B&W Film?

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PWNTY0

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Hi all,

First post. I'm looking for some recommendations for some 35mm B&W film. It will be used for landscape/architectural shots, so it won't be fast paced, so I assume I can afford a pretty slow film. I'm pretty stuck beyond that though. Heard good things about Ilford, but I would like people's opinions on specific films they have experience with, particularly in the sort of shooting I will be doing.

Thanks for your time.
 
Hi. Thanks for your response. Have you had previous experience with this film? I'd be interested to see your results.
 
I ran a 120 roll of Ilford HP4+ through my Bronica when i tested it out last month - plenty of latitude for exposure with that film, and scanned images on CD at 25Mb file size seem to be very good with little grain to my inexperienced eyes.

Ilford Panf 50iso would be even betetr on the grain front.

I also ran a roll of Fuji Neopan CN 35mm through my old Canon EOS500 recently - i had this developed through the C-41 colour process in Asda and whilst it has a bit more grain it did produce some half decent images of bridges etc.


I posted a few shots in the 'show us you film shots' thread (very bad scans with colour tinge from Asda, so look very grainy), and also my thread on learning to use the Bronica after a life of autofocus, here http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=77358

I'd have a good luck through the show us your film shots thread - there are quite a few B&Ws in there on a variety of films.
 
Definately ADOX CHS 25 if it was me.

It is a slow (!!) low contrast film which does not like over exposure.

Extremely fine grain, great tonality, my film of choice where I can cope with slow shutters and tripods.

A good alternative is Ilford FP4+ rated at ei50, nice grain and good contrast
 
PWNTY0 said:
Hi. Thanks for your response. Have you had previous experience with this film? I'd be interested to see your results.
Click to expand...

my results were poor due to the photographer being **** lol

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Thanks for replies. Where do you get your ADOX film? I found Retro Photographic selling them, about £2.30 a roll. Is that good? Going to order some shortly, give the camera a run :)
 
ilford pan F is a good slow film with a nice grain.

out of curioisity how will you get the film processed? just if your sending them to jessops of someware it might be worth getting a chromeogenic film like ilford XP2 which can be processed in normal colour film chemicals. saving on cost.
 
Hi Tim,

I've been searching on the Internet for somewhere to develop my films. I was going to buy a starter developer kit, and try and do my own. However, having seen the cost of buying all the stuff (mainly the enlarger), I've realised it is a little out of my price range for the moment. I was going to try a few of the camera places local to me, I have a Jessops and a Max Spiellman or whatever it was/is now, as well as a Wildings. Was thinking about sending them off to Ilford or similar, and have seen a few on eBay that seem to do them. I'll speak to Jessops and get some prices on developing, then will go from there.

Thanks.
 
PWNTY0 said:
Hi Tim,

I've been searching on the Internet for somewhere to develop my films. I was going to buy a starter developer kit, and try and do my own. However, having seen the cost of buying all the stuff (mainly the enlarger), I've realised it is a little out of my price range for the moment. I was going to try a few of the camera places local to me, I have a Jessops and a Max Spiellman or whatever it was/is now, as well as a Wildings. Was thinking about sending them off to Ilford or similar, and have seen a few on eBay that seem to do them. I'll speak to Jessops and get some prices on developing, then will go from there.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Self-developing your film can be a bit pricey, though just so you are aware, you don't have to go down the traditional enlarger route... You can pick up a fairly capable flatbed film scanner for £100-£200 brand new. Obviously this depends on how often you're using film, but I would say that if you see yourself doing 2-3 films a week, then in the long run doing it yourself is well worth it and very rewarding.
 
Hi Ekimeno,

I noticed a couple of scanners whilst looking for other darkroom stuff. Are they easier (read: less likely for me to cock up) to use than enlargers?

Thanks.
 
I don't have experience with enlargers and I'm unfamiliar with your general level of cock-up-ness :)D), so I'm probably not qualified to comment!

Seriously, though, the flatbed scanners are dead easy to use - the general consensus is that the Epson 4490 or Canon 8800F are good, cheap (£150) film scanners that will both handle up to medium format film and will provide roughly equal amounts of quality scans. Read the scanner thread for some views on scanners.
 
The traditional mehtod of printing with an enlarger is as much an art as a science. The learning curve can be steep unless you have someone to show you the ropes. Quite apart from the intitial outlay for the equipment there is the ongoing cost of paper and chemicals not to mention the difficulty of finding space to set it all up as you ideally need a permanent darkroom with electricity and running water.

Scanning your negs and then printing digitally is far easier and does not require you to lock yourself in a red-lit room for hours at a time.


BUT

For 35mm film the quality you would get with even as good a scanner as the Epson 4990 is not going to be up to the mark and certainly not in the same league as that of a very modest enlarger. You are looking to get lovely fine grained film with a fantastic tonal range and then lose half of it in the scanning process. You need to be looking at something more like a Minolta Dimage (if you can find one) or Nikon Coolscan dedicated film scanner - these have optics and sensors which are specifically designed to get the best out of your negs but at a considerably higher cost.

If cost is a big factor then your cheapest option is to get C41 B&W film such as the Ilford XP2 400 Super which is by no means poor in terms of grain size and tone and get it developed and scanned to CD by just about any minilab - even Sainsburys can do a half decent job of the scans if the staff know what they are doing as their in-house labs use Fuji equipment. The scans are not fantasticly high-res but certainly good enough for posting the the web and to "proof" what you have on the film - the "keepers" can then be scanned again by a specialist house and printed digitally after you have done any PP you feel is needed.

A halfway house option would be to use the Adox (of which I have no experience) or the Ilford Pan F (which I have loved for 35 years for its lovely fine grain and delicious mid-tones) and develop it yourself and then get the negs scanned for you. The actual developing part is relatively cheap and cock-up free and does not require a darkroom as once you have the film in the tank which you can do in a changing bag the rest can be done in the kitchen in daylight.

BUT (on the other hand)

Any option that does not include doing you own prints is doing yourself out of one of the biggest thrills that photography can offer which is seeing that perfect print which you saw in your mind's eye as you pressed the shutter magically appear as you rock the developing tray backwards and forwards!
 
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