OK, OK, OK, before everybody jumps on me I admit it - I have a freezer stuffed with Tri-X, Delta 100, Acros, TMY-400, even 50 sheets of 5 x 7 Efke 25. So I'm not really going to give it up. Each film has a character of its own.

But recently I've been using a lot of Ektar 100 and I find it quite impressive indeed. I've pretty much switched to it for 90% of my MF work, even if the end product is going to be B&W. I find the combination of sharpness, grainless-ness and scan-ability to be hard to beat, particularly for my "sub-mini" Mamiya 645, and converting to B&W in Photoshop gives me a lot of control. I've even signed up for Keith Canham's 5 x 7 order.

It took a few rolls to warm up to it, but now I absolutely love the stuff. (And C-41 is almost easier to process than B&W here in Tucson where the cold water can get close to 90 this time of year.) Yes, it's pricier, but I like the flexibility of not having to worry about loading B&W or color before I head out, or juggling film backs, and at the slow rate I burn through film the price isn't a huge issue.

Anyhow, I find it to be pretty good for most everything.

Would love to hear other (polite!) opinions. And I promise to go out and shoot some Acros tomorrow.

Just FYI this is approximately a half frame crop from a 6 x 4.5 neg

Dark Clouds by Kirigakuresaizoh, on Flickr