B&w Film Of Choice?

[Alar70]

I have been using 4x5 transparencies but want to do some B&W work and just have not had enough experience with B&W film to have an opinion so I thought that I would turn to the experts and ask what is your favorite B&W film(s) and why?

I would be interested to know in what environments you use them as well whether portrait, landscape, etc.

Landscape photography is where I will be interested in using the film(s).

Thanks everyone!!

[Robert Hughes]

I don't want to be mysterious, but - what choices do you favor? Day versus night? Indoor versus outdoor? Negative or transparency? Modern or old-style emulsions? Film speed versus grain? Price? Favored developer? There are lots of good films available from Kodak, Ilford, Fuji, Efke, Foma, and various other East Euro and Asian brands. Just about anything made works fine, if you take the time to learn how to work with it.

For starters, try Ilford FP4+ , ISO 100, a great film, easy to process, hard to scratch. Do your processing with D-76 developer 1+0 (straight, no dilution), 7 1/2 minutes at 20 C in a tray; after a couple tries you'll be cranking out negatives like a pro!

[theBDT]

Ilford HP5+ 400 is very forgiving and is what newbies at the local CC program use in LF...

[healyzh]

I'm using my 4x5 for B&W portrait and landscape work. I love the Ilford FP4+ 125. I'm still learning, and it seems very forgiving. I've been getting a lab to develop it, but am getting ready to start doing my own.

[Capocheny]

I really like FP4+ when there's lots of available light.

HP5+ for those situations where lighting is a bit lower.

Cheers

[jim kitchen]

Dear Henry,

Do you use FP4+ with Perceptol?

I could never park that film and developer combination, where I still dabble with it periodically... :)

jim k

[mikebarger]

Since there isn't a tri-x 400 in 4x5, I too use HP5

Mike

[Capocheny]

Hi Jim,

No, I've not had my FP4+ processed in Perceptol... a local lab does my processing.

Gone are the days where I have my own darkroom.

Cheers

[MIke Sherck]

The question is a lot like asking someone's favorite breakfast cereal.

Personally, I go for Tmax 100 (Fruit Loops) in D76 (whole milk).

[jeroldharter]

TMY2 in Xtol 1:1. Fast film, essentially grainless, good reciprocity characteristics.

[joeyrsmith]

Foma with Rodinal 1-50.
Shot and processed for scanning only.
Some combos are better for traditional and some better for digital.
Took me a good while to nail it down.

[Bill_1856]

Pyro developers seem to be the choice of many/most landscapers, such as Michael Smith and Roman Loranc (who I believe shoots Kodak Tri-X).

[BetterSense]

Since there isn't a tri-x 400 in 4x5, I too use HP5


Ditto.

TMY would be my second choice. I like D23, but I could take or leave just about any developer.

[SamReeves]

I'm loving the Fomapan 100 (aka Arista EDU) with old fashioned D-76 1:1. Cheap and it works pretty darn good.

[Brian Ellis]

Ditto.

TMY would be my second choice. I like D23, but I could take or leave just about any developer.

You should have attended a Phil Davis workshop. He used to do a very interesting demonstration showing that there was a bigger difference using different film developers than there was using different films.

[mcfactor]

Hp5 in Beutler's 1:1:10

Delta 100, Adox Pan 25 in Rodinal 1:100

All very sharp, great tonality

[Merg Ross]

Hp5 in Beutler's 1:1:10

Delta 100, Adox Pan 25 in Rodinal 1:100

All very sharp, great tonality

Glad to see someone using Beutler (and that you got the Metol to disolve). It has been one of my favorites for years, although I have not tried it with HP-5.

Brian makes a good point, it really is important to match the film with the developer. Pyro, for instance, is great with some films, not so with others. Same with FP-4, great film in the right soup. I prefer it with Metol-Acetone.

However, I hear a certain look is good for scanning, so that might be a consideration.

[mcfactor]

Thanks^^ I did get it to disolve and it is working great. I really like HP5 in Beutlers, it is very sharp and although there isa bit of grain, it does not bother me at all. I have also found that it pushes relatively well up to 1600.

[BetterSense]

I guess I said I could take or leave any developer because "any developer" to me means either D23, xtol, or D76. I know that Diafine doesn't really get along well with some films, and I'm sure other developers like pyro are the same way. But my triad of developers kind of work with everything.

[Jim Burk]

T-Max, both 100 and 400. Tray developed in T-Max RS.

[Mark Sawyer]

I teach at a high school where we us the Arista.edu 100 and 200. For my own work, I switch back and forth between that and Ilford's FP4 and HP5. The Arista is nice. The Ilford is nicer.

[Greg Blank]

Ilford Delta 100. Developer PMK+a pinch of Amidol. Primarily Landscapes. I shoot 4x5 and 8x10.



I have been using 4x5 transparencies but want to do some B&W work and just have not had enough experience with B&W film to have an opinion so I thought that I would turn to the experts and ask what is your favorite B&W film(s) and why?

I would be interested to know in what environments you use them as well whether portrait, landscape, etc.

Landscape photography is where I will be interested in using the film(s).

Thanks everyone!!

[J Ney]

I shoot landscapes... the majority of my stuff is Tri-X 320 in HC-110 and I'll occasionally use Fuji Acros with D76 (1:1) in low light due to favorable reciprocity characteristics. I'd probably shoot exclusively with Acros if it weren't so darn expensive.

Both are very forgiving during processing.

[Paul O]

Ilford Delta 100 souped in Ilford Perceptol ....... mmmmmm :D

[Nana Sousa Dias]

My favourite film/developer for 4x5 landscape is Fuji Acros/D76, but it's expensive and hard to find, so, I'm using Foma 100, wich I develop in Rodinal 1+50. It's a great film, for the price. I'm usinfg it in 4x5 and 8x10 formats.
I like Tmax 100 and FP4+, too.

[ki6mf]

HP5 Diluted with D 76 1 part developer 2 parts water and put all chemistry in a water bath to keep all chemistry at 68 degrees f. Normal Development time 14 minutes no pre-soak needed.

[John Bowen]

Some of my favorite subject matter is moving water, so I use:

Tmax 400 - good speed, great reciprocity, almost always available and wonderful contrast control when developed in Pyrocat HD 2:2:100 and contact printed on Azo/Lodima in Amidol

If they ever stopped making Tmax 400, I'd try FP-4. FP-4 has most of the characteristics of Tmax 400, except for the speed and for moving water, speed is king!

ymmv

[John Kasaian]

I think it would depend on the situation. When reciprocity is a concern, TMY or Acros might be the way to go in 4x5, though FP-4+ is what I normally use for night photography. For general outdoor photography I like FP-4+, TXP, and Fomapan 100 (Arista.eduUltra) If the need is for speed, TMY, HP-5+, and TXP are good choices.

IMHO, I think you'll find that FP-4+ will cover just about all your bases, plus in 4x5 it is available in 100 sheet boxes---thats enough film to really get the hang of what FP-4+ can do.

I am rather unimaginative----everything gets souped in D-76!

[rguinter]

except for the speed and for moving water, speed is king!

ymmv

I don't know. For me I prefer slower speeds (e.g., 1-sec +) with moving water to let the flow lines blur. Just my preference though as I'm sure there are many who prefer sharpness in the flow. Example attached... although it was fugichrome and not B&W. Cheers. Bob G.

[rguinter]

While reading through this interesting thread a thought occurred to me... gee I think I have an old 25-sheet box of HP5+ deep in my film freezer. Low and behold there it was... essentially unused with only 3-sheets gone since purchase in 1995.

Egad! I guess it's time to put this film to good use. My question: it looks like the film sensitivity extends well beyond the 600 nm cut-off for my Red-29 filter. So has anybody done much work with this film with red-25 and -29 filters? I'm doing lots of red-filtered and infrared B&W these days. Cheers. Bob G.

[BetterSense]

Film tends to lose it's far-red sensitivity as it ages. I wouldn't be surprised if that data sheet is no longer accurate for 15 year old film.

[rguinter]

Film tends to lose it's far-red sensitivity as it ages. I wouldn't be surprised if that data sheet is no longer accurate for 15 year old film.
I did sense that the far-red sensitivity was probably the first to go with aging film. Oh well. I'll load up a few sheets and shoot it back to back with some fresher stuff and see what happens. It has always been cold stored so I'll hope for the best. Bob G.

[John Bowen]

I don't know. For me I prefer slower speeds (e.g., 1-sec +) with moving water to let the flow lines blur. Just my preference though as I'm sure there are many who prefer sharpness in the flow. Example attached... although it was fugichrome and not B&W. Cheers. Bob G.r

No problem with "fuzzy water," but with the higher speed film you have the choice of stopping way down and shooting at slower shutter speeds or shooting nearly wide open and having sharpness in the flow. Neither is right or wrong, but Tmax 400 lets ME decide which way to render the image.

Best,
John

[Nana Sousa Dias]

While reading through this interesting thread a thought occurred to me... gee I think I have an old 25-sheet box of HP5+ deep in my film freezer. Low and behold there it was... essentially unused with only 3-sheets gone since purchase in 1995.

Egad! I guess it's time to put this film to good use. My question: it looks like the film sensitivity extends well beyond the 600 nm cut-off for my Red-29 filter. So has anybody done much work with this film with red-25 and -29 filters? I'm doing lots of red-filtered and infrared B&W these days. Cheers. Bob G.

In 2002 I shot 2 8x10 sheets of HP5 (the old version, before the "+") wich had expired in 1987. It was always kept in the refrigerator (not freezer) and it was perfect. This is one of the photos, done with a Deardorff and Congo 300mm lens.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7119/markvi.jpg (http://img29.imageshack.us/i/markvi.jpg/)

[rguinter]

Oh well. I find that my notes on the box of HP5+ from 1996 were not so clear. It said 3-sheets. So when I pulled the box out of the freezer yesterday and expected to find 25-3=22 sheets, what I really found was 2-sheets and an interleave paper. Go figure!

So I loaded the 2-sheets in a holder and will shoot them my next time out. I do believe they will probably be OK, even with my deep red filter.

But nowadays, after shooting a significant amount of TMX and TMY in 120 format, I will probably go for a big box of TMY instead of HP5+ when I buy more b&w sheet film. I do so like the results I've been getting with the faster Kodak emuslion. Bob G.

[rguinter]

In 2002 I shot 2 8x10 sheets of HP5 (the old version, before the "+") wich had expired in 1987. It was always kept in the refrigerator (not freezer) and it was perfect. This is one of the photos, done with a Deardorff and Congo 300mm lens.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/7119/markvi.jpg (http://img29.imageshack.us/i/markvi.jpg/)


This shot's definitely a wall hanger. Nice. Bob G.