Kodak HC-110 and Delta 100 (in medium format)

I've been such a fan of Delta 100 and HC-110 in 35mm format that I of course wanted to shoot it in medium format as well to see how it did.

As I expected (and hoped), the combo gets even better. It seems like the tonal variation is always better in medium format, and that holds true with this combination of film/developer as well. In open shade at least, the tones of Delta 100 are awesome for what I want out of many of my portraits, both in 35mm and 6x7.

100 ISO is a tad slow to shoot on darkly overcast days though when the wind is really blowing, like it was on this shoot. I will be testing some films rated at higher ISOs in the future so I can confidently overcome this problem and get the shutter speeds I need even when conditions are darker than usual.

I've heard that Delta 100 pushes pretty well. I'll definitely give Delta 400 a try, and I have a roll of HP5+ in medium format that I'd like to try as well. More tests with this combo coming in the future. I may, for the sake of completeness, do some tests with Rodinal and Delta in medium format sometime in the future, but I'm much more concerned about nailing down my process with HC-110 and Delta at the moment as it's a definite winning combo.

Here are the pictures.

 

As I mentioned, you can see that the tonality here rocks. Deep, rich blacks, great midtones, and as I made a special effort to avoid shots that might lead to blocked-up highlights, we're safe here on that front.

 I'm a big fan of the way the film renders lighter midtones like the pavement the model is sitting on.

 The 100% crop reveals that there is grain on the film. But very, very little. A fantastic combo for retaining detail without getting golf-ball sized grain.

 Once again, not much to say about the grain except that it's really really fine.

 

For the time being, HC-110 and Delta 100 is my go-to for cloudy days or other open shade portrait shoots. I love it in 35mm and in 120. I'll use PanF when I'm worried about too much contrast, especially issues with highlights blowing out. Rodinal can control highlights well, but I don't like what it does to Delta's grain, at least in 35mm. More tests to follow in the future. I want to test PanF and HC-110 in medium format sometime in the near future to see what I can get.