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Thread: B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

  1. #1

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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    I am looking for a 4"x5" black and white film for landscape work and having no prior experience in B&W I'm not sure where to begin. I work primarily in Fuji Velvia 50, so I'm thinking a equivalent type of B&W might be a good starting point. My selection here is somewhat limited, so a list of some good films to start with would be great. Thanks.

  2. #2

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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    JZ,

    Most B&W photographers develop (pun intended) a film/developer combination that they like. Unlike color transparencies where you don't have as wide a choice of developers and can't "push" or "pull" much, B&W photograpy requires that you assess the film in context of the developer and development.

    Best place to start is a good textbook on B&W photography and websites specializing in such.

    Steve

  3. #3

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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    Fortepan 200 is a great film marketed in the US under a variety of names , ie J and C Classic and Arista .edu. Ilford is available under it's own label as well as Ultrafine Pro, Arista Pro, and others . There is also Efke in ISO 25 and 100 and Kodak TMax and TriX. Each emulsion I find is subtley different but all the ones I've mentioned are super performers---I've long since given up blaming the film for my own inept use of the stuff! ;-) There are more emulsions available, but these are the ones I've tried in 8x10. If your into really slow speeds, check out the Efke 25 from J and C.

    Cheers!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  4. #4
    MIke Sherck's Avatar
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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    Steve is absolutely right, JZ. It isn't like there are 5000 landscape photographers out there all using the same film. Also, the solution doesn't consist of just a film alone, as Steve mentioned. Films give different results in different developers. Personally, for enlargements I like Kodak's TMax 100 developed in straight D-76; for contact prints I like Bergger 200 developed in PMC Pyro.

    I occasionally photograph with a group of LF folks; in a group of a dozen photographers, all photographing the same area on the same day, you'll probably have ten different film/developer combinations. And even for the few who, like me may be using TMX 100 in D-76, I know for a fact that we *all* have different exposure/development time combinations.

    It's really true what they say in the books: you have to find your own "winning" combination. There aren't any shortcuts. Good luck! Even the search is fun!

    Mike
    Politically, aerodynamically, and fashionably incorrect.

  5. #5
    Whatever David A. Goldfarb's Avatar
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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    As the others have said, all the b&w films that come in 4x5" are very capable, and it's a matter of finding the one that suits your taste and working methods.

  6. #6

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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    Here is one lab's subjective take on some of the various emulsions out there (specific to their particular developer; also click on "large format" for their sheet film recommendations): http://www.dr5.com/Filmreview.html

    Here is a sample thread from the APUG forum:
    http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10801&highlight=film


    Here are a couple threads from the photo.net black-and-white forum:
    http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006Ly1

    http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005JGS


    And here is some reading homework courtesy of J&C:
    http://www.jandcphoto.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=12


    This of course is just the tip of the iceberg. Have fun!

  7. #7
    Moderator Ralph Barker's Avatar
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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    pssssst. But, you might try Ilford FP4+ developed in Ilford DD-X first. ;-)

  8. #8

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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    You don't say whether you plan to do your own processing or not (though I hope you are, one of the nice things about black and white film is the ease of processing it at home and cthe control doing it yourself gives you).

    However, if you you aren't processing it yourself then just ask the lab what film they recommend for whatever developer they use. If you're doing it yourself I'd suggest Ilford HP5+ in Kodak D76 as a good starting point. D76 is a very good general purpose developer, it's been around for something like 100 years. Ilford HP5+ is a faster film (I rate it at 200) than you're used to, which will make it nice when those gentle breezes blow the foliage around. It gives nice tonal gradations and is tolerant of minor processing/exposure errors.

    A second possibility is TMax 100 in D76. It's a fine grain film and will be particularly good if you plan to make enlargements in the 16x20 and up range. It has a reputation for being finicky and intolerant of minor errors but as long as you maintain good darkroom procedures (mainly consistency in time, temperature, and agitation) it's fine. The main reason for suggesting it though is the fact that you may want to use Readyloads one of these days and it's one of only two black and white films that are available in Readyload/Quickload form so it's not a bad idea to get used to using it.
    Brian Ellis
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  9. #9

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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    I'm pretty much in the same boat, other than I've regularly used B&W in 35mm and 120. Now I've just started using 4x5, I wanted to use my 'standard' combination of Ilford Delta 100 in ID11 1:1, but can't due to non availability. Other than shooting some practice test shots in Fp4+, I may try TMAX 100, and if I like it, standardise on it for 4x5. My reasoning being I can use it in my DD slides, and if I'm away from home for a while photographing, I can switch to readyloads, as TMAX 100 is available in both, very flexible. I don't think any other B&W film has those advantages. All I need to do is check it out in D76, TMAX developer and perhaps Paterson FX29 to see what developer combination I like.

  10. #10
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    B&W Film Choices for landscape work?

    Hello JZ,

    The best advice I can offer to you is to get hold of a copy of "The Film Developing Cookbook", by S. Anchell and B. Troop. Read it from cover to cover. Then you will know everything you need to know about selecting the proper B&W film and processing it. There are very few labs that still do B&W film processing. Therefore, at least, plan on developing your film yourself. Then, you can either scan it, or have it scanned. It can be printed either digitally, or in a wet darkroom if you prefer.

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