General Purpose BW Film

[lyle_gordon]

I hate to ask such a generic question but im just looking for a

starting point. I was wondering whats a good general purpose BW

film/developer combination 100 speed with fine grain, good tonality

for architecture, landscapes and misc things.

 

Thanks,

Lyle Gordon

 

P.S. I shoot 35mm and 120

[lyle_gordon]

Im also looking for a stable and hopefully long-lasting liquid developer as I dont process that much film that often and I would not like to have to replace the developer all the time.

 

Thanks

[jimvanson]

<i>as I dont process that much film that often...</I><p>Lyle...have you considered using a chromogenic / C41 B&W such as XP2 Super shot at around ISO250?<p>I'm starting B&W students off using that now-a-days as they can get a firm grip on learning exposure, printing, & composition before they have to worry about the relationship (voodoo?) that occurs between film & developer.<P>XP2 Super is <i>very</i> fine grained, tonal beyond belief, forgiving as your lover and comes out of that one hour machine in 30 minutes...no dust/no streaking/no loading those damn reels!. Us it and you can spend your time printing instead of shaking bloody film jugs.<p>And if you think I'm outta my mind, let me cover the other side of things...Delta 100 or 400 in Xtol 1+3 or Agfa APX 100 (or 400 in 120) in Rodinal 1+100.

[jbq]

I second that - give XP2 a try, along with a few ISO 100 "traditional" films, and see what you like best.

 

I've been happy with Kodak "consumer" C41 BW (135) and T400CN (120), but I don't print on traditional paper (I work digital) so the orange mask wasn't an issue for me.

[group 11]

fp4 @ ei85 in pmk pyro.....and xp2.

[jose f.]

Ilford FP4+ and Kodak Plus-X are both darn near bulletproof mid-speed conventional B&W films, and HC-110 developer is an easy-to-use concentrate that has a long shelf life.

[richard_cochran]

For a traditional general purpose B&W film of speed around 100,

Plus-X or FP-4 are the standards. Rodinal is the classic

liquid concentrate developer with nearly infinite shelf life.

It's extremely sharp and has beautiful tonality, but

Rodinal isn't the finest grained developer around.

A solvent developer like D-76 will produce softer

grain, but at the cost of sharpness. To me it

seems mushy, similar to defocusing at the enlarger.

[chris_waller]

Try Tmax 100 or Delta 100 with Rodinal. I rate both at 50 ASA and dev in Rodinal 1:50, 20 C, 6.5-7 minutes. That's for a condenser head. For a diffuser head increase times by 15 percent.

[patric_dahl_n]

*LOL* Lyle, don't ask this question here! You will get som many different suggestions that you will end up so confused that your head starts spinning like a propeller. :-D

 

No, seriously. Try a couple of combinations suggested here, and you will find out which one you prefer. Agfa APX 100 in 120 format, developed in Rodinal is a good combination.

[lex_jenkins]

You've already used APX 100 which is one of my favorites. Is there something lacking in that film for your tastes?

[wclark5179]

When I was a young buck, I mean nerd, back in the 50's, the 1950's not the 1850's, I used the following films:<P>Plus X or Verichrome Pan for most lighting conditions. <P>Tri-X generally for low lighting conditions.<P>Panatomic X for making large prints. <P>These catagories are not mutually exclusive. In other words, I sometimes used Tri-X outdoors when I could have used something else. Each film has its own set of characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. Back then I used D-76 and sometimes Microdol-X film developers.<P>This is primarily what I use now:<P>TMY 400 ASA I use with most of my photography. For me the film offers great versatility for the creating of images with the conditions I curremtly work with and provides a latitude for making enlargements that works for me.<P>I use TMZ3200 35mm format exposed at 1600 ASA and it works well with some of the low lighting conditions I have to work with and create photographs. I usually enlarge to a 4" x 6" or something close. This film allows me to be creative with existing light conditions.<P>TMX 100 ASA I use when I know enlargements beyond 8" x 10" will be requested.<P>This is kind of goofy but I use Ilford developers for my Kodak films! How about that! It works for me! ID-11 is used 95% of the time as my film developer. It works really well for me with all three T-Max films listed above. I use Perceptol every once in a while that has characteristics similar to Microdol-X (a fine grain developer).<P>My recommendation is to used one maybe two different films and one maybe two different developers and become so well versed with each product that it becomes second nature to you when you load the film into your camera. It's like riding a bicycle, just getting on knowing you'll keep your balance and be thrilled with your surroundings during the ride. Likewise become so well in tune with your film and equipmenbt that you won't have to pay much attention to the technicals, taking in what you see on the road ahead of you and getting it on film to show what you see and the story you want to tell with your image.<P>Hope this helps you!

[doug_bennett]

FP4 or APX100 in Rodinal. Can't get any easier than that.

[dominic_.]

FP4+, TMax or Delta should all give you nice results.

[erik_asgeirsson]

Here's another vote for FP4+. I like it in either D-76 or HC-110.

[frank.schifano]

I'm going to chime in here with another vote for FP4+ and Rodinal. FP4+ is very nice film, and much more forgiving than Kodak TMX. Plus-X is also another good choice, but I don't care for it as much as FP4+. The truth is though that I buy whichever is cheaper at the time and they both work fine. FP4+ will yield a bit lower contrast, but the difference is nothing you can't work with, especially if you are printing on VC paper.

 

 

Both these films will work well in Rodinal, which seems to last almost forever, especially in 120 format. For 35mm work, you'll probably still be ok with Rodinal, but more grain will show. Will the extra graininess bother you? Don't know. Only you can tell.

[Mike Gammill]

I like the look of Plus-X in Paterson FX-39 developer.

[StuartMoxham]

My general all purpose 100asa film is APX 100 I find it to be just wonderful I developed in Rodinal for a long time and it was always great and suprisingly fine grained in this developer. I just developed a roll in D76 and it was great too. I have been using FP4+ and TMAX400 alot lately as I got some out of date stuff for free but if I have to buy it my money goes on APX100. I will say that FP4+ seems to have finer grain in D76 but seems to me to be a bit coarser in rodinal. APX 100 seems to be sharper. Hope this helps