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Thread: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

  1. #21

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    My favorite medium speed B&W film (ISO 100) is Fuji Acros. In terms of grain and resolution it is at least as good as the two main competitors, Delta 100 and T-Max 100, but what sets it apart from these films is its very low reciprocity failure. Delta 100 and T-Max 100 are a lot better than traditional films, but Acros is in a league by itself in my experience. In low light conditions you will often find that because of the low reciprocity failure of Acros actual exposures time will be less than with ISO 400 films.

    I use Across with Pyrocat-HD, 1+1+100 at 72F for 15 minutes and get great resolution and virtually no grain at 20X. However, Acros is a robust and easy to use film that should also give great results with a wide range of both staining and non-staining developers. In my opinion Acros is easily the best medium speed film on the market if you consider ease of use, grain, resolution/sharpness, and low reciprocity failure.

    Sandy King
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  2. #22

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    Sandy is right about Acros and he's also right about using different developers with it. I've had really fine results with Ilford DD-X and Rodinal (semi-stand). I haven't tried Xtol or Pyrocat-HD, but plan on it shortly since I just received my chemical order and Freestyle just shipped my back-order of Fuji Acros. One other benefit of Acros is it is damn cheap compared to the Yellow Gods film or even Ilford. I love Delta 100 and TMY2, but for an all-around B&W film Acros can't be beat. The playing field is getting thinner when it comes to film, but it's even worse when it comes to paper. JohnW

  3. #23

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    If the concern is mainly grain delineation then any of the fine grain films are OK. But consumer grade scanners aren't going to see that anyhow.
    I find that the dynamic range is more important, so you need to consider the type of scanner that will be used before you develop your film. I mostly use an Epson V750 or a Nikon. I generally find what Ken has mentioned above from a Stouffer density wedge; that is maybe 8 stops decently resolved.

    I then want to get all the subject brightness values within at least 8 stops on film, say logD 2.0 to 2.3. This can reasonably be handled by the two scanners I use. For fine drum scanning I'll push this to maybe 2.6 to 2.8. To control development (limit density) I mostly use Diafine unless excessive N- or N+ development is required; then I usually use D76 at 1:2.

    Lately I am seeing that maybe what I have been using is a bit too high for density range and am inclined to reduce the film Dmax to 1.6 or so. I need to get a better delineation of tones at the high end to achieve better separation. But much depends on the nature of the negative.

    Nate Potter, Austin TX.

  4. #24

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    It is dirt cheap in 120 rolls format that I am buying for roll film holder, but in 4x5 size I would say it is the most expensive one. May be because it comes in 20 sheet boxes only.
    (it is regarding Acros and John Henry post)
    Jerzy
    Last edited by Jerzy Pawlowski; 20-Mar-2012 at 20:34. Reason: to be more specific

  5. #25

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Henry View Post
    One other benefit of Acros is it is damn cheap compared to the Yellow Gods film or even Ilford.
    No its not. 100 sheets of Acros will set you off about 5x35$ - 165, whereas 100 sheets of Ilford Delta is about 104$...
    While i like it for 120, i don't see it to be of reasonable price for 4x5.

    As of the original topic - i am sticking with UFG and Adox(low speed)/Efke(middle speed)/Ilford (high speed). Scans on regular flatbed pretty well. But then what do i know.. i am just experimenting so far

  6. #26

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    For the finest grain, a true fine-grain developer and a high resolution film like T-Max 100, Delta 100 or 100 Acros would be a wise choice.

    http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart...tol&mdc=Search

  7. #27

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    Quote Originally Posted by SergeiR View Post
    No its not. 100 sheets of Acros will set you off about 5x35$ - 165, whereas 100 sheets of Ilford Delta is about 104$...
    While i like it for 120, i don't see it to be of reasonable price for 4x5.

    As of the original topic - i am sticking with UFG and Adox(low speed)/Efke(middle speed)/Ilford (high speed). Scans on regular flatbed pretty well. But then what do i know.. i am just experimenting so far
    Stupid me! Yes, I was referring to Fuji Acros in 120. I guess jumping around to different forums can be detrimental to your memory. In 4x5 and 8x10 I have only used TMX, TRI-X, and cheap Chinese stuff. Never tried Acros! I do know it Acros scans beautifully. I processed a roll of 120 shot with a Rollei/3,5 Planar, in Rodinal 1:100 semi-stand, and detail was amazing. I scanned it on a Nikon LS8000 with glass carrier and you can't even find the grain. So, 4x5 or 8x10 should be the cats meow, but like has been said, Fuji in large format is more expensive. I have always wondered why that was, but have refrained from asking Fuji direct. The reason I'm afraid to ask Fuji is that they'll probably say, "Oh yes, well we'll take care of that" and then instead of lowering the 4x5 sheet cost they raise the 120.

  8. #28

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Henry View Post
    The reason I'm afraid to ask Fuji is that they'll probably say, "Oh yes, well we'll take care of that" and then instead of lowering the 4x5 sheet cost they raise the 120.
    I am sure you are right. Probably it will materialize one day, whether you will ask or not. Till then lets enjoy 120 rolls at least.

  9. #29
    Resident Heretic Bruce Watson's Avatar
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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    Quote Originally Posted by Noah A View Post
    My goal would be to make great drum scans on my Howtek for large inkjet prints. But I don't want to optimize for scanning to the extent that I can't also make excellent darkroom prints. Going back to B&W is a bit of an experiment so I don't know for certain what the final product will be.

    I'm not too worried about film speed for my static subjects. I also like lots of acutance and I like the look of nice, sharp grain. (In my photo-j and street photography days, my all-time favorite was tri-x in Rodinal!) But I don't want exaggerated grain for this work, just a nice texture. I love the tonality of Tri-X but for this work I might want a bit less grain.
    I researched the heck out of this more than five years ago, and the results of my research are posted in various threads on this site. My work was with a ColorGetter 3Pro drum scanner, and 5x4 Tri-X. The results carried over to TMY-2, my only B&W film these days.

    What it comes down to is that all scanners, drum scanners included, will do a fine job on film that's optimized for silver gelatin printing in the darkroom. If you are ever going to print in the darkroom, optimize for the darkroom. I'm not kidding, that's the best thing to do. Really.

    If you in fact are never going to print in the darkroom, optimize for scanning. This usually means less density and therefore less graininess. In Zone System terms, a good place to start is a Zone VIII density of around 1.0. Such a negative would scan easily, but would be a PITA to darkroom print on silver gelatin paper. I don't have proof for why this works for scanning, but my personal theory is that drum scanning is just as susceptible to Callier Effect as darkroom printing is, and lowering the density means less light scatter and therefore better separation in the highlights. But I could well be wrong. All I know is that it works for me and my negatives.

    That said, if you are going to optimize for the darkroom, you can still do some things that will improve scanning results. One of those things is to use a small grained film. Fuji Acros, Ilford/Harman Delta, or Kodak Tmax films scan better for me on my drum scanner than older emulsion films like Tri-X and HP-5.

    Finally, don't think that any scanner, not even a drum scanner, is going to image the physical film grain. It's not. The shape of film grain is fractal (see page 19 of Tim Vitale's excellent paper on this); a drum scanner can't give you enough resolution to resolve that shape. What you get from a scanner scanning B&W films is a square pixel that contains exactly one shade of gray. That pixel is featureless and perfectly symmetrical, and about as far from looking like film grain as you can get. So the noise you get in your digital print isn't film grain. But the vast majority of people won't be able to tell. Not even guys like me who know the difference.

    So... bottom line? Use the film you want, developer you want, optimize for the darkroom, and don't sweat it.

    Bruce Watson

  10. #30

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    Re: Best B&W film/developer for scanning (that's not bad for optical prints either!)?

    If you are not in a hurry, you find a lot of intersting classic films at fotoimpex, berlin
    http://www.fotoimpex.de/FILME/FILME.html
    they speak english, some catalog information is english too
    http://www.adox.de/english/FilmDevel...startpage.html
    for your purpose maybe one of the "spur kit"
    http://www.fotoimpex.de/cgi-bin/shop...%20kit&x=5&y=6
    regards,
    Hendrik

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