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ignatiusjk
7-Mar-2010, 14:17
I know it's personal preference but what do you think is the best B&W 4x5 film and why? I would love to see a professional photo service do a check on Tmax,Ilford FP4,Ilford Delta,and Fuji Neopan films and rate them. Developers also matter,but who's the best to you?

Ron Marshall
7-Mar-2010, 14:22
I know it's personal preference but what do you think is the best B&W 4x5 film and why? I would love to see a professional photo service do a check on Tmax,Ilford FP4,Ilford Delta,and Fuji Neopan films and rate them. Developers also matter,but who's the best to you?

Best in what sense: price, tonal rendition, reciprocity, exposure latitude, grain structure, acutance...?

My preference is TMY, because it has most of the things I am looking for and involves the fewest compromises.

Gem Singer
7-Mar-2010, 14:34
i have been using the combination of Ilford HP-5+ film and Pyrocat-HD developer during the past few years.

Works great for 645, 6x7, 6x9, 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10 formats developed in roll film tanks, dip-and dunk tanks, and trays.

Haven't tried it in 35mm, however.

Darren H
7-Mar-2010, 15:13
Fuji Astia converted in Photoshop :-)

At least it works for me.

I think they all have value and are just different. Not sure there is a best. In color it was Velvia hands down. But B+W is more open.

Go experiment!

Heroique
7-Mar-2010, 15:42
One of my beloved combos is TMax100 in TMax RS developer.

Love the silky-fine smoothness, when I’m not looking for razor-sharp acutance.

Haven’t used it in a while, but here’s an old favorite…

Toyo 45c
Schneider XL 110mm/5.6
1/2 sec. @ f/22
TMax 100 (in TMax RS)
Epson 4990/Epson Scan

Bruce Watson
7-Mar-2010, 16:58
The best for me is TMY-2 in XTOL. It's now the only B&W film I use.

Will it be the best for you? I have no idea. Neither do you -- until you do the work and make the tests and come to your own conclusions.

theBDT
7-Mar-2010, 17:02
My Arista EDU Ultra 100 (nee Foma) is less than $.50/sheet. It has some quirks, like reciprocity issues, but at that price it is this student's current favorite film :)

Filmnut
7-Mar-2010, 17:35
Again, there are those that won't agree with me, but my current favourite for 4X5 is Ilford Delta 100 developed with Xtol, or Rodinal for extra acutance.
Keith

jmcd
7-Mar-2010, 17:58
Though I use others, the best for me is FP4+. It works well in many developers, and works very nicely at normal, minus, plus, and super plus—all this in a wide variety of formats. Also, it is somewhat forgiving in that you do not have to have the precision of a fine lab technician to bend it to your will.

Even a 35mm negative enlarges well to make a handsome print.

Robert Skeoch
7-Mar-2010, 18:01
I like Delta 100 in ID-11 for 8x10.
-Rob Skeoch

sanking
7-Mar-2010, 18:56
Ephermax 4000 variable speed emulsion beats them all. Grain so fine you can't even see it when shot at speeds of 10 to 1600 ASA, Pushability to 128,000 ISO with grain the size of Tri-X 400. Contrast from flat as a piece of blank paper to as high as you want by switching from TMax RS to Rodinal to Pyrocat HD, all in less than 10 minutes in the developer.

(What you are looking for is not made.)

Sounds interesting, but I was looking for something that would develop in six minutes or less.

Sandy King

Daniel Stone
7-Mar-2010, 19:33
efke 25, started using it mainly for price(in 4x5 sheets from Freestyle), but started really liking what it gave me once I got to know it.

developers are another question: having no real darkroom of my own, I might just end up going the way of Michael and Paula, and just contact printing. This might involve bigger cameras though.... albeit NOT an 8x20(at least not now :p)

-Dan

Richard Littlewood
8-Mar-2010, 05:34
Currently Foma 100 in sheet with FP4 close.
Delta 400 in 120 with Delta 100 close.
Delta 400 in 35mm.
I think a lot of us use a range of different films, and it's often seasonal.

David de Gruyl
8-Mar-2010, 06:33
I like working with Tri-X 320, I like the tonality of FP4+.

I play developer games, though. I am not thrilled with tabular grain, although I have used those films in the past. I like edge detail and what I have come to call "chemical sharpening" that I can get with rodinal.

If there was one thing I would change about FP4+ it would be the base. I would like it to be more naturally flat and less flexible, so probably thicker.

Brian Ellis
8-Mar-2010, 09:14
Since no one has mentioned it I'll put a plug in for HP5+ rated at 200 in D76 1-1. I like the 200 speed because it allows me to gain two more stops of shutter speed compared to the TMax 100 (rated at 50) that I also used when it came in Readyloads. When the breeze is gently blowing the foliage or the tree leaves it's nice to have that faster shutter speed. I've never done a real scientific test but I had the impression that HP5+ gave more subtle tonal gradations in the midtones than TMax 100. But TMax 100 was pretty nice too, I liked the way small adjustments in developing times could be seen in the negative (a disadvantage if you're sloppy in your darkroom work but nice if you're precise).

Robert Hughes
8-Mar-2010, 09:21
Got "?"

I love these "what are the best" threads on Internet boards. Suffice it to say that (unless you're at the level of Kirk Gittings et al) just about every b&w film made is a better film than you are a photographer. I suspect that a well exposed image of a good looking scene will look great on any film from your fridge.

Ken Lee
8-Mar-2010, 09:46
It's never the film alone, but the combination of film + developer.

"I suspect that a well exposed image of a good looking scene will look great on any film from your fridge".

Bravo !

Nothing's more "best", than starting out with the "best" subject :)

healyzh
8-Mar-2010, 14:21
It isn't simply a question of the film + developer, but also who is doing the developing. I've been experimenting with 35mm films a lot for over a year now. Initially I was taking them to a "Pro Lab". While I was extremely happy with the results I got from my Ilford FP-4+ negatives I had them do, I was never really happy with the results from the 35mm or 120. Then I started doing my own, and I was happier, and the more I get back into practice the happier I am with the results. This is really pathetic when you think about it, as it has been about 20 years since I last did my own developing, and yet I start out getting better results than the lab. :(

Having said all this, I've been happiest with Ilford FP-4+ and Fuji Acros 100 using 1:100 Stand Develop for 60 minutes, but I also get good results using Ilford DD-X. I'm almost ready to start doing my own 4x5 sheet film.

Armin Seeholzer
8-Mar-2010, 14:57
Which is the best film is very easy:
Delta 100, Kodak TMX, Fuji Acros
best developer is much easier, because there is only one XTOL!!!!!

Jay DeFehr
8-Mar-2010, 16:42
There's a strong case to be made that TMY-2 is the best film ever made, but film is like sex, or pizza; even when it's bad, it's still pretty good.