John Hicks’ Recommendations for Ilford Delta 3200

Developer

Dilution

Time

Temperature

E. I.

Microphen

Stock

7 m

75° F

2000

Microphen

Stock

9.5 m

75° F

3200

Microphen

Stock

13 m

75° F

6400

Microphen

Stock

18.25 m

75° F

12,800

Xtol

1:1

12 m

75° F

1250

Xtol

1:1

15 m

75° F

2000

Xtol

1:2

17 m

75° F

2000

Xtol

1:2

20 m

75° F

3200

 Ilfotec DD-X

1:4

11 m

75° F

2000

Comments:  The "sweet spot" is EI 1600-2000, showing the best combination of "real" speed, grain and acutance without excessive contrast.

As for really high speeds, one thing I used to do for TMZ in Microphen was add about 50g/L sodium sulfite.  That reduced the graininess a bit but didn't make mush.  I've tried it with Delta 3200 in DD-X only so far, and it did make a difference.  It's no magic bullet, but it may help in the quest for really high speeds and reasonable quality.

Also, since Delta 3200 is available in 120 there's a tremendous advantage to shooting it in medium format, especially 6x7.  I bought a used Graflex XL w/f2.8 Planar specifically for that; there's actually a big difference in quality between printing 6x7 and printing a cropped rectangle out of 6x6.

Paul Harris’ Recommendation for Ilford Delta 3200

Developer

Dilution

Time

Temperature

E. I.

X-tol

1:1

18 m

75° F

3200

Comments:  use standard Kodak agitation.

Thomas Wollstein’s Recommendation for Ilford Delta 3200

Developer

Dilution

Time

Temperature

E. I.

Ilfotec HC

1:31

10 m

68° F

1600

Trib’s Recommendation for Ilford Delta 3200

Developer

Dilution

Time

Temperature

E. I.

Ilfotec DD-X

Full Strength

20 m

75° F

12,500

Comments:  agitate for 1 minute 3 times--at start, middle, and end.

Ed Buffaloe’s Recommendations for Ilford Delta 3200

Developer

Dilution

Time

Temperature

E. I.

PMK

1:2:100

12.5 m

75° F

800

PMK+

1:2:100

9.5 m

75° F

800

Pyrocat-HD

1:1:200

30 m*

70° F

1600

Comments:  This is a superb film in medium format.  I can easily hand-hold in daylight situations at EI 800.  Click here to see an example of the grain structure I get with PMK--hopefully it will also convey how much detail this film can capture.  The shadow detail is quite remarkable.

For PMK I give an initial agitation of 30 seconds, then agitate for 5 seconds twice per minute.

* I use semi-stand development with Pyrocat-HD:  30 seconds agitation at the beginning of development, and 30 seconds again in the middle.  This combination produces very high acutance.

Armin Schweizer’s Recommendation for Ilford Delta 3200

Developer

Dilution

Time

Temperature

E. I.

ID-11

Stock

13 m

20° C

3200

I mainly use it for theater stage set photography with its warm light (high amount of red and limited amount of blue light) and without filters.  I mainly use the meter setting of 3200 at the camera to expose the film (24x36).

If developed with ID-11 at 20 degC in a tank with 1 minute movements and based on the times in the Ilford Delta 3200 data sheet (see http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/bw.html) the result is very flat and can barely be printed.

Much better results can be achieved when development times are used for (at  least) one stop higher than the meter setting of the camera (e.g. meter setting to 3200 and development with time for 6400, i.e. 13 minutes at 20  degC).