Back to roots paring down B&W

[larrydressler]

<p>After all these years and shooting many films I have decided that there is only 3 Films and 2 developers that I will use on a daily bases. That is Tri-X and Plus-X in 35mm with HC-110 dilution H and TMY in 120 also in HC-110 dilution H.<br /> Acufine and Diafine have a place at times but that will be with Tri-X. and Plus-X in 35mm. Rodinol will be used for my remaining 120 Shanghai and EDU Ultra.</p>

<p>What made me say this is last week I took a roll of Tri-X A.K.A. Arista Premium 400 out and this was the first picture from the roll.</p>

<p>Larry</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/3403556141_9c242ddd88_o.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="592" /></p>

[leicaglow]

<p>What can anyone say about that? I just returned from a few days at the coast, doing personal photography. I'm trying to use up all the film that is getting dated, while wanting for the bright, new rolls of Fuji Acros sitting in my bag. Acros, stand developed in Xtol/Rodinal seems to be my destiny.</p>

[chris_waller]

<p>In my early years in darkroom work I tried every combination of film and developer known to man, looking for the magic combination. After about three years I decided that it was a wild goose-chase and settled on a limited range of films (mostly Ilford HP5 and Delta 100) and Fuji Acros 100, all devved in Rodinal. More recently I've reacquainted myself with FP4.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Ditto. I went through a phase of trying many materials - films, chemicals, papers - several years ago. It was interesting and occasionally rewarding. Efke R100 in Neofin Blue was a notably pleasant experience. But I found myself spending more time dabbling than taking photos.</p>

<p>A couple of gallery visits influenced me to pare down my materials by 2005: a Michael Kenna exhibit in Dallas; the Jack Leigh gallery in Savannah. Both used only a few familiar materials to accomplish results that would be enviable by any standards.</p>

<p>TMX, TMY and Tri-X will accomplish just about anything I need. Microphen for TMX and TMY (TMY pushes well to 1600), HC-110 for normally exposed Tri-X and Diafine for pushing. I still have some Rodinal but probably won't buy any more once it's gone.</p>

<p>Used lot of Delta 100, FP4+ and HP5+ for a few years. I'd go back to them if the Kodak films were unavailable. HP5+ is fairly comparable to Tri-X, tho' I've never found anything that quite resembles TMX. Pan F+ and Delta 100 just don't quite match the melodramatic tones of TMX.</p>

<p>I never even got around to finishing the Efke and other films, Foma papers, Neofin Blue and other semi-exotic stuff I bought from JandC several years ago. Tested 'em, liked 'em, but not enough to get hooked on yet another film, paper and the variables.</p>

<p>After Luminos was discontinued (I was a big fan of their grade 2.5 pearl finish warm tone), then Agfa, then Kodak, I decided not to bother with papers that might have questionable availability. Ilford papers are reliable so there's no guesswork.</p>

<p>This weekend I prowled through boxes of loose prints from 2000-2004 and didn't see anything that couldn't be improved more significantly through better printing technique than by any change in materials. I couldn't see any differences between Agfa and Ilford RC and fiber prints, and the only reason Kodak RC prints stood out was because their N surface had a unique luster that wasn't quite matched by other matte or satin finishes.</p>

<p>So it's not the film, developer or paper, it's my printing technique. Looking back I see I'm too tentative with dodging, burning and selective contrast control. More time printing and less time fiddling with different films and developers would make more difference for me.</p>

[brucecahn]

<p>Lyonel Feininger used only one film, Tri-X. He was afraid of messing up a job because he might make an error about which film was in the camera. As for me, I have eliminated all sheet films except Tri-X because it is the best I have used. For smaller formats I just use whatever is in the refrigerator. Film seems to breed in there. It never runs out.</p>

[christer_almqvist2]

<p>When I'm through with my current stock of Delta 100 and TMX I shall be using one film only: TMY-2.</p>

<p>I shall splash out a bit on developers however, and use two of them; CG 512 for TMY-2 shot at 200 and Xtol when I shoot at 800/1600.</p>

<p>With regard to papers, Foma is about two-thirds the price of the next cheapest brand, and as I can hardly see any difference between Foma and all the other papers, I rather spend my money making an improved second (or third or..) print on Foma than keeping a less than perfect print made on expensive paper.</p>

[Mike Howard]

<p>I have settled in on Agfa APX 100 and 400. 100 in rodinal, 400 in HC110. When I run out of my fairly ample stocks, I will give up photography and become a buddhist monk.</p>

<p>Larry, does that mean we can't trade rare and esoteric films anymore? :) And, since your simplifying, if you have any more of that APX25, I have a good home for it. :D</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Michael H, You bring up an interesting factor in settling on a film, and that is finding one you like that you also believe might be in production for awhile. I love APX as well. Used way more than my share for awhile (I worked for the USA distributor back in the day), but I also really like some of the new/old Rollei films. It's just that I don't think I can count on it being available for a long time.</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>You do not want to hear this. I just tested out some films with the W665 Windisch ultra fine grain developer.<br>

It's based on Ortho-Phenylenediamine. In the last part of the process a kind of solarisation is taken place which is removed after the fix process with 2-3% Acetic Acid. A kind of stain is removed and then a very fine grain negative is the result. Formule W665 is described in Windisch: Die neue Fotoschule im Heering-Verlag in Harzburg 1941. For decades this ultra fine grain developer could be purchased under Perutz W665 later an Agfa-Gevaert brand.<br>

Here some results on Rollei Pan 25 and Fomapan 200. With the Pan 25 film (a kind of modified OrWo NP15) I can hardly find any grain on the Peak focusser on 40x50cm from the 35mm negative. Also with the Fomapan 200 the grain is neglectible. Interesting is the more brown negative with Pan 25 while the Fomapan 200 shows a regular B&W negative. Interesting is the result compared with other ultra fine grain developers like Perceptol and CG512/RLS. Well a lot of things to test............... :)</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3342/3417718128_dc60504652.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="322" /></p>

<p>W665 and Rollei Pan 25<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/3420417743_951082b597.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="315" /></p>

<p>W665 and Fomapan Creative 200.</p>

 

[larrydressler]

<p>Michael Well the APX 25 will finish it's life in the Rodinal I have left. :-)</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Larry, just remember the first step is admitting to yourself there can be no more of it<g>.</p>

[jay_de_fehr]

<p>The remains of my film infatuation still resides in my freezer, and it's quite a varied and exotic corpus, but when I purchase film again it will be TMY-2 for almost everything, and Acros for the rest. As for developers, 510-Pyro has become an old and trusted friend, and GSD-10/stand development solves problems/rescues botched exposures like nothing I've ever used.</p>

[rustys pics]

<p>Good point Larry. If I had my druthers I'd shoot nothing but Ilford HP-5+ and develop in Ilford DD-X. But both of those have gone up in price, and the DD-X is hard to find and expensive. So much of my film buying is dictated by economics; thank the stars for Freestyle!<br>

I plan on getting a bulk load of their Arista Legacy 100 (Fuji Acros) and some rolls of Fomapan 200 or 400 in 120 size. For developers I've gone back to D-76 because it's cheap and available almost anywhere. I have lots of Rodinal for the Acros, and will use D-76 for my remaining bulk roll of HP-5+. After that I'll likely switch to Tri-x for 400 speed 35mm.</p><div></div>

[larrydressler]

<p>Yes the Foma 200 is great in Rodinal.</p><div></div>

[rustys pics]

<p>Tri-X looks good in Rodinal too Larry.Not fine grained, but amazing mid-tones. Wish Ilford HP-5+ worked better in Rodinal. THe old Non Plus HP-5 looked great in Rodinal.</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>Yes, Fomapan 200 in Para-amino Phenol (Rodinal, R09) is nice:<br>

<img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/57/190902189_6ae2a9a45a.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="332" /></p>

[gnashings]

<p>I never believed there is a magic bullet, or a cure-all, but there are all these films, all these developers, I just wanted to... play - for lack of a better word! I wanted to see for myself what did what in what (wow, that's some grammar!), and rejoyced in the more or less subtle differences of various combinations. And while I am far more likely to stick to a "tried and true" combo, and more likely to just go with a film+dev that I know well and know what to expect, I still like to pick up odd ball films and try them in weird soups - why not? This is a hobby (albeit a serious one) for me, there is no paycheque associated with it, and I just enjoy the variety and exploration - and sometimes stumble across a gem (usually one that legions have "stumbled" across before I was ever born, tee hee :) ). <br>

On the TriX + Rodinal point - both film and developer that I know well, and quite frankly like a lot. As such, I chose it as my first foray into large format (just to eliminate variables from th learning process), and I have to say... wow. Gorgeous - creamy, rich, and that grain issue, not so much an isse in 4x5 :) I will always have Rodinal as long as I can buy it because it does some things (many things, I would say) like only Rodinal can - at least in my eyes.<br>

My next experiment are staining pyro devs - I never got around to trying them before, but saw many results first hand and liked them quite a lot!</p>

[riton_mhilli]

<p>Very nice discution Thank you all</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>Rus I have used Tri-X in Rodinal for both 35mm and 120 I do like the looks of the 120 in it but for 35mm unless I am going for "A look." I will use HC-110</p>

[Member69643]

<p>I'm still experimenting. I've narrowed it down to... everything. :)</p>

<p>But I love Fuji Neopan Acros, and Delta 400 pushed to 1600, and Tmax 400 as a 400 speed film. Xtol is all I use.</p><div></div>

[lynn_washington]

<p>As someone who is just starting to branch out from the Deltas to things like the adox CHS ART film, and the fomopan R100, and Fuji neopan 1600, I think I'm going to have to find a dictionary to decipher some of these posts, fascinating as they are! This is definitely a forum I want to keep linked on!<br>

Thank you all for an interesting batch of reading material!<br>

Lynn</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>Same scene with the Rollei Advanced Technical Pan in the RLC (Rollei Low Contrast, a low contrast document developer)</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3298/3429453493_1429f28157.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="316" /></p>

<p>And the final test with the Fomapan 200 in W665 (Windisch), an ultra fine grain developer based on Ortho Phenylenediamine.<br>

With above TP film: No grain visible (35mm negative), but it's normally a problem to control the contrast.<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3426183001_27cc69a22d.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="318" /></p>

<p>Fomapan Creative 200 (E.I. 100) in W665</p>

<p> </p>

[matthew_newhook]

<p>What are those streaks in the sky on the right?</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>A very good observation because they are cause by a little bit uneven deveopment because a document developer needs more agitation and my TAS film processor was still on the W665 regular agitation mode.<br>

<a href="http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/TAS_Flyer_D.pdf">http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/TAS_Flyer_D.pdf</a></p>

<p> </p>

[cblkdog]

<p>I've regressed, I've gone from working as a custom color printer back to b/w printing of my own. I've also started making my own chemistry, something I always was interested in but never got around to. I'm like Wolfeye, still experimenting. There's always something new. Maybe someday I'll get a digital camera but then I might not have enough time for b/w.</p>