Don't know what all the fuss is about?

[jon_noble]

I tried Lucky SHD400 120 despite all the criticisms i saw at pnet about it.

 

TBH, its a real pain to load onto spools and dries curly. However, it has really

nice grain structure that i like and the higlights and diffused but not overly so.

 

Maybe QC has improved as i haven't seen any of the pinholes and scratches on the

emulsion that have ben reported so far.

 

Anybody have any tips on loading this film as i destroyed 1 spool in a fit of rage?<div></div>

[gene_e._mccluney]

I have been using the 35mm ISO 100 Lucky b/w film, developing it in WD2D Pyro

developer, and I like it a lot. Not hard to load the 35mm size. I have not found it prone

to scratches, or emulsion flaws, and fixed in non-hardening fixer, it does not curl at all.

 

McCluney Photo

[jon_noble]

Hi Gene. I developed it in ID11 stock.

 

I'm not sure if i'm right but Fotospeed rapid fixer is non-hardening. It could be that the film has a thicker emulsion than most

[frank.schifano]

I've done a fair amount of SHD 100 in 35mm and 120, and a somewhat smaller amount of SHD 400 in 35mm. Compared to the teir 1 offerings from Kodak, Fuji, Ilford, etc., the stuff is curly. The 120 size is particularly bad. Can't say that emulsion scratches have been a problem though. Once in a while I get some scratches to the base side of the 35mm loads, but that's usually due to my own sloppy handling.

[jay_de_fehr]

Hi Jon.

 

I've found that even bad films are pretty good, and it's nearly impossible to find one that isn't capable of excellent results, given proper handling, but that's not the same as saying there's little/no difference between these lower tier films and the top tier films from Kodak/Ilford/Fuji. One never knows when an emulsion defect is going to show up, but if you use enough of these low-cost films, you will eventually see them. In the meantime, these films display the effects of inferior/non-existent AH coatings and hardeners, which might produce a look you like, or might rob your images of the sharpness and contrast you've come to expect from top tier films. I've used a lot of budget films, and many/most are quite good, but none approach the consistent quality of the big manufacturers' products. Good luck!

 

Jay