Film recommendation, portait, largish prints

[giverin]

<p>I've been asked to take some shots of the girl across the road before she goes to her prom night in June. I'll be using my DSLR for the colour shots but I want to take advantage of having a pretty young model and get some good b&w film shots.<br>

I'll be printing on 9.5"x12" paper and I also have a 50 pack of 16"x12" paper that I've been keeping for the right subject to come along. Bearing in mind the size of the final prints, what 35mm film would people recommend? Currently in the fridge I've got APX 100, TMax 400 and Tri-x 400 but there's time to pick up something else if needed. I hope to be shooting outside in the early evening but if the weather is bad I'll be shooting inside with flash.<br>

I do have two film bodies so I suppose I could have two different films on the go.<br>

Any advice greatly appreciated. </p>

[bobcossar]

<p>You have only got one 100 iso film listed and it is<strong> not</strong> one of the very best for what you intend. I would strongly recommend Fuji Acros film......It is 100 iso, and has superb grain and tonal range. OR...you might consider Ilford XP2 rated at 200iso....this is a chromogenic film, but designed primarily to be <strong>printed</strong> in a conventional process.....Best of luck, Robert</p>

[lilly_w]

<p>I'll keep it short and sweet: FP4+ rated at 64 or 80...wonderful tonality and very good latitude. You're doing the developing, yes?</p>

[xxloverxx]

<p>I like Tri-X. Then again, I don't mind grain…I suppose you could rate Tri-X at 200 and pull it, or something similar. I've never done it, but I've seen great results from other people.</p>

[robert lee]

<p>Use 400 TMAX (TMY2) for available light. Develop in Xtol diluted 1:1. This combination enables the most aggressive enlargements for a 400ISO film.</p>

<p>If supplemental lighting is available, use either 100 TMAX or Fuji Acros. Again, develop in Xtol 1:1.</p>

[bgelfand]

<p>For portraits, Ilford PanF+ is excellent. If she has good skin, develop in Rodinal 1+50; it will produce a sharp image in which you can count every hair and blemish, hence the requirement of good skin for this combination. If the skin is not good, develop in Perceptol which will give a softer image.</p>

<p>The APX 100 developed in Rodinal would also be a very good combination.</p>

[giverin]

<p>Thanks to everyone for their response. I see there is no general consensus but I suppose that's to be expected. Lilly, yes I will be processing the film myself. I currently have D-76, Microphen and Rodinal as my developers. It is interesting that Robert reckons that APX 100 is not great for portraits but Brooks reckons it would be fine. I guessing that the grain might be an issue on a 12"x16" print?</p>

<p>Robert has suggested using Tmax 400. I'm using that at the moment and I'm happy with it for general use. I did do some searching here and found some older posts suggesting that Tmax 400 was poor for portraits but I'm thinking that was the old TMax 400 and the new stuff is quite different.</p>

<p>Having taken all your advice and having done some reading, I'm leaning towards Acros 100. I've not used it before so I'll have to try a few rolls before the prom shoot but its quite a cheap film to buy. If I like it, I might even buy some bulk Legacy Pro as its even cheaper. </p>

<p>If I do go for the Acros 100, will it be ok to use my D-76? I don't really want to keep yet another developer.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

[User_502260]

<p>If I knew ahead of time that I had to enlarge at least 12X I think I would use Pan F+. ACROS is also very good. I would rate it at 100 and develop it in straight Microphen. If you use D-76 then I would rate it at 80 in D-76 1:1 and at 64 in straight D-76. Straight D-76 will give you the finest grain of the three. Microphen woud be next and D-76 1:1 a little more grsin. Even if your camera is on a tripod and the subject isn't moving too much you still need some depth of field. For this reason I would go with the Microphen and the rating of 100. If you see the light isn't as stong as you had hoped then the TMY2 in straight D-76 should be the next best thing. In a situation like this I prefer using a faster film in a medium format camera to a slower film in a 35mm camera. </p>

[User_502260]

<p>If I knew ahead of time that I had to enlarge at least 12X I think I would use Pan F+. ACROS is also very good. I would rate it at 100 and develop it in straight Microphen. If you use D-76 then I would rate it at 80 in D-76 1:1 and at 64 in straight D-76. Straight D-76 will give you the finest grain of the three. Microphen woud be next and D-76 1:1 a little more grsin. Even if your camera is on a tripod and the subject isn't moving too much you still need some depth of field. For this reason I would go with the Microphen and the rating of 100. If you see the light isn't as stong as you had hoped then the TMY2 in straight D-76 should be the next best thing. In a situation like this I prefer using a faster film in a medium format camera to a slower film in a 35mm camera. </p>

[bgelfand]

<p>Hi Paul,</p>

<p>Some examples:</p>

<p>Pan F+ in Rodinal 1+50: <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/3712100">http://www.photo.net/photo/3712100</a> and<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/3712092">http://www.photo.net/photo/3712092</a><br>

It gives good tone and you can count the hairs on his head and the freckles on his face.<br>

Acros 100 in DD-X 1+4:<br>

The young lady in this photo had some acne. I tried to reduce it by using a dark red filter and printing "soft": <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/7223262">http://www.photo.net/photo/7223262</a> Oh, for a roll or two of Kodak Technical Pan; it would have solved the acne problem beautifully.<br>

The same roll of Acros without the red filter. I used Photoshop to remove the acne:<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/7223868">http://www.photo.net/photo/7223868</a> </p>

<p>Pan F+ developed in Perceptol 1+3: <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/2994223">http://www.photo.net/photo/2994223</a> <br>

gives a slightly softer look.</p>

<p>Last APX 100 in Rodinal 1+50: <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/5679060">http://www.photo.net/photo/5679060</a><br>

Technically not a portrait, but it gives a good idea of the sharpness and the tone range of the film/developer combination.</p>

<p>All of the above are scans of cropped 8x10 prints I made in a traditional darkroom.</p>

[nigeljohnwade]

<p>My two cents, Acros with Rodinal if you are after biggish prints from 35mm, it's silky smooth in medium format so I assume it will work well in 35mm. Given the opportunity of a model I would probably try Efke/Adox CHS25, also in Rodinal.</p>

[willscarlett]

<p>My vote is for Acros in Rodinal. I've used it in 35mm with D76, but shooting 6x4.5 and developing in Rodinal really blows me away. I'll include a link below so you can see. The photo was Acros rated at 100 and developed for 13.5 minutes in Rodinal 1:50. I used a yellow filter on the lens too. You could probably reduce the development time a little if you wanted, but that was just what I found on the MDC.</p>

<p>As far as other films, I've used APX 100 in 35mm and developed it in Rodinal and it is a nice combination. If you have less available light, either Tri-X or TMY-2 are good choices. TMY-2 will give you finer grain, but some say portraits with T-grain films are too waxy. I don't find this to be the case tho. Other good choices in the ASA 100 range are TMX or Plus-X. I've developed 35mm TMX in Rodinal and there's no grain. However, I think after you see my example of Acros and Rodinal, you may be swayed. After I saw that, all I could think was "this is why I still shoot film."</p><div></div>

[giverin]

<p>Thanks again to everyone who replied. I've decided that I'm probably going to use Acros in my main body and APX100 in my second body. Given the varying advice on the developer for the Acros, I'll probably shoot a test roll and develop half in Microphen and half in Rodinal and compare the results.</p>

[b_poulin]

<p>Tmax 400 exposed at 320. Process in Rodinol 1:50 with 10% of the H2O volume replaced with liquid 18% sodium sulfite solution. Process it at Rodinol's recommended time for TMAX 400 at 400.<br>

Be supremely accurate with temperature for ALL of the chemistry.<br>

I use 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and I soak all the chemistry for 30 minutes until a thermometer in each reads within 1/10th of a degree of 68 (plus or minus .1)<br>

Agitate very carefully with a very fluid two handed twisting roll, for the first 30 seconds then 5 twists every minute (about 7 seconds) and an abrupt tap to clear bubbles after each agitation cycle.<br>

If you are VERY consistent, and attentive to temperature you will get AMAZINGLY fine grain AND the most sublimely perfect mid-tones and shadow detail without wreaking havoc on the highlights.</p>

<p>This is the best combination and I have made 16x20's from 35 mm exposed this way. You should give it a try. And what makes it even better? If you do it right, you end up with VERY easy negatives to print.<br>

The most important thing is to control the quality of light. Nothing matters at all if you don't create in interesting photograph with great light...good luck!</p>