Need suggestions for contrasty B&W 35mm film in D76

[Jenifer Selwa Photography]

I am going to be travelling to the Caribbean on a 7 day cruise and

would like to shoot a roll or two of some nice contrasty B&W film in

an old rangefinder for midday beach scenes. I am no longer doing my

own developing at home due to space and time, and my local lab uses

D76. Can anyone recommend a good B&W film for use in D76, and

developing times/temps to tell the lab? Also, would one recommend

the use of a Red #25 perhaps to helps increase contrast? I tossed

around maybe shooting some Kodak HIE as I have a roll in the fridge,

but not sure what ISO to rate it and if the Red #25 is strong enough

to give me an infrared effect, and what time/temp in D76. Tripod use

is probably out, so I will need to handhold. Any suggestions

welcome! Thanks!

[dr5 examples]

Err, I'm a little confused, usually you'd want a lower contrast film/developer combo for a contrasty scene. If you shoot a high contrast scene with a high contrast film, the results are usually pretty awful. If you're not doing your own processing, I'd actually recommend one of the C-41 B&W films.

 

Isaac

[al_divenuti]

Jen,

 

Stay away from HIE unless you are very experienced using it. Also, it is doubtful that you will be able to hand-hold the camera without evidence of camera shake in the final photos (HIE is slow).

 

The suggestion of a C-41 B&W film is probably a good idea - but be sure you dial in a bunch of positive exposure compensation to cope with white sand beaches (hopefully that range finder has a good match-needle meter!). C-41 B&W films look pretty awful when under-exposed.

 

Frankly, though, I'd be inclined to go for Tri-X in D-76. Good exposure latitude and your lab has probably processed it about a zillion times. Plus you can slap most any filter on that rangefinder and still have enough speed to hand hold the camera without camera shake.

[klix]

Not sure why you'd want to increase contrast in a midday beach scene; if anything, wouldn't you want an ND filter?

<p><p>

My suggestions for film are pretty basic:

<p><p>

- C41 B&W - Ilford XP2<br>

- Tri-X<br>

- HP5+<br>

- APX100<br>

- FP4+<br>

- PanF

<p><p>

KL

[richard_cochran]

A fundamental principle of B&W film is that you can adjust the

contrast of any film by adjusting the development. Expose for the

shadows and develop for the highlights. If you underexpose

and increase development time (push the film), you'll increase

contrast. Push your favorite film two or three stops, and

you'll have contrast.

<p>

As others have suggested, this may not be the most aesthetically

pleasing thing to do, however.

[bacsa]

Well, i'm not a black-and-white guru but the first answer i'd say is technical pan :D

[Jenifer Selwa Photography]

How about TMax 100? I would rather have finer grain, and know it's not as forgiving of a film as Tri-X, but curious as to opinions out there. Tmax 400 woukld be a second choice, perhaps. I am also unfamiliar with Tech Pan. Can someone give me some details about it?

[al_divenuti]

I think TechPan was meant in jest. If developed in D76 you will only get black and white and nothing in between.

 

I'd stay away from TMAX 100 unless you and your lab had extensive experience with it. It's very unforgiving to underexposure and the contrast can go zany with even slight variations in the development procedure. D76 isn't one of the more popular developers for it either.

 

TMAX 400 isn't any easier to shoot or process.

 

I don't want to scare you away from TMAX, but it sounds like you won't have the opportunity to re-shoot your subject matter easily so I'd stick to stuff you know or stuff that is, at least, forgiving if you make a mistake. MAX 400 isn't all that much finer-grained than Tri-X anyways and the grain has a sort of sandpaper-like consistency that some don't find attractive and tends to show up a lot in expanses of relatively constant mid-tones (e.g. blue sky).

 

So I'd go with the C-41 B&W stuff (Ilford XP2 or Kodak 400CN) or Tri-X. Just make sure the lab doesn't process in D76 if you go the C-41 route!

[Jenifer Selwa Photography]

Thanks to everyone for the assistance. My other question is - can I use a red #25 filter to increase contrast with C-41 B&W or with Tri-X? I would really like to get the white cumulous clouds to stand out against the sky and water. (Can you tell I don't shoot much B&W?)

[dr5 examples]

Filters can create local contrast, in this situation in the sky. So yes, a red filter should darken up a clear blue sky. Keep in mind it won't do squat if it is a very bright sky or overcast...

 

Isaac

[al_divenuti]

A red #025 will definitely provide sky contrast unless it's too bright (really, really bright which is rare) or the sky is overcast.

 

Keep in mind that using that #025 will cost you about about 2 1/3 stops of exposure. So if you are using Tri-X at 400 it will actually have a speed of about 80. If your camera has TTL metering it will automatically adjust its exposure reading but camera shake could once again be a factor.

 

Also keep in mind that using #025 filter will darken lips and facial blemishes to an ,um, "gothic" degree.

[Jenifer Selwa Photography]

Thanks again for the tips! Glad to hear from some black and white experts. Not really planning on shooting "people" in black and white, just scenery. I'll save the G3 for candids. The camera I'm looking to use is an Olympus RC-35 with shutter priority and manual mode - just something to toy around with, but I'm also shooting Kodak 100VS and UC400 in the Elan 7 as well as having the G3 (I really am travelling light - only taking a 35mm/F2 and 50mm/F1.8).

[neil_grant]

HIE film exposed through deep red filter, like Wratten 25 or Hoya 25A, needs camera

exposure based on 64ASA, under daylight conditions. Hand held photography perfectly

possible, but remember to correct your focus. Dev time, try 10 mins stock D76 at 20 C.

 

Can also use red 25 filter with normal pan emulsions to darken blue skies, but ORANGE

is even better, and has lower factor.

[bacsa]

I'm sorry, yes, tech pan was kinda self-ironic joke, see the ":D" sign after my "suggestion".

[john_murphy1]

I recommend FP4 at 125 with light yellow filtration or HP5 at 400 with orange filtration. Both in D-76 stock with N+40% development (tell the lab to "push it one stop"). Don't get nuts with the red filter, the results may look weird. Also, avoid Tri-X 400 or AP 400 if you want really high contrast.

[john_murphy1]

Correction, I meant Agfa APX 400, not "AP 400".