Favourite 100, 400, 1600 B/W films

MindofMel

MindofMel

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Hi all,

What are your favourite 100, 400, 1600 B/W films

Been shooting neopan 400 which i love for portraits but i want to try something else. Also, would be great if you could say what developer you use with the film for best results. I'm after something a touch grainy but rich blacks and contrasty.

EDIT: Also, anyone got any experience with kentmere film?
 
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I like the XP2 for 400. Current got a roll of Delta 400 in 120 going swell..
 
For 100 - Fuji Acros
400 - No idea
1600 - Ilford HP5+ pushed

Rodinal is a low contrast developer but accentuates grain, makes Acros look very very nice indeed, i push HP5 to ISO1600 in it without problems but your results may vary

To get extra contrast and grain you can push most films by 2 stops and compensate for it in developing to give higher contrast and a fair bit of extra grain
 
robhooley167 said:
For 100 - Fuji Acros
400 - No idea
1600 - Ilford HP5+ pushed

Rodinal is a low contrast developer but accentuates grain, makes Acros look very very nice indeed, i push HP5 to ISO1600 in it without problems but your results may vary

To get extra contrast and grain you can push most films by 2 stops and compensate for it in developing to give higher contrast and a fair bit of extra grain
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Rob, do you know how Rodinal compares to ID-11 or D76 with Acros and HP5+? Am I right in thinking that to push, I increase the developing times?
 
I quite like kentmere 400. I dev it in 1+50 rodinal. It's cheap and decent - I prefer it to hp5 in 35mm (hp5 in 120 is a film I like a lot though).

Sample pic:
20120518100433_scan-120514-0004.jpg
 
Delta across the board for me, my 1600 is delta 3200...:cool:
 
Chris L said:
Rob, do you know how Rodinal compares to ID-11 or D76 with Acros and HP5+? Am I right in thinking that to push, I increase the developing times?
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I cant say i do, i've only used ID-11 twice but on different films. Rodinal in general gives the negatives more sharpness though

To push film you need to increase the dev time by about 30% for one stop or 75% for 2 stops
 
100 - Fuji Acros, but I don't like the results I get from it much.

400 - Kodak T-Max, superb shadow detail and fine grain. Tri-X as well.

1600 - only tried Delta 3200 (meh) and Neopan 1600 (shadow detail was very difficult), so maybe pushing an ISO400 film is the next thing to experiment.
 
Black and white

100 very really use

400 Delta sometimes rated at 200

3200 Delta rated at 1600

Other than that Fuji Neopan 400 I seem to have a lot of and like the results espically stand development.
 
Acros for 100, tri- x for literally everything else :)

Tri it...you might like it
 
Acros for 100 & it's always been HP5+ for 400 but I have a few rolls of XP2 that I want to try as I've really liked the tones in others' work.
 
100 = Acros
400 = Tri-X
1600 = Neopan 1600 (RIP, still have some rolls left) or Tri-X

All dev'd in Diafine, although XTOL works well too. I'm just lazy and I like having a huge exposure range with Tri-X.
 
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IamAshlyRose said:
Acros for 100 & it's always been HP5+ for 400 but I have a few rolls of XP2 that I want to try as I've really liked the tones in others' work.
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my experiences with XP2 are that in sunlight contrast suffers quite a lot. Bear this in mind if you want to do a lot of shooting in the sun.
 
I personally only shoot low speed films as I have no need for short shutter speeds when shooting landscapes. ISO 100 being my fastest film and Acros is my pick for that.

For lower speeds I like Adox CHS25, CHS50 or PanF+.
 
As an inexperienced film person, what is meant by pushing 400iso to 1600? Telling the camera it is 1600 so it will underexpose?
 
cambsno said:
As an inexperienced film person, what is meant by pushing 400iso to 1600? Telling the camera it is 1600 so it will underexpose?
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You tell the camera to underexpose the film by a certain number of stops, you then compensate for it in the development stage by overdeveloping to bring out the detail in the negative

It's a useful technique if you have just loaded your camera with a film which is too slow for the situation and you havent got anything faster

The opposite, pulling is when you intentionally overexpose and under-develop

:thumbs:
 
robhooley167 said:
You tell the camera to underexpose the film by a certain number of stops, you then compensate for it in the development stage by overdeveloping to bring out the detail in the negative

It's a useful technique if you have just loaded your camera with a film which is too slow for the situation and you havent got anything faster

The opposite, pulling is when you intentionally overexpose and under-develop

:thumbs:
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to add to what he said, pushing film and then pushing in development can give very bizarre (often desired) effects, such as colour shifting, enhancing saturation and contrast. I am absolutely addicted to pushing film, unless it's an already zingy film like Ektar or a good B&W i rarely shoot at box speed.

Pushing/pulling is possible because the highlights on film blow gradually and very gracefully, and shadow detail can often be pulled back even from the blackest realms of underexposure... there is so much tolerance with modern film, and you can push the boundaries of exposure way more than ever before.
 
50 = PanF
100 = Delta
400 = Tri-x
1600 = HP5 pushed

To be honest at the moment I'm mainly using C41 B+W as I'm not devving at home currently. Therefore my fave B+W is Kodak BW400CN... lovely creamy results but quite different to traditional B+W. Pretty sure it's identical to Ilford XP2 but normally better availability locally.
 
I have to confess to having only ever tried one type of ISO100 film, Fuji Acros 100, but I liked it so much that I couldn't see any way to better it :shrug:. It's not even that expensive where I live.

For a grainy (but sharp and contrasty) look, I develop it in Rodinal, whereas for smoother tones and grain-free results I push it to ISO200 and develop it in Diafine :).

You can see examples of each (plus some ISO400 stuff) on my home page. The Diafine and Rodinal pictures are on the second page, so don't forget to click on the 'Next' button at the bottom of the page ;) ...

http://www.andyhearnphotography.com/index.php/photos/photos-35mm-film

Andy
 
Naboo32 said:
I have to confess to having only ever tried one type of ISO100 film, Fuji Acros 100, but I liked it so much that I couldn't see any way to better it :shrug:. It's not even that expensive where I live.

For a grainy (but sharp and contrasty) look, I develop it in Rodinal, whereas for smoother tones and grain-free results I push it to ISO200 and develop it in Diafine :).

You can see examples of each (plus some ISO400 stuff) on my home page. The Diafine and Rodinal pictures are on the second page, so don't forget to click on the 'Next' button at the bottom of the page ;) ...

http://www.andyhearnphotography.com/index.php/photos/photos-35mm-film

Andy
Click to expand...

Great site!

- WOW at pushing trix400 to 1250 and getting results like that!
- Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, Heer come the brides and Ebony/Ebony are great shots!
 
MindofMel said:
Great site!

- WOW at pushing trix400 to 1250 and getting results like that!
- Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, Heer come the brides and Ebony/Ebony are great shots!
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Thanks Mel :thumbs:!

It's mostly non-photographers (friends and family) who look at my website, so it's always nice to hear from another 'togger ;).

Yes, with Diafine you really can push Tri-X as far as ISO 1600 and still expect good results :eek:. If you're thinking about a fast film for your new Fuji (MF) SLR, keep in mind that the grain is going to be less noticable on the bigger negs than on the little 35mm negs you saw on my website. So, Tri-X at ISO1600 becomes a realistic proposition for 'street' photography, MF-style :naughty:.
 
Tri-x, have pushed it to 1600,quite a few times.

I also have used XP-2,but don't tend to push it .

:)
 
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