Least grain b&w film

[tony_black1]

in 100asa and 400asa in the market?

 

thanks.

[anthony johns]

I think Tmax 100.

[User_502260]

In the 100 speed range I would say Kodak TMX and Fuji ACROS are very close. In most developers they are about the same but when I develop ACROS in Fuji Microfine I find it is finer grained than TMX. After these two the Ilford Delta 100 is a close 3rd. The answer for the 400 speed films isn't as simple. A few years ago Kodak started to make Tri-X at a different plant. It used to be a given that Kodak TMY was finer grained than Tri-X. At this point, with the right mix of developers, Tri-X can be as fine grained as TMY or even a little finer. The Ilford Delta 400 and Fuji Neopan 400 (Presto) are also very nice for 400 films. Ilford HP5+ isn't as fine grained as any of these other 400 speed b&w films but has a nice character of its own. The developer you use will make more of a difference, where grain is concerned, with 400 speed films than with 100 or 125 speed films. You can rate Tri-x or Neopan 400 at 200 and develop them in undiluted Microdol-X or Perceptol. This will gove finer grain but it will also cause you to lose some sharpness. Either developer will give the full 400 speed and good sharpness when diluted 1:3 but then the grain will not be as fine. Your choice of developer will make some difference with the more modern 400 films like Kodak TMY and Ilford Delta 400 but not as much difference (in grain) as with Tri-X or Neopan 400.

[nealcurrie]

Fuji publishes Acros with an RMS of 7.

Kodak publishes TMX with an RMS of 8.

 

For comparison, Techpan is 5, and APX100 is 9.

 

Smaller number is less grainy.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

If you really want minimal grain, then shoot larger film formats. The jump from 35mm to medium format makes a huge difference. And the jump from medium format to large format also makes a huge difference.

[jtk]

You can reduce any film's grain by using developers with sulfite. Or you can increase any film's acutance by avoiding developers with sulfite.

[photo5]

For ISO 400 I would vote for Kodan T400CN black and white chromogenic film. I've been very

impressed with this film and it holds a lot of shadow detail as well as very tight grain

structure to the point of no grain at all.

 

Dave

[brucecahn]

Probably is Rolleipan 25. (I am a Rollei film dealer).

[larrydressler]

I like Ilford Panf+ shot at 100 in Diafine.

 

Larry

[frank.schifano]

I have no experience with Fuji ACROS 100, so I can't offer any personal comment on that particular film. Otherwise I'm in complete agreement with Jeff Adler on this one. TMX in particular has such fine grain that it is difficult to see under a 10x grain focusing magnifier with my enlarger set for a 10x magnification. Films like FP4+, and Plus-X have grain that looks like boulders by comparison when inspected the same way. By the numbers, Acros 100 has finer grain than TMX. Fuji publishes a diffuse RMS granularity of 7 for Acros, while Kodak publishes a figure of 8 for TMX. The tech sheets for both products indicate that both manufacturers measure for grain using similar procedures. You can read them if you like, here: http://fujifilmusa.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/bin/NeopanAcros100.pdf, and here: http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f4016/f4016.pdf. In practice, these differences are very small and would have no practical visible impact in a finished print.

[troyammons]

Bluefire microfilm. I cant even see grain with that stuff with a grain focuser. I shoot it at 80 or 100. Very high contrast though.

 

Not 100 speed but 2nd overall besides the other micro films would be efke 25 if you feel like using a tripod.

 

I like acros 100 and and hp5+ at 360 also.

 

Not exactly B+W but the new 400x slide film has the finest grain of any 400 film I have used.

[al_divenuti]

If you think Bluefire was fine (it's really Agfa Copex, btw) you should try Kodak ImageLink with SPUR developer. I got my first look at that the other day courtesy of a friend and she isn't bemoaning the loss of Techpan any more.

 

Efke 25 certainly qualifies as a fine-grained film. But, IMO, it's comparable to Delta 100 and Pan-F+ for grain - I wouldn't really put it in quite the same league as TMX (and, presumably, Acros).

 

Ultimately, I wouldn't put a lot of stock in RMS granularity numbers that are published by different manufacturers using somewhat varying setups when you are trying to determine the differences in grain among films of the same speed.

[troyammons]

Bluefire is not copex from what I understand.

 

I have used both copex and bluefire and I like bluefire better than copex. I asked several people in the industry about bluefire and it is something different supposedly, at least it looks different to me.

 

Gigabit film is the same as copex according to J+C.

 

I will have to try imagelink.

 

I like efke 25 better than pan-F+.

[tony_black1]

thanks a lot.

[bobmichaels]

Factoring in the practical aspect:

 

1st place: any 8x10 film

 

2nd place: any 4x5 film

 

3rd place: any 120 film

 

4th place: various 35mm films with some of the mentioned about at the top of the list.

 

Just realize that just about any 120 film is going to show finer grain than the finest grain 35mm film for the same print size.

 

If you're concerned about grain, simply use a bigger negative. Much easier and more effective that the films mentioned previously.

[larrydressler]

Not to mention that MF camers and systems are within the price range of almost anyone now.

[profhlynnjones]

Pan F+, Delta 100, TMX, Neopan Acros 100, and Plus X Pan Certainly don't have a grain problem.

 

For the first 4 use Rodinal, D76 1:1, or Ethol TEC.

 

Plus X Pan D76 full strength, Acufine, UFG, or D76 1:1, the latter will have a slight bit more grain.

 

All of them will easily tolerate 20X enlargement. IF you need more enlargement than that go to a larger film size!

 

Treat all of them nicely, don't push, don't under expose, don't overexpose, all of the above will lose sharpness and increase mid tone grain.

 

Lynn

[al_divenuti]

BlueFire Police Film is Agfa Copex...just not the Agfa Copex you believe it to be.

 

I'll explain.

 

BlueFire Police Film is, technically, the now defunct Turapan Line Micro film. This film, however, was nothing more than Agfa Copex High Definition Pan that Tura (no out of business for good) was cutting.

 

The Agfa Copex most people have used is actually a bit different - Agfa Copex Rapid. And that film is somewhat similar to Kodak ImageLink.