Your votes please for the sharpest 35mm film/dev combo in 200/400/600 ISO range

[steve_gabbett]

First of all you should know I'm a real sharpness freak. I normally

shoot 6x7 landscapes with 25-100 ISO film, Pyro developers and

a really heavy tripod.

 

I realise not to expect the same kind of sharpness out of my

35mm negs but I've seen other people's work that blows mine

out of the water on a 10x8.

 

What I'm looking for is the perfect combination of sharpness and

hand holdable film speed (around 400 ISO) for event / portrait

shots.

 

My thoughts so far have been towards speed enhancing

developers like Acutol or Xtol with lower speed films. (According

to The Film Development Cookbook at higher dilutions such

developers should yield good sharpness and accutance with a

60 - 100% increase in effective film speed). But unfortunately I

don't have enough time (or money) to try them all.

 

Now it's over to you guys - I'd like to hear about you favourite

film/developer combo's for pin sharp negs in the 400(ish) ISO

range?

 

Many thanks in advance!

[edward_zimmermann]

SPUR SD2525 or HRX-2 + Delta 400 @ 250 EI.

[milbrua]

Steve,

 

I have recently found good success with Delta 400 in XTOL. I'm souping it at 1+1, but I know

others dilute it 1+3 for even greater sharpness.

[martin_pistor]

Well well,

your'e shooting 25-100 ISO film on 6x7 and your'e looking for similar sharpness with 35mm and ISO 400something.

So be enlighted, there is no such thing.

You can do marvellous things with 25-100 ASA film even on 35 mm (see posts before), but you have something like 2 Stops from 6x7 to 35mm concerning the DOF/Focal length ratio, you want 2-4 stops more for convenience in event shooting. All this without loss of sharpness/resolution (I assume).

Dream on.

Kind regards,

Martin

[trooper]

I think you'd be pleasantly surprised with HP5+ in PyroCat HD @ 200-240. I have had surprisingly solid results with Ryuji Suzuki's DS-10 used with Delta 400. Good speed and hard to find the grain. Xtol will give similar results if you aren't into homebrews. Here's a snapshot on Delta 400 35mm (Hexar AF) with a touch of fill flash in DS-10.

[jtk]

Sharpness and high resolution aren't the same concept, of course...

 

Rodinal 1:50 or Neofin Blau. Unless you want to play with pyro.

[nealcurrie]

I hate to say it, but try Kodak BW400CN & Ilford XP2.

They are C-41 negs, but from my experience, they are sharper and finer grained than every classic B&W film in the same speed.

[lex_jenkins]

While it's not my first choice, T-Max 400 can be very sharp, especially in Rodinal. To minimize grain expose at around 250-320 with appropriately less development time.

[melvin_bramley]

Ilford D400 in XTOl 1:1. It yields full film speed & the grain is acceptable.Unfortunatley XTOL,around here, is only available in 5 Ltr packs & I'm not sure how much longer they will be available.I am searching for an alternative!

[lol1]

I second Lex's recommendation of TMY. It is very sharp indeed even in standard developers, let alone acutance ones. However, the grain can be a little bit gritty for some subjects E.g. where there is a lot of sky.

[steve_gabbett]

Cheers everyone for your suggestions (well everyone except

Martin who really needs to read things properly before opening

his mouth).

 

Edward

I'm really interested in your choices but I've not heard of Spur

Chemicals. Can you tell me more about them and where they

are available (I live in the UK)?

 

Craig

Interesting suggestions but at present I haven't played around

with mixing my own chemicals. If you think the benefits are worth

it over stock Xtol (or similar) I might be interested.

 

John

Which films would you recommend with Rodinal (1:50) or

Neofin?

 

Neal

Someone recommended XP2 to me before (rated @ 200 ISO). I

tried it but wasn't too impressed with the results. From what I

remember the megs were a bit too flat for my liking and I had to

really whack the contrast up when printing which was far from

ideal.

 

Lex & Lawrence

It's been a while since I've tried any Kodak films but when I did I

remember that I had problems with the shadows blocking up too

easily. My technique has moved on vastly since then so I could

have been my fault. Is it worth me taking another look at them?

 

Everyone

How do you all rate Neopan 400? I've been reading good things

about it but I've no idea how to extract the best results from it.

 

I also noticed a few of you recommended rating 400 speed film

lower and reducing the development time accordingly. What's

the benefit by doing things this way rather than rating a 100(ish)

speed film higher and developing in a speed enhancing

developer?

 

In theory I could increase the effective speed of a film like FP4+

to 250 ISO (and maybe even beyond) by developing in

something like Acutol or Xtol (1:3). By working with with a slower /

sharper film in this way should I expect the results to be better

than down rating 400 ISO film?

 

Any thoughts why this would be a bad idea?

 

Thanks again everyone - I look forward to hearing from you all!

[jay_de_fehr]

I'll start by confessing that I've not been able to detect any differences in sharpness among 400 speed films, when exposed and developed appropriately in an acutance developer. I have, however, noticed differences in film speed and grain among 400 speed films, and in speed, sharpness, and grain among acutance developers. In my opinion the best all-around combination is Tmax 400 and 510-Pyro, or Hypercat. You can read about these developers here:

 

http://www.digitaltruth.com/techdata/article-stainingdev.php

 

Jay

[philippe_beaudry]

I have had great results using Neopan 400 rated at 400 in XTOL 1+2 11.5 min at 20C. This gives me nice negs for condenser enlarger and scanning. Try 12.5 min if youﾒre using a diffusion enlarger (I wouldn't be using one if seeking maximum sharpness).

[roger_hicks1]

Dear Steve,

 

I'd say that for inherent sharpness it has to be Delta 400 so the only question is the developer, and I'd go for an acutance developer such as Paterson FX39. This should give you close to the nominal ISO speed (current Delta 400 is 1/3 to 2/3 stops faster than the original).

 

Of course you may prefer the tonality with slight overexposure but extra exposure ALWAYS reduces sharpness: XP2 is sharper at 400 than at 200, but because it's a chromogenic, it is actually finer grained when over-exposed.

 

Delta 100 (probably today's sharpest general-application film) in DDX or Microphen will be finer grained and sharper than Delta 400 but the true ISO will be 160 at best; near enough 200, I suppose.

 

But I still prefer the tonality of HP5.

 

Cheers,

 

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com -- and don't miss Amateur Photographer magazine)

[jtk]

Steve, I use Neopan 400...it's virtually TriX. My preference has been Emofin, which is far from being an acutance developer...but it's ultra smooth, great for skintones and you can push it two stops without much grain.

 

When I want "sharp" with Neopan 400 I push to 800 with Rodinal 1:50.

 

I apologize for suggesting Neofin Blau (Tetenal) because I've not used it in modern times...but I've been scanning a bunch of 35mm FP4 that I processed with it in ancient times...very nice at 12x18.

[lex_jenkins]

Steve, one reason I find T-Max 400 to be an interesting film is because I find it fairly easy to translate the shadow detail it captures onto traditional process prints. It's one of my favorite films for pushing (usually to 1600, tho' sometimes I'll go to 3200 or 6400 if I'm out of Delta 3200) because what little shadow detail it captures can be printed without too much juggling.

 

It's also very responsive to different developers. I typically use Microphen for pushing T-Max 400 to 1600, and the grain is actually less gritty than TMY at 400 or slower in Rodinal.

 

If you expose it at 250-400 and keep development appropriate in Rodinal (Neofin Blue or Red might be interesting, if they're available) it may deliver the results you're looking for. However the gritty, salt and pepper grain will be noticeable in areas of similar tones such as skies and lighter skin.

 

I've intended to try TMY in Perceptol or Microdol-X to see whether the sharpness is retained while grain is minimized, but I haven't had time to experiment.

[Troll]

I've found that DIAFINE produces a unique sharpness, quite different from the Pyro developers.

[Fotohuis RoVo]

SPUR: http://www.spur-photo.de

 

For the Netherlands: http://www.FotohuisRoVo.nl

For Germany: http://8x11film.com

For USA: J&C

 

A real fine grain developer is HRX-2 from Spur. One of the best compromise between grain and sharpness: SD2525 (Spur)

 

Best large gray scale and high resolution: Agfa Copex (iso 25) and Spur Nanospeed.

 

Best regards,

 

Robert

[lol1]

Yes, the shadows/highlights can be a bit tricky with TMY -- it's all too easy to end up with blown highlights or no shadow detail. So far I have preferred the results in DD-X to D-76 1:1 but there is a little bit too much grain. I have yet to try Microphen but a friend of mine who uses Neopan 400 gets great (though not fabulously sharp) results with Microphen. I think the reason is that Microphen falls within the category of what used to be called 'powerful but soft working' developers and it seems that these are particularly well suited to modern 'new technology' emulsions, which I believe are somewhat thinner than the old emulsions i.e. the new tech emulsions are single coated. I do think that Neopan 400 is a great film but in my experience definitely not as sharp-looking as TMY, whatever it's developed in.

[pete_gee]

Try APX100 (or 400) stand developed in rodinal 1+200 for an hour (agg for 1st min). Edge effects overload! Pitty it aint being made anymore.

[silverhalide1949]

I use Ilford Delta 400 developed in XTOL 1:1 ei 400 (Kodak recomends 500) Developed for 20% less than recomended time (I'm using a condenser enlarger so if you are using a diffusion enlarger you may want to use recomended time and ei to start). Surprisingly sharp and fine grain with no highlight blocking. I am planning on trying Clayton F76+ & will post my results.

 

Until the last Silver Halide Crystal is extinct!

 

Robert

[User_502260]

I prefer Delta 400 to TMY and I also prefer Tri-X to TMY. Some time ago when production of several black & white films migrated over to a new coating facility at Kodak many people noticed changes in the films. In certain developers Tri-X now seems to have finer grain than TMY. For plain speed, without really pushing, HP5+ in Microphen or DD-X is best. There is good shadow detail and highlights are still nice.

 

Delta 400 works very nicely in Microphen or DD-X. It also works well in Clayton F60 and Nacco Super 76 but I don't know whether these are available in your area. The combination of Delta 400 with a phenidone based developer brings out the inherent fine grain and sharpness of the film without causing problems with the highlights.

[steve_gabbett]

Many thanks again guys for all your advice!

 

I think I'm going to try and get my hands of some Xtol and play

around with it high dilutions (probably 1:3). At this kind of ratio it

seems to have all of the benefits of both solvent and non-solvent

developers all rolled into one package. Plus it's speed

enhancing properties should mean that I can get away with

using a slower film and benefit from more sharpness.

 

It seems to work better with older technology emulsions so I

think I'll start by testing it with FP4+ and Neopan 400 and take

things from there.

 

That is unless I've got things wrong and I really should be down

rating the film to decrease film grain by a combination of over

exposing and under developing...

[roger_hicks1]

Dear Steve,

 

Over-exposure always decreases sharpness with all films. It also increases grain size with all conventional films but decreases grain size with chromogenics.

 

Under-development does indeed reduce grain size, but the only way to find out if this reduction is greater than the increase you get from over-exposure is to try it.

 

FP4 is a LOT grainier than Delta 100 and a LOT less sharp so I wouldn't even consider it, even though many prefer the tonality and it has a wider developer repertoire and more tolerance of variations in development and exposure.

 

It's a simple case of 'you can't get somerhing for nothing'. More speed (faster film or speed-increasing developer or more development) = bigger grain. Finer grain = less speed. Maximum sharpness is incompatible with finest grain.

 

Cheers,

 

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

[mike_barger]

My vote, 120mm 400 Tri-X in 510 Pyro

 

Mike