BW-film for scanning with good separation

[mortensen]

Hi,
I'll be doing a little project in Japan this fall, all BW and scanned with an Imacon afterwards.
There will be a lot of interiors and probably large out-of-focus areas.
So, I'm looking for a film that will give me a lot of shadow detail, develop fine in Xtol and scan well. I would like it to have 'silvery' look if possible.

I (probably wrongly) thought I should go with Tmax100, but a very experienced photographer recommended HP5...

What do you think? I'm very inexperienced in this delicate field...

[Daniel Stone]

use what you know film-wise already. Acros is a superb film, has virtually no reciprocity issues that I know of, is super fine-grained, scans tremendously(I've scanned it on both an Imacon and my drum scanner), and works very well in pretty much every developer available. Testing to find your best "combo" is highly rec'd of course, especially if doing important work where returning would be cost-prohibitive.

I mention reciprocity because you mentioned "interiors". Most interiors don't have a lot of light, unless its been added. So having to not compensate for reciprocity failure can be a real god-send IMO...

In terms of developer, I'd go with Pyrocat-HD or D-76(I like it 1+1), those are my preferences w/ acros. Both provide very fine grain, and when exposed and developed properly, both combo's IMO are a very admirable combination

-Dan

[wombat2go]

Hello Mortenson

Here is a link to 35 mm HP5+ in a low light room,
https://www.box.com/s/03b4455c492e5f2f93ca
It was not scanned; the neg was re- photographed and image stacked as explained:
http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/f...-stacking.html

I hope these links work OK

[Peter De Smidt]

... Acros is a superb film, has virtually no reciprocity issues that I know of, is super fine-grained, scans tremendously(I've scanned it on both an Imacon and my drum scanner), and works very well in pretty much every developer available.

I agree. That's what I'd use if I could live with the slowish film speed.

The biggest issue with scanning film, at least on a non-drum scanner, is grain. Many scanning workflows magnify grain. As such, using a very fine-grained film for scanning is a good idea. HP5+ is a good film, but it isn't fine-grained by any stretch of the imagination.

[mortensen]

thanks for info... but acros is, well, quite expensive. Not that I want to be cheap here, but... how about FP4 then? It was the first film I ever used, and if I recall correctly it recorded a vast amount of shadow information.

another question: is there a particular film that will (more easily) give me a more warm and 'silvery' look? Something that will let me approach a look in the direction of Sugimoto's tones? sorry for my helplessly imprecise terms here. I've shot a bit of Adox 25, but haven't developed it yet

ps: I am aware that I - of course - cannot just get the look of a master like Sugimoto.

[Gem Singer]

Ilford HP-5+ film will dig into the shadows and bring out those details you are seeking.

At ISO 400, and two stops below medium gray (Zone 3), it will give you the shadow detail you need.

Just be careful not to over-develop and blow out the highlights.

(Almost impossible to blow out the highlights when HP-5+ is developed in Pyrocat-HD).

[mcherry]

Have you tried Delta 100? I think it scans beautifully with very little grain.

[jp]

I haven't tried fp4 in these situations.

I'd probably use tmy2 and expose for the shadows and not worry about the highlights; it will capture it and you can scan it. Use a developer like dilute xtol, pyrocat HD, PMK.

Not carrying a personal experience, the caffenol gurus do amazing stuff indoors with medium speed film. It tends to be grainy though. Google the caffenol blog.

[Bruce Watson]

I'm looking for a film that will give me a lot of shadow detail, develop fine in Xtol and scan well.

Either of the TMAX films, Acros, or Delta 100. IOW, any "modern" film. Why? Grain size and structure.

If you are ever going to use these negatives to make conventional darkroom prints, optimize them for conventional darkroom prints. They will scan just fine if you do.

However, if you are sure you'll only scan, you can optimize for scanning and get another 5% or so out of them. You do this by developing to a slightly lower maximum density. How much less depends on your scanner hardware and software, your film, your developing, etc. For example, I find that drum scanning my 5x4 TMY-2 developed in XTOL 1:3, I get my best results with a Zone VIII density of around 1.0. This is about a "one stop pull" from what I'd want for darkroom printing. What I get from doing this is less highlight compression and thus better linearity in the highlights. Shadows aren't effected.

The worst thing you can do for scanning is to use a large grained film, developed in a developer that creates larger grain, developed to a higher than normal density (say, "pushed" a stop or two). Avoid these and you should be fine.

[mortensen]

Either of the TMAX films, Acros, or Delta 100. IOW, any "modern" film. Why? Grain size and structure.

If you are ever going to use these negatives to make conventional darkroom prints, optimize them for conventional darkroom prints. They will scan just fine if you do.

However, if you are sure you'll only scan, you can optimize for scanning and get another 5% or so out of them. You do this by developing to a slightly lower maximum density. How much less depends on your scanner hardware and software, your film, your developing, etc. For example, I find that drum scanning my 5x4 TMY-2 developed in XTOL 1:3, I get my best results with a Zone VIII density of around 1.0. This is about a "one stop pull" from what I'd want for darkroom printing. What I get from doing this is less highlight compression and thus better linearity in the highlights. Shadows aren't effected.

The worst thing you can do for scanning is to use a large grained film, developed in a developer that creates larger grain, developed to a higher than normal density (say, "pushed" a stop or two). Avoid these and you should be fine.

Thanks, Bruce... I think I follow you on this - bear in mind, that I have only shot LF for three years and only developed a few hundred BW-sheets myself. I can do it, but I'm certainly no master. So, all of you recommend me a fine grained film for scanning and you suggest to pull it a stop during development to get maximum dynamic range and separation.
The photographer, who recommended me HP5 did so - as far as I understood - because it shows builds contrast slower and has a higher silver content. Hence, it should be more suited or more forgiving to the situations I'll encounter.

But... would Adox/Efke 25 or 50 be an equally good option here? Or would FP4+ be the best 'compromise' with fine grain and medium contrast?

thanks for your patience with me