Best 4x5 Film?Developer Combo for Portrait Photography

[albert_martinez]

Opinions on best 4x5 film/developer combo for portraits,

(screaming resolution, and tonal range being at the top of the list

of must have)

300mm T Fujinon lens on a Toyo monorail round the equipment

specs...

I've tried FP4/D76, FP4/Rodinal, Agfa Apx100/Rodinal,

currently experimenting with FP4/PMK(Pyro).

As far as printing,I prefer split contrast, takes the guess work out.

Always on Agfa semi mat paper...

 

 

 

Regards,

Albert

[donald_miller1]

I like Bergger BPF 200 in abc pyro a lot. Tonality is outstanding. I rate the film at 64 and develop by inspection but usually development times will fall in at 8 1/4 minutes at 70 degrees.

[dan_smith]

Have a good friend who is a portrait specialist & all he uses is TMax 400, rated at 200 & processed in microdol X. He shoots in 120, 4x5 and 8x10 formats & the prints look excellent.

It works for him.

[eugene_singer]

Albert, Ilford FP-4+ in PMK, properly exposed and processed is as good as it's going to get for portrait photography. I assume that you are working in a studio, with controlled lighting conditions or outdoors , in the shade, with reflectors. If you are working in strong sunlight with fill flash, you should probably use a different combination of film and developer.

[graphicjoe]

Albert,

I am unclear as to what you mean by �split contrast.� But if you are shooting portraits in a studio with controlled lighting, props, drops, etc., you should be able to print everything on one grade of paper with no problems and no, or very little need for dodging or burning. One of the great things of studio work is the large amount of control that you have; it makes life easy, once you get everything set up. There should be no �guess work.� Guess work is the last thing you want when doing high quality portraits. Every exposure you make should be perfect and you should know in advance what every exposure will look like.

 

I also like the Agfa semi-matt or Classic fine grained FB paper. Very nice for photos of people. In 4 X 5 I find that the film type is less important than in smaller formats because there is less enlargement needed and grain is not such a factor. I also use a Toyo (G for me) and like it a lot. I�ve never used such a long focal length, but that is a choice that is dictated by style and people make marvelous portraits with an astonishing range of focal lengths. I would strongly suggest picking one film/developer combination and staying with it as much as possible. It�s one more variable controlled and one more thing that helps you know what the end product will look like.

 

Good luck,

 

Joe Stephenson

[jerry_hyman2]

Albert, everyone will have their own taste and opinion, but for me I use a 4X5 with a Symmar 240mm f5.6 MC lens (watch your depth of field with the 300)and load my holders or Ready-Load with 100TMAX (the new stuff so use a hardner in the fixer)and develop in Rodinal 1:100. I shoot mainly Portrait and when doing character work and they SCREAM with sharpness, and I like the tonal range. When I use this combination on women I find I have to use plenty of Gaussian blur in Photoshop (except hair, eyes, and mouth)to take away the sharpness. By using the 1:100 dilution with Rodinal I find I don't blow out the highlights, and it is cheap and easy use (but LONG development times).

 

My opinion or taste for what its worth.

 

-Jerry

[albert_martinez]

Jerry , thanks for the response. Your right about DOF issues, how 8x10 users pull it off is beyond me-bring your calipers!!!

The Fujinon 300 T is a lot easier to handle than the 360 Tele Xenar I once owned.

Our setup is rather basic, it consist of 1 Photogenic 500 watt/sec shooting into a 30¡¨ silver umbrella placed about 2-3 feet to the right of the ¡§victim¡¨ ,

A large reflector handles the other side of the face. My readings with the strobe cranked, work out to about f32.5, minus 1 stop for bellows (I believe

In filling the negative) leaves me at F22.5. At 5 feet, F22.5 translates to inches of DOF, luckily my girlfriend doesn¡¦t mind and it makes for some rather stunning portraits. I¡¦ll email some examples if your interested.

The key to their success is patients and practice, a comfortable chair and pose is critical, plus you¡¦ll need to learn to move quickly.

Between the two of us, we¡¦ve even done her younger nephews. A 16x20 from a well filled 4x5 is a pleasure to print, it doesn¡¦t get any better and well worth the effort-or so I keep reminding myself when I¡¦m shooting �º

 

I¡¦m a bit perplexed about the FP4 & Pyro combo, I¡¦m purchasing Hutchings Pyro book this weekend-hope it sheds some ¡§light¡¨ on what appear to be rather murky prints. The tonal range of the Agfa-FP4 / Rodinal combo doesn¡¦t¡¦ have that grayish murky look the Pyro is giving me.

More testing and printing required¡K