My Favorite B&W Films

Lamenting the loss of some of these films from the past. Nothing I've used since compares to them that easily. I'd thought I'd show some shots of each that I think stand out of their qualities.

 

Currently there are 4 B&W films I couldn't live without. Some are discontinued, while one is still available now. The 4 I like are: Plus X (especially for outdoor shots), Efke 25 (this is my top B&W film, it does everything right), Panatomic X (has the really old school look about it with mid tones galore), and Tri-X (because it gives that gritty look with its grain and decent contrast).

 

 

 

 

The guy pic is Efke 25, the barn is Plus X, the tractor is Pan X, and the lady (my mom) is Tri X.

 

These two shots below are more Efke 25. Not the best scans, but shows the quality with skin tones. This film has a certain lifelike quality some other films lack (seem flat in comparison) and the skin tones just glow in this film.

 

 

Those are also my favorites...but, sadly, my stock is near its end and will probably be deleted in the next year or two.

All great films. I also like Ilford FP4+ at EI64, usually processed in FX2 or FX37. Unfortunately, I don't find that the prints scan as well as I'd like, though I haven't tried it with my newer scanner, nor with a good film scanner.

I admit to never really falling in love with Efke products, although I have some. I think all I have left is a 35mm roll of 50 and then a box of 2x3 sheets of 50. I shot my stock of 25 years ago.

 

Plus-X has to be my favorite film of all time, and I have a stash of it in most sizes(although not sheets) to last me for a bit longer. I use FP4+ in a lot of situations where I would otherwise use Plus-X, but it's only similar, not the same.

 

Fortunately, Tri-X is still going strong.

Plus-X and Panatomic-X are much missed by me as well.

But times do move on.

I have come to love the texture and lack of grain of Ilford's C41 chromogenic XP2.

With currently available films I have a slight preference for Tri-X over HP5+. Among medium speed FP4+. For slow film I like Pan F+. Among my stock of cold stored discontinued film I like Plus-X and Panatomic-X. I have four rolls of 120 Verichrome Pan that I've saving.

FWIW, I find FP4+ and Plus-X to be very different films. Plus-X might be said to have a more refined tonal scale, but much depends on how you use either. I much preferred Tri-X to HP5, but the comparison was many decades ago, so I'd have to try again. Nothing looks like Panatomic-X, but that's the past and it isn't coming back. In larger format I also liked (I think it was) Ektapan. It was a multi-emulsion film sort of like Verichrome Pan, and had an exceptional mid tones. Are there any multi-coated films made today?

Never having a freezer in the last 30 years to "stash" film, I was forced to locate currently available films & test them after losing what stocks I had in a fire (2015). I came upon the Kentmere 100/400 emulsions for 35mm and later the "rebranded" Kentmere's (IMHO) offered by Ultrafine Xtreme (UFX). An added feature of the UFX material is both emulsions are in 120 format. Several pyro staining developers (510-Pyro, Obsidian Aqua, Pyrocat HD, MC & HDC) work super good with these films.

Yes, the films listed above were also favorites of mine in different years, but look forward to what is available and sync in with it. Aloha, Bill

FWIW, I find FP4+ and Plus-X to be very different films. Plus-X might be said to have a more refined tonal scale, but much depends on how you use either. I much preferred Tri-X to HP5, but the comparison was many decades ago, so I'd have to try again. Nothing looks like Panatomic-X, but that's the past and it isn't coming back. In larger format I also liked (I think it was) Ektapan. It was a multi-emulsion film sort of like Verichrome Pan, and had an exceptional mid tones. Are there any multi-coated films made today?

 

I agree that Plus-X and FP4+ are very different films. In my mind, Plus-X in D76 is my benchmark for the type of tonal response a film SHOULD have, and with anything else I'm just trying to duplicate that. I often end up with FP4+ at around EI 100 and slightly reduced developing times in dilute developer(i.e. D76 1:2 or even 1:3). It gets me closer, but still isn't quite there.

 

I probably have around 150 sheets of Ektapan in the freezer. It's a great film, but one that I really need to spend some time learning. I'm just glad that I have enough from the same batch that I can do that.

Years ago (mid to late-70's) I shot piles of Plus-X and Pan-X along with Tri-X (often pushed) for sports. When I started again in late 80's, Tri-X (in pyro) and TMX were my favorites but I also shot a lot of TMZ exposed at 25,000. TMY never worked for me. Today, I stick mainly with Tri-X in pyro but I want to start experimenting with Delta3200 in 120 and see if I can get the look that I used to get with TMZ.

I liked Efke 25, but the quality control was horrid. Light leaks with 120 and pinholes with 35 (water stop bath and alkaline fix). Pan-X was great, but I still have a 50m bulk roll in the freezer of APX 25. I think the Pan-X was just a bit less fussy to process. I shoot a lot of Pan-F now.

 

PX has moved over to FP-4.

 

Hey, there's still TX & HP-5 and if I really need speed, Delta 3200 in MF!

Have you ever tried AGFA Copex Rapid? It is another slow ultra-fine grain film that is still available (at least in Europe)

Panatomic x came in handy when I needed bigger prints from my F2 and I lived for Tri-X. I have used miles of it and abused it in many ways. I preferred Plus X over the Tmax equivalent.

 

Rick H.

With the exception of grain, Ive always found most films look much the same to my eye. Maybe I’m just not sensitive to the subtleties of tonality, but it would be interesting to post a few pictures and ask the forum what film they were taken with!

For current slow fine grain films there is Ilford Pan F Plus. A very sharp film developed in Rodinal. Of course for sharp, nothing will replace Kodak Technical Pan.

Circa 2020, at 60 years of age, i have stopped looking back. There are films i DO lament the loss of, but at this point........ i shoot HP5 and FP4.....for color i shoot Provia 100 and Kodak Color Plus 200.

They are not "The Best" for everything, but they are Good Enough for everything. :)

but they are Good Enough for everything.

That's the spirit!!!

 

Even pretty much true, although XP2 and Ektar are my choices.

For current slow fine grain films there is Ilford Pan F Plus. A very sharp film developed in Rodinal. Of course for sharp, nothing will replace Kodak Technical Pan.

 

 

TP2415 in HC-110 (F), as suggested in the data sheet, for the lowest contrast other than Technidol.

 

This is about EI 25, and could have been 6 minutes, but I did 7 anyway, and probably 21C.

Even pretty much true, although XP2 and Ektar are my choices.

 

Ektar: I didn't forget the B&W of the OP. I shoot a lot of my B&W film images in color and convert to B&W in digital scans. It's like having a bag with a thousand filters in it.

I shoot a lot of my B&W film images in color and convert to B&W in digital scans. It's like having a bag with a thousand filters in it.

Only a thousand?

The B&W options in Photoshop are incredible when working from a colour negative. (Or any other colour image.) The shot can go from bland and sunny to stormy and moody with the flick of a slider, turning a mediocre picture into a real eyecatcher.

That's the spirit!!!

 

Even pretty much true, although XP2 and Ektar are my choices.

Yes..... Ektar is probably my "favorite" color negative as well.

What i like about Color Plus 200 is the price.

Super cheap and the color does not disagree with me at all. It reminds me of the pictures my parents took of us kids, at Disneyland, in 1972.

It looks a Kodak Picture Spot Film taken with the family Instamatic....... :)

Days gone by. :(

If I remember Disneyland in 1972, they sold Ansco film. I think, my dad bought me a roll

to use while we were there, in a Canon VI. I have my black and white negatives from that

far back, or even earlier, but not those.

If I remember Disneyland in 1972, they sold Ansco film. I think, my dad bought me a roll

to use while we were there, in a Canon VI. I have my black and white negatives from that

far back, or even earlier, but not those.

 

I'm headed to Disney World in a couple of weeks, and part of me is tempted to take a lightweight package like an FG or even FM2 with a small lens like the 45mm f/2.8. The last time I was there 10 years ago, I shot Velvia 50, since "Disney Chrome" seems the correct film to use there. At the same time, I'm not sure if the person I'm going with this time will appreciate me taking the time to futz around with film, so it might just be the Df I'm waiting on delivery of now(assuming it all checks out and works okay-I'll shoot it plenty before the trip) and a lightweight AF prime like a 35mm f/2D.

I have four rolls of 120 Verichrome Pan that I've saving.

 

Of those that are no longer available, VP was my all-time favorite:

 

 

 

followed by Plus-X:

 

 

followed by TXP in rollfilm sizes:

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by allancobb