is ASA 200.
	And here is the ASA 400 exposure - underexposed.

Last modified: Wed, 22-Aug-01 20:11:46 PDT