What settings and situations cause more grain ?

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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Hello all, I've noticed that some photos I take seem to end up with more grain than others from the same roll is there different settings or situations that will cause more grain to be seen in a film photo ?
 
BADGER.BRAD said:
What settings and situations cause more grain ?
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Two situations…
  1. Using higher speed films. They normally have a quite
    thinner emulsion that will reveal more grain.
  2. "Pushing" films and compensating the development time.
    That means shooting a given film and underexposing it
    by setting 2, 3, 4 or more times to higher ISO
Note that the higher the ISO means higher contrast as well.
 
Add in over exposure - which is why grain always shows up more in white skies and over development or higher than recommended development. If we're talking about one roll; then exposure is the only variable. Whether some of your images are of a type that would show up grain more is a different matter. Detail will mask it; broad areas of even tone reveal it.
 
StephenM said:
Add in over exposure - which is why grain always shows up more in white skies and over development or higher than recommended development.
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A word of warning on this one, as I believe that this only applies to traditional black and white film.

For colour-negative process film, overexposing leads to finer grain. For example, Ilford explicitly recommend overexposing XP2 to achieve finer grain: https://www.ilfordphoto.com/amfile/file/download/file_id/1909/product_id/703/
 
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As far as I know, that's true. Chromogenic films have finer grain with more exposure. I soppose we should ask what the film is.
 
I've noticed in all film that I have used other than XP2 and as pointed out more in the sky than anywhere else. The latest film showed it most but was higher ASA than I have used in the past 400 ASA Kentmere. Maybe the cameras meter is causing it to over expose a bit I will check it against my handheld meters and other cameras.
 
the Grain that we see in an image is the holes between the grains of silver. Graininess is emphasised by flat tones like skies, and is least noticeable in busy areas of detail.
The actual grain is equal though the entire film developed in one piece.

Graininess can increase with choice of developer
development time
temperature
Agitation
choice of film
and extreme exposure.

It can be emphasised in
printing.
over enlarging
scanning
and PP
 
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It is always going to be grainier than HP5 as Kentmere is not a prime brand. With film, you need to select your film to suit your subject. Many subjects would either not show the grain or even benefit from it.
 
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