Back to Film: B & W Film Advice ASAP

[cori_chandler_pepelnjak1]

I haven't shot black & white since I took a high school course back in the early

90's and then the teacher just gave us film. If I recall that was the only good

thing about high school.

 

Anyhow, I have been shooting digital with a Canon5D the last two years (before

that color slide with a Nikon 6006 or something like that) and just purchased a

used Canon EOS 1N body on Ebay because I miss film, particularly B & W. I would

like advice on film for the following:

 

environmental portraits,

landscape with feeling,

architecture.

 

 

Can you please advise? I am putting in a big order with B and H tomorrow or the

next day.

 

Thanks in advance.

CCP

[yann1]

It all depends on your taste, developer, subjects, and ASA.

For people outdoors and landscapes I like APX 100. For an all purpose film, easy to push, Ilford HP 5 (in HC 110). For street photography Tri-X 400 (architecture too). If you don't want to process the film yourself Ilford XP2 400 is the only c41 film I'd use, it scans very well.

[Vlad Soare]

As a beginner, I'd suggest you keep things simple and limit yourself to just one film and one developer. <br>

You can't go wrong with Tri-X. Good all-around film, very forgiving, nice tonality, easy to push or pull. You may hear some people complain about its grain, but in my opinion unless you develop it in Rodinal and make huge enlargements you'll be fine. I find Tri-X and HC-110 to be a wonderful combination.<br>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

Ilford HP5+ is excellent and very forgiving. I rate it at EI 200 and develop in D76 1:2 for 12 min @ 68 deg with 2 inversions each minute. Most negs print well on a 2.5 filter.

[matthew_smeal1]

I'll second the vote for HP5 as an all purpose film. It's quite forgiving which may be good if

you're getting back into it. For a developer, try ID11 at a dilution of 1+3 for 20 minutes at

20 degrees C (78F). At that dilution it's a one-shot developer but works out to be very

economical. Kodak's D-76 is pretty much the same but the times are a little different.

HP5 is a 400 speed film, for something a bit slower, I'd go with Ilford's FP4, which also has

a lot of latitude and is a beautiful film. If you only ever used one film, FP4 would be a

great choice, especially for the uses you mentioned. Again, ID11/D76 are great all round

developers that really suit FP4.

For the record, I rate HP5 at 320 and have just started rating FP4 at 64 with beautiful

results. You won't have any problems rating it at the recommended speed though. Good

luck and welcome back!

[mark f]

If you are processing the film yourself, Tri-X (more grainy personality) or Ilford FP4 (smoother, less grainy) in a basic developer like D-76 or HC110 would be great. If you are having a lab do it, use one of the C-41 process films like Ilford XP-2 or Kodak's equivilent. It is hard to get decent prints from most photofinishers, though.

[aeaster]

I never left. I started off with B&W and B&W is where I have always been.

 

There are just so many choices left in this era when film is suppossed to be dead. You didn't mention whether or not you are going to start right off developing your own negs, right from the get-go. That makes a helluva difference in recomendations!

 

Both Kodak and Ilford make C-41 B&W film. My favorite is Ilford XP2, the same as Yann recommends. But where you live you might find Kodak BW400CN readily available at your local Walmart or Walgreens. It too is a good film. Local availability might or might not count with you.

 

You mention you will be doing portraits, landscapes and architecture; three very different genres that require three different methods of viewing your subject. I honestly don't think that there is a single film that handles all three with equal ease, but if there was I think Ilford FP4 might come closest due to its long tonality range.

 

HP5 is an equally excellent film and very dependable over a broad range of light conditions. I love it in 4X5 sheets and 120 for my Rolleiflex, but I think it has just a bit too much grain in 35mm for portraits or landscapes. Great stuff for monumental architecture though!

 

Both Ilford and Kodak make tabular-grain film, TMax and Delta. Some people (myself included) love these modern films. But depending on variables like your particular camera, lighting conditions and so forth I have found tabular-grain films to be just a little too "digital looking" for some uses. My Holga loves the stuff, my Rolleiflex spits it out a bit too contrasty for my tastes.

 

So good luck to you Cori. Ask a dozen different B&W film fanatics a question like that and be prepared for several dozen conflicting answers.

 

And the fools in corporate marketing STILL tell us film is dead!

[luke_ballard]

Im pretty surprised there arn't more conflicting advice in this thread, I will offer up my 2 cents, and I agree with most of the poster here, FP4 is a great film! I use PanF+50ISO mostly, but I have gotten use to its several difficult issues, I should seeing how I have shot probably 300 to 400 rolls in the last 2 years. I do a ton of film photography, seems I am grabing my digital less and less latley. When I was in school, they provided PanF+, HP5, FP4, and Xp2. All very great films! I think if you are looking for a film for what you mentioned and to limit problems seeing as you have taken quite a long break from film, I would reccommend FP4. I use to use it when I needed an all around good film that was easy to shoot, develop, and have minimal grain for portraiture and such. I always rated it at the actual rating of 125 ISO. I use D-76 developer, it has been around forever and there is a wealth of info on it, but ID-11 from Ilford is like said above, almost the same, I just have used D-76 for 20+ years, so that is what I am comfortable with for a regular all purpose developer. I would stick with one film and one developer until you get back into the swing of things, it was mentioned above and thats good advice! It won't be long and you will be nailing film like you never stopped shooting it!

Good luck ok! Take care.

 

Luke B.

[lookupinwonder]

Ok, the experienced guys have had their say, now it;s my turn.

 

Of course I started with film too, just before digital took off. But I had everything processed, it was mostly C41 anyway.

 

But I love the look of traditional B/W so I bought a few old Nikons and a basic home development kit. I develop in Diafine, very easy.

 

But with my limited experience, I'd still go for FP4+ for its tonality and sharpness, and Tri-X as the general purpose film. If you scan you films and know your way in the digital realm, both will work out very nice.

[chris_waller]

Ilford HP5 or FP4.

[cori_chandler_pepelnjak1]

Oh my gosh you all are amazing. Thanks a million. Now I have to figure out how to develop at home, guess that will be the next thread, unless you want to pipe in on an easy 1-2-3-4 (what to buy, where to put it, setting it up, doing it). Do you all print your own too?

[aeaster]

Cori, a very quick and simple answer is for you to buy a book. That isn't a smart-ass answer, that is the second-best way to learn. Of course the very best thing is to have a mentor on hand to help you along the way, but over the years most good general purpose photo books had a section on developing your own film. Also Ilford films has a good website with LOTS of info a click away.

 

Best book available (IMHO): The Basic Darkroom Book by Tom Grimm

[david j.lee]

Cori, another advantage of using both hp5+ and fp4+ is that using id-11 1+3 dilution, the

developing times are the same for both, a great plus when processing a lot of them.

[frank.schifano]

I have no problem with Ilford's HP5+ and FP4+. I have and use quite a bit of it in medium format. But I am partial to Kodak's Plus-X and Tri-X in both 35mm and medium formats simply because Kodak has some of the best and most comprehensive documentation for their products in the business. In the end though, it really doesn't matter which you choose, Kodak, Ilford, or Fuji. All are first rate products, and all have good enough documentation to get you started.

 

You're going to make mistakes the first few times out. That's an unavoidable part of the learning curve. Shop for price now. No sense throwing extra money down the drain while you learn the basics of film development Settle on something you like after you've nailed the basics.

 

One more thing. There is a lot of conflicting advice out there on how to rate your film for speed, how to develop it, etc. Everyone has their own way of doing things, and none of them may work for you. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain for now. Follow the manufacturer's directions when starting out. The big three film producers know what they're doing, and they don't hire dummies to manufacture and document their products. Make small incremental adjustments from the manufacturer's recommendations to suit your style when you're comfortable with the process.

 

It will all work out.

[hitam_jantung]

TMY, or better still, TMY-2. Fine grain and very sharp, with little toe or shoulder, just a long, straight line curve, meaning more or less exposure means more or less density and shadow detail with very little tonal distortion/compression. TMY-2 is so fine grained and sharp you won't be wanting for a 100 speed film, so it's a realistic candidate for an all-purpose film. If fine grain, sharpness, and film speed are important considerations, TMY-2 stands alone. If you're getting into film right now, you might as well break in with the most advanced film currently available, but any film made by the big makers is a very capable film.

[remy_gautard]

Cori,

 

I stick with HP5 + ID11/D76 1+1 for 30 years.

It's a general purpose combination, I never find a better on.

I use it a lot for portraits.

 

Sometimes I try other films and developper but always comme back to this one.

 

Trix + ID11 usually does not work for me, I often have troubles with high lights, specially outside.

 

Sometimes I use FP4 + ID11, Trix + rodinal when I need grain.

[tim gray]

I second the tom grimm book. Very good. I also suggest the David Vestal book, but its

out of print - probably can get it cheap off of amazon.

 

But to dev at home, get a changing bag, a couple reels, a tank, a developer, some fixer,

and some photo flo. You should be set with that. Maybe also get a film leader retriever if

you don't want to do the bottle opener thing.

 

I highly suggest XTOL, ilford rapid fix (its liquid and easy), generic stainless tanks with the

plastic tops, and Hewes Tundra reels. The Hewes reels are expensive, but totally worth it.

 

I like XTOL because, well, its a great developer, but its also very easy to mix up since you

do it at room temp. I use it 1:1 as a one shot. Get a case of .5 liter water bottles, and

when you mix up your 5 gallons of developer, split it into 8 or so of the water bottles

instead of pouring it into a gallon jug. Easier to use and should store better. Obviously

label them well :)

[cori_chandler_pepelnjak1]

Thanks again. I have signed up with a local photo organization to take their darkroom training course so I can use the darkroom for a rental fee.