B&W C41 - what's available.?

Yardbent

Yardbent

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John
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with my Canon AE-1 serviced, I'm eager to get started again

not interested in DIY developing at all - sorry
but prefer to use Photo Express for develop and scan to CD
so i need C41 process B&W

( 'traditional' B&W seems too expensive for me at specialist labs )

but seems there's not many available.....:(

Ilford XP2 Super
Fujifilm Neopan 400CN

can you suggest any others...?........thanks
 
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Think thats it. Kodak stopped making theirs and the other film manufacturers make silver based film as a sideline for other stuff so stick with older traditional development techniques.
 
I think you may be right John, since Kodak stopped producing their version in 2014 http://petapixel.com/2014/08/21/kodak-announces-discontinuation-c-41-process-bw-film-bw400cn/ You might find some on eBay from time to time (haven't looked) but I'd certainly stick with the 2 currently in production at the moment to see how you get on with them. Enjoy!

Just looked and there are 3 listed on the auction site at the moment, but they're not cheap and I wouldn't have thought they were worth it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...ak+bw400cn.TRS0&_nkw=kodak+bw400cn&_sacat=625
 
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I think other than old stocks of the Kodak, you're limited to to what you mention.

I've shot a little bit of both and found them equally good......the XP2 a bit more contrasty perhaps but saying that, with all the other variables ( home development, scanning etc taken into account) I may well be talking out of my a.........:D



It appears that you're set on not doing the DIY b&w developing which is fair enough ...your choice.
I will say though that the outlay for the gear required ( the most expensive being the scanner probably) and the simpleness off the process really does work out long term financially beneficial ( and quite satisfying!) over lab costs for either b&w or C-41 processing/ scanning.
And of course, traditional b&w films come in all sorts of brands, speeds and emulsions;)
 
You could always shoot a regular C41 colour film and then convert it to b&w in post afterwards? It's not ideal I know, but you can get good results that way, and your options are already very limited otherwise. This one was from a £1 roll of Agfa Vista from Poundland that I converted to B&W in LR.


Watersmeet by Carl Hall, on Flickr

Mind you, I still agree with Asha that DIY B&W is the best way, but if you don't want to do that then it's fair enough
 
[QUOTE="Asha, post: 7423015, member: 36107"..... the outlay for the gear required ( the most expensive being the scanner probably) and the simpleness off the process really does work out long term financially beneficial ..............[/QUOTE]

i quite understand this is true - however I see B&W film as an 'occasional'' day out; rather than my main use

john
 
Yardbent said:
[QUOTE="Asha, post: 7423015, member: 36107"..... the outlay for the gear required ( the most expensive being the scanner probably) and the simpleness off the process really does work out long term financially beneficial ..............
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i quite understand this is true - however I see B&W film as an 'occasional'' day out; rather than my main use

john[/QUOTE]


Well in that case, ignore my suggestion as it likely won't work out financially viable for you:p:D

The converted shot that Carl has posted is a good point ......I suspect some colour films convert to b&w better than others but Agfa vista handles it quite well ........I think @ Andysnap has converted quite a few shots from vista too with equally good results......I have too if i can find some i'll post 'em up.

Just think you could have both colour and monochrome versions of every frame with no additional cost ...just a couple of computer clicks and you're done:)
 
however I see B&W film as an 'occasional'' day out; rather than my main use

john
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...anyway 35mm B\W is for boys, 120 and up is the way to go.
 
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excalibur2 said:
...anyway 35mm B\W is for boys, 120 and up is the way to go.
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Depends, I've had some bl**dy good shots out of 35mm, some much better than my MF / LF efforts.......anyhpw, that's a different topic/ thread.

Even if the OP shoots MF or larger, I think the same limitations apply as regards to obtaining C-41 process b&w films
 
Asha said:
.......Just think you could have both colour and monochrome versions of every frame with no additional cost ...
just a couple of computer clicks and you're done
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excalibur2 said:
...but it's Vista converted to B\W...anyway problem solved for John, just buy Vista and convert to B\W for the occassional B\W shots
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hmmm - for me, that gets away from the 'feeling' of using B&W film
feels like cheating..:) ... might as well use my D300 at no processing cost at all, and shoot in ''mono mode''......:eek:

seriuosly - I'll buy some Ilford XP2 Super from Amazon and see how I like it

thanks for all the input
 
Yardbent said:
hmmm - for me, that gets away from the 'feeling' of using B&W film
feels like cheating..:) ... might as well use my D300 at no processing cost at all, and shoot in ''mono mode''......:eek:
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Well you get two bites of the cherry one colour other B\W ;)
 
Asha said:
........I think @Andysnap has converted quite a few shots from vista too with equally good results......I have too if i can find some i'll post 'em up................
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i'd be interested to see - if its not too much trouble
do you recall which film you used........Vista.?...............:thumbs:
 
XP2 is lovely. Only shot one roll of the Fuji, nothing special about it that I can remember. Remember you can get XP2 from BOOTs on a BOGOHP offer, with no postal charges!
 
Yardbent said:
i'd be interested to see - if its not too much trouble
do you recall which film you used........Vista.?...............(y)
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Well the darkroom guys would probably agree that:- you will never get the best out of B\W unless you use an enlarger and do a print the old way. So converted Vista, Xp2 etc scanned, squashed Jpg, loaded up on computer screen....... what's the difference :rolleyes:
Well I've seen the difference comparing 35mm to 120 scanning etc the modern way...but that's off topic.
 
C41, BW, E6 processing are all the same price as far as I know at *many* places.
 
Yardbent said:
i'd be interested to see - if its not too much trouble
do you recall which film you used........Vista.?...............(y)
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I have always thought that vista converts particularly well to b and w, nice blacks and a fairly full palette of grey. I'm away at the moment but when I get back to my computer I'll put a couple of shots up.
 
I put a few shots up in the 'show us your film shots' thread recently from a roll of Ilford xp2 and I liked the results. Very high contrast compared to the hp5 that I normally use.
 
Well we've had "show your Vista shots" thread....maybe "show your converted Vista shots" (y)
 
RumpFace said:
C41, BW, E6 processing are all the same price as far as I know at *many* places.
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The only ones where all 3 are the same price, process only, from my small sample are... Peak Imaging! (Although the Dark Room are only 10p dearer for 120 E6, cf £1 dearer for 135 E6).
 
I asterixed the word many because I'm not on this site to plug anywhere. I'm here for my own interests in photography but just wanted to point it out that our prices are i think competitive.
That said if you guys don't use us you may one day lose us.
 
Yardbent said:
hmmm - for me, that gets away from the 'feeling' of using B&W film
feels like cheating..:) ... might as well use my D300 at no processing cost at all, and shoot in ''mono mode''......:eek:

seriuosly - I'll buy some Ilford XP2 Super from Amazon and see how I like it

thanks for all the input
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Know what you mean. I think with B&W you need to think differently - just in terms of light and dark, patterns and texture. If you're shooting colour film you will always be tempted to think more conventionally in terms of what you see in colour.

Personally I've had pleasing results from the Fuji stuff and perhaps prefer to XP2. Apparently it's made by Ilford for Fuji anyway.

Some useful comparison/comment here:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/36037950@N00/discuss/72157605605254271/

https://www.flickr.com/groups/36037950@N00/discuss/72157600044137514/ (includes reference to Ilford making it)
 
RumpFace said:
.............. but just wanted to point it out that our prices are i think competitive.
That said if you guys don't use us you may one day lose us.
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sorry i dont recognise you

which lab are you..? thanks.......john
 
RumpFace said:
I asterixed the word many because I'm not on this site to plug anywhere. I'm here for my own interests in photography but just wanted to point it out that our prices are i think competitive.
That said if you guys don't use us you may one day lose us.
Click to expand...

The "Like" button doesn't seem quite the right way to express support for one of the best labs in the UK...(y)
 
just ordered 3 x Ilford XP2 from 7DayShop .

I'll post some images later....................thanks for all the Input and comments
 
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