B&W film for seascapes

what is everyone's favorite 35mm black and white film for seascapes? i am interested in creating some dramatic dark skies, white clouds. i am leaning toward a fast film and will most likely utilize an orange filter. i'm also shooting some color, both negative and e6, but will have a camera dedicated to b&w. thanks for all replies and suggestions.

david

Hello everyone. When ever I am out of the house, a film camera is with me, mostly being a CMC. My 35mm's are a collection of Fed-2 / Fed-3's, along with several folders. All fit nicely into compact bags, ready for action ! Being that I prefer hand held work, the "normal" film is Ultrafine Extreme (UFX) 400 material, rated @ 250 asa. If I travel to somewhere with the purpose of photographing that place, I will select the UFX 100 material. As an aside, I am convinced the UFX materials are from the Kentmere family. Rarely, a roll of Kodak 100Tmax will go thru the camera. Developers are "usually" Obsidian Aqua or PyrocatHD, with the "newer" PyrocatMC in for times I "goof" the exposures badly! These same films & developers are also used in my 6x6 & 6x9 folders, giving me almost identical results whatever camera is used.

I have included two frames from different times & films. I consider a marina a seascape, since one is dealing with wild ranges of light values in the exposure. Texture in a painted hull is as important as texture in a pounding surf breaker.

Enlargements of my 35mm neg's are almost identical when view at about 3 feet when the print size is no larger than 5x7. After that size, the 100 materials will win thru 11x14 at 10 feet. I have not exposed any Rollei 80s material in ages, but excellent 11x14s where obtained from an Agfa Solinette 35mm a few years ago when I was working in E. Washingtoon state. Enjoy & Aloha, Bill

Another vote for the creamy and ironically "silvery" Ilford XP2.

Really no grain, per se, just those lovely C41 dye clouds.

Seems to work with black and white filters just like a normal B&W film

thanks. seems like a c41 b&w film may be the answer. i mainly use tri-x but, from what i've read, it seems that c41 films will render the sky darker. just curious about "c41 clouds".

thanks again for the replies

Could be my relative lack of skill, but I got great results for the silvery reflection of water with HP5 in HC110 (dilution H); great tonality too. Another one that worked for me was Delta 100 in Perceptol, though the contrast of that isn't as high in my results. Somehow (but again, could be me) Tri-X never worked well for me to get that shiny reflection of the water the way I want it, and to me this is a key thing in seascapes.

I was lucky that I usually had plenty light to shoot those sea-scapes, so using ISO100 film wasn't an issue. I would opt for slower films rather than fast films for this kind of work, but possibly I envision a different look to the end result.

Could be my relative lack of skill, but I got great results for the silvery reflection of water with HP5 in HC110 (dilution H); great tonality too. Another one that worked for me was Delta 100 in Perceptol, though the contrast of that isn't as high in my results. Somehow (but again, could be me) Tri-X never worked well for me to get that shiny reflection of the water the way I want it, and to me this is a key thing in seascapes.

 

I was lucky that I usually had plenty light to shoot those sea-scapes, so using ISO100 film wasn't an issue. I would opt for slower films rather than fast films for this kind of work, but possibly I envision a different look to the end result.

hey, thanks. i am considering one of the 100 speed films as i want less grain with this type of landscape. and,although a tripod should be used more often than not, i like to be able to shoot somewhat on the fly, as it were, which is easier of course with faster film. and, i can more easily play with the orange, etc. filters.

what is everyone's favorite 35mm black and white film for seascapes? i am interested in creating some dramatic dark skies, white clouds. i am leaning toward a fast film and will most likely utilize an orange filter. i'm also shooting some color, both negative and e6, but will have a camera dedicated to b&w. thanks for all replies and suggestions.

david

My favorite b&w file unfortunately is no longer available...Agfa APX 25 was a fine grained film perfect for smooth landscapes. I really miss that film. Today, I like Ilford films for shooting seascapes/landscapes.

GR

My favorite b&w file unfortunately is no longer available...Agfa APX 25 was a fine grained film perfect for smooth landscapes. I really miss that film. Today, I like Ilford films for shooting seascapes/landscapes.

GR

You have made me sad for the loss of Panatomic-X and Efke 25... :(

Ilford Pan-F at 50 can deliver intense water & sky scenes. On the camera side, a red or orange filter is nice--although very significant control of cloud density and water characteristics is accomplished with a polarizing filter. Can't speak for the 35mm version (only have used the 120) but when souped in a pyro or other staining develop really brings out contrasts. If your scene is detailed, try the Pan-F, stand developed in Rodinal, and finished off with Kodak selenium toner.... :cool:

If your curiosity about the C41 clouds, was for me---

as a chromogenic (c41) film, there are dyes rather than silver grains, hence the "cloud of dye"

see Chromogenic - Wikipedia for dye clouds

The reference to "old timey" is also appropriate since the effect is rather like old time "printing out" papers.

Another vote for the creamy and ironically "silvery" Ilford XP2.

Really no grain, per se, just those lovely C41 dye clouds.

Seems to work with black and white filters just like a normal B&W film

I love the poetry of the phrase 'C41 clouds'. I've no idea what it means and I don't care, because it paints a nice picture. And I love XP2 as well. Like JDM I love the fact that it's more filmy than film.

Alan

I am using Ilford Delta 100 developed in Pyrocat HD ,scanned and processed via Silver Efex Pro 2 from the free downloaded Nik Collection.

Am investigating if this will allow to get by without using yellow or orange filters.