All kinds of film

[donald_miller5]

Okay, I was ordering an item from Freestyle and figured that I should consolidate a few items to reduce shipping and have them on

hand. I also figured that it was time to learn the personality of films especially the ones I never heard of. I assume that if some one makes

them they can always be processed and ran down the list and picked out a bunch that had nice names on impulse. I know I will get the

information I need with a little searching. But I am just interested if anyone has any input on these brands and which ones have C41

processing.

Formapan Classic;;

Arista EDU;

KENTMERE 400 and 100;

Il ford Delta 100.

 

Maybe this will open an interesting thread

Thanks

 

Oh, and Adox CHS 100

[AlanKlein]

<p>Kentmere: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/groups/2091972@N25/">https://www.flickr.com/groups/2091972@N25/</a></p>

<p>Ilford Delta 100:="https://www.flickr.com/groups/303253@N25/</p>

<p> </p>

[larrydressler]

<p>The EDU and Fomapan Classic are the same films.</p>

 

[wblynch]

All the ones you mentioned are 'traditional' black and white, using regular b/w developers. None of these use C-41

processing.

[bethe_fisher]

<p>Ilford Delta 100 is one of my favorite films. http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/product.asp?n=8&t=Black+%26+White+Films </p>

<p> </p>

[gnashings]

<p>I would suggest reading up on film in general. As Bill has already pointed out, none of the films you listed are c41 - having said that, no reason not to try them, but you would have to decide if b&w processing is something you want to try. If you don't, I believe you are not fully exploring their possibilities - labs exist which process traditional b&w, but even the ones offering a huge degree of custom options require YOU to know what YOU want. You won't really know that if you don't educate yourself on the subject and, in my opinion even more importantly, experiment extensively to see what works for you in any number of conditions, etc. If you do, that's great - its an amazing and vast world of possibilities - each film can look a myriad of ways depending on how its shot, developed, printed. Most are very flexible, yet at the same time, all have their strengths and relative weaknesses. To top that off, those terms "strengths" and "weaknesses" are very much subjective and relative to your desired application and outcome.<br>

On the other end of the spectrum is some sage advise that I was never able to abide - if you want to learn b&w photography, start with one film, one developer and get to a point where that combo does exactly what you want consistently and repeatably. I would suggest that a traditional (so basically not Delta, TMAX) emulsion 400 speed film and a forgiving flexible developer such as d76 are a good starting point. But, that is only a suggestion, there is no "right" answer.<br>

And... that quickly got out of bounds:)<br>

I think its a subject too broad to cover in one post, and I wouldn't pretend to know enough to have all the answers - but the collective centuries of experience we can access on sites such as this, not to mention (gasp!) hundreds of amazing books on the subject are a wealth of information that will see you through just about any scenario. They're just a search button away.</p>

[wblynch]

I would like to add that, for all our discussions and arguments, most all black and white films are more alike than not and

whichever you choose should be a good foundation for starting out.

 

You can get everything you need to process b/w film at home for less than $100 us.

 

And the excitement of pulling a fresh strip of negatives from the tank and seeing all those little pictures never gets old.

[larrydressler]

<p>I have been processing my own film for 44 years now both color and B&W I am 56 going on 57 and I tell you that after all these years I still get that feeling of magic when I pull a roll from the tank.</p>

[gnashings]

<p>I second what Bill and Larry wrote wholeheartedly! Even though I learned all the scientific principles and I have a more than rudimentary understanding of "how it works" - the actual feeling is always that of a kid convinced he witnessed magic. Off topic a bit, but to me the same and then some goes for printing, AND you get to watch the image appear before your eyes. No matter what floats your boat in terms of making images - be it photography or digital imaging - I can't think of a way that learning this stuff wouldn't benefit an individual. But, now I am way off topic.</p>

[larrydressler]

<p>It is why people call me an Alchemist. I turn Silver into an image. ;)</p>

[gnashings]

<p>People just call me a luddite. Among the nicer things they call me;)</p>