B&w Film Of Choice?

[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

[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.