B/W film for my brother's wedding?

[tombaxter]

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>Your opinions please - it is my brother's wedding day on August 15th and whilst I am not the main photographer I am keen to take a few black and white rolls and shoot some less formal shots with my Nikon F90X.</p>

<p>The wedding will be in the UK so sunny weather is not a given, so ideally the B/W film will relatively fast but with not too much grain - I am familiar with Ilford HP5 and whilst it is fast it will be too grainy for this occasion.</p>

<p>Any suggestions?<br>

Many thanks!</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>For 35mm, one option is Fuji Acros for the outside shots (with flash to control contrast) and Fuji Neopan 1600 for lower light. I'd rate the Acros EI 100 and the Neopan EI 1000 and develop both in XTOL. Or shoot at about 1/2 box speed if you use D76. Another choice would be Ilford FP4 and Ilford Delta 3200 (really grainy, but a nice film).</p>

<p>Make sure that you test under conditions you expect during the event, particularly if someone else is developing the film.</p>

<p>For myself, I consider 8x10 the very upper limit for prints of decent quality from 35mm. You can go larger, but tonality does suffer. For larger prints I prefer medium or large format.</p>

[neilambrose]

<p>The best bet for medium speed b+w film with lowest visible grain is 400-TMY2 (the new version of Kodak 400 TMax). You can rate it anywhere between 200-1200 ISO with little difference to the grain, providing you develop it accordingly. It scans very easily and is a moderate contrast film, meaning you won't get shadows blocking up.</p>

<p>Of course, there's nothing that says you have to eliminate the grain. If the aesthetic works for you then consider shooting Tri-X as well. A well-exposed image can look very good indeed; the tones and texture are pleasantly different from the smoothness of digital. An underexposed image tends to look muddy and dark, so err on the side of generous exposure.</p>

<p>I routinely shoot both of the above in weddings and have always been pleased with the results.</p>

<p>You can also consider XP2 which is a C41 process film. Again, it has excellent latitude and scans very easily, plus you can get it developed anywhere. Being able to use Digital ICE is an obvious benefit in scanning too.</p>

[tombaxter]

<p>I've looked into Acros and it does look lovely - i think I'll pick up a roll of that and try the new Kodak 400 TMY2 also. Thanks for your speedy responses guys!<br>

Tom </p>

[pete_s.]

<p>Tom, I don't think HP5 is too grainy for wedding work at all. But the HP5 images you have posted earlier have quite a bit more grain than I see in my images. You might want to consider investigating if there are any parts of your process that could be improved upon in this regard. Myself I get much more dynamic range with HP5 than with T-Max 400 or Delta 400 which is good for high contrast scenes and when shooting people wearing black and white :-)</p>

<p> </p>

[evan_goulet]

<p>How about Ilford XP2 or Kodak BCN400, both C-41 process films? Wide exposure latitude, not traditional graininess of 400 speed BW.</p>

[Ian Taylor]

<p>I would go with the C41 stuff mentioned above. Very easy to process and get nice results.</p>

[russ_butner___portland__or]

<p>I shoot weddings with film, and for B/W I use Fuji Neopan 400CN & Ilford XP-2. Both are C-41 process films that deliver very good results.</p>

<p>Russ</p>

[russ_butner___portland__or]

<p>I shoot weddings with film, and for B/W I use Fuji Neopan 400CN & Ilford XP-2. Both are C-41 process films that deliver very good results.</p>

<p>Russ</p><div></div>

[tombaxter]

<p>thanks again all - it was a great day - in the end I was pushed for time and took the only BW film that my local shop had - Kodak BW400CN - just shot 1 roll but very pleased with the results. All were taken with an old Canon AE-1 Program and 70-200mm f/4 Canon FD lens.</p>

<p>A few of the best below...<br>

<img src="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs180.snc1/6768_139961460959_507915959_3293623_6126467_n.jpg" alt="" width="604" height="400" /><br>

<img src="http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs200.snc1/6768_139961470959_507915959_3293624_6108098_n.jpg" alt="" width="604" height="400" /><br>

<img src="http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs180.snc1/6768_139963005959_507915959_3293642_8059048_n.jpg" alt="" width="604" height="400" /><br>

<img src="http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs200.snc1/6768_139963485959_507915959_3293646_1027086_n.jpg" alt="" width="604" height="400" /><br>

<img src="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs180.snc1/6768_139965785959_507915959_3293655_3919844_n.jpg" alt="" width="604" height="400" /></p>

 

[nicole_brown]

<p>Very pretty shots...Your brother and new sister in law must have been pleased!</p>

 

[tombaxter]

<p>Thanks Nicole! They are currently on their honeymoon but I'm looking forward to showing them the shots when they get back... The camera, lens and film seems to be a great combination for candid wedding shots.<br>

Tom</p>