A reasonable alternative between these two is Bergger Pancro400 indeed, which is not grainy at 4x5 in PMK and should be about $94 for 50 sheets of gray...Originally Posted by Paul Ron
A reasonable alternative between these two is Bergger Pancro400 indeed, which is not grainy at 4x5 in PMK and should be about $94 for 50 sheets of gray...
I like TMax 400 and am willing to pay the price for the speed and look. However when I don't need the speed I use FP4+. The nice thing is both films look very similar when developed to the same contrast, and have similar grain. I wish we had an even faster black and white sheet film like TMax 3200 or Delta 3200 for those times the wind won't die down.
TMax films need to be exposed carefully with respect to correct shadow placement. But once you've mastered them, they're highly dependable for a wide variety of lighting situations, with TMY400 being more versatile in large format than TMX100. And due to their quality control and reliability, these films are actually a real contender against bargain films, which sometimes tempt you to expose a second sheet to hedge you bets against quality control issues. In other words, one pricey sheet might not be any more expensive than needing two cheaper sheets to bag the same scene. As others have mentioned, a really good general-purpose film is FP4. It doesn't have quite the scale of TMax and only comes in nominal 100 speed, but it's a hard film to go wrong with. The price of color sheet film has basically gone berserk, especially in 8x10; and you have to add processing. I don't know what I'm going to do once the hoard of it in my freezer runs out; but that will take awhile. Maybe by then I'll finally be old and feeble enough to be using the 8x10 a lot less.
Nah...just do what I did. Git ya an Intrepid 8x10 and keep up the insanity!
I just noticed that the price of arista 8x10 has been lowered at BH photo and others
Who makes it now?
Who made 2007 11X14 Arista 100? Getting ready to shoot some.
Tin Can
I would appear that TMZ (P3200) is coming out in 120, or at least they are working on it. Was mentioned in the last Sunny 16 episode (along with E100 in 120 and maybe 4x5). Brings hope to seeing P3200 in sheets since, to my knowledge, it has never been available in 120. So it's possible we might see it in sheets! Very curious how it behaves in 120. I really enjoy it in 35mm.
I don't know at what point Arista changed its sourcing. At one point, Arista 100 was exactly FP4 Plus. No difference at all, although I can't recall if it was labeled 100 or 125. After that, Foma became the source - very different product. ... Moonmdawg, TMZ is actually an ASA 1000 film by apples to apples Kodak specifications. Read the fine print in the Tech Sheet. Anything higher than that, and you're just lopping off shadow values. Rating TMY400 at 800 works better for me, though I don't like losing even one zone of shadow content unless the scene contrast is moderate, which it often is when I'm out walking in the rain with a Nikon tucked under my parka. Delta 3200 has a longer toe; but I rate it at 800 in pyro too for realistic expectations.
I have bought no Kodak products in this century, and very little in the 1990's. I prefer the Ilford products for many reasons: dependable speed and grain, adaptability to various lighting situations, availability ( i buy every spring), they work beautifully in PCat, rarely a pinhole even when I am careless aout solution temperatures. Currently I only use about 25 sheets of 8x10 per month, but I use 100+ sheets of X-ray film during the same period.My subject matter just plain looks much better with ortho films.
Kodak now is priced beyond my wallet's ability to keep up. I use Ilford 4x5 and 5x7 films exclusively. I shoot very little 4x5 color, so I can stretch a box of Portra quite a ways. I do like the Portra films, both 160 and 400. At more than $4/sheet, I am very selective about putting a sheet in the camera.
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