120 B&W Film...

[antonio_carusone]

I need some reccomendations on B&W film that is very contrasty. I like heavy dark blacks

with blown out whites. Is there a 120 film that these characteristics?

 

Also is there an BW Film that is E6?

[jbq]

There's not E6 B&W that I'm aware of, but there are some reversal kits available for traditional B&W. There's also Agfa Scala.

[richard_cochran]

There's no E-6 B&W film that I know of.

<p>

Any conventional B&W film can be developed to virtually any

desired degree of contrast. Expose a little less, develop

a little more, and you'll increase the contrast. See any

Zone System tutorial -- Ansel Adams'

<cite>The Negative</cite> is the classic work on the subject. Or just

experiment with pushing your favorite film three or four stops.

<p>

If you want to maintain lots of detail in the very dark

shadows and very white highlights, it calls for a bit more

precision and control than just "expose less and develop more".

You've got to figure out just how much less to expose and how

much more to develop. Again, see Adams' <cite>The

Negative</cite> and <cite>The Print</cite>.

[tarashnat]

Agfa Scala is a BW Posiive film. Development at a commercial lab is pricey compared to E6

or C41.

 

Taras

[antonio_carusone]

Is there a reason why slide BW isnt common?

[derek_stanton2]

I think B+W positive film isn't as popular as negative variations because it's more

difficult to get prints from monochrom positives, and the latitude of positive films

makes exposure more critical.

[james_jenoptik1]

Antonio,

 

For negative film, you can try Agfa APX100 and develop it in pyro - get the curves and stick to the toe end. Pan F is also very contrasty and you shouldn't struggle with heavy dark blacks.

 

The probs are - if you are wanting pure blacks as opposed to detail registering Zone II then you're in probs with these films.

 

Agfa Scala is hunky dory alright - fantastic stuff, but not for poncy snapshooters; it takes skill (or metering) to use. You can also stick any clear based negative film through an equivalent E6 process if you have a basic know-how of home development. E6 reversal kits come for black and white negs.

 

Another suggestion is trying to filter material through a red or orange filter to squeeze away the mid-tones and push things towards either black or white if that doesn't affect the pic too much.

 

If you don't like any of the above, try push-processing by 1 stop or 2 stops. You could always try push processing orthochromatic film. Even use a standard developper for ultra slow films like Tech Pan - the higher contrast will produce very little tonal greys.

[victor4]

Try the following link for b&w transparencies:

 

http://www.dr5.com/

[gary_a._hill]

Kodak Technical Pan. Contrast is adjusted by varying exposure index and developer concentration (HC-110).

[antonio_carusone]

Gary,

 

Actully I use to shoot on Kodak TP with my 35mm. Thats exactly what I was looking for

but I didnt know it came in 120. Thanks a bunch!

[wayne_crider4]

If you want just black and white try lith film.

[doug_bennett]

Pan F is the stuff.

[stephen hazelton]

I recently tried some Maco Ort 25. Developed in D76, it is very contrasty, similar to using Technical Pan. In my case, the shadows went black rather than blowing out the highlights, but that's because I was using a Holga and couldn't adjust exposure.

[douglas_green1]

I would go with Ilford Pan F or FP4+, if you want contrasty.

 

I generally develop them in HC-110 Dilution B

[dave_redmann]

Indeed, B&H's current add lists Tech Pan in 120, $6.99 for a single roll (no Pro Packs) IIRC. If you like TP in 35mm, that seems like the obvious place to start.<P>

 

As far as the statement, "Any conventional B&W film can be developed to virtually any desired degree of contrast," I think quite the opposite--I'm pretty sure that Adams wrote in <I>The Negative</I> that many modern films cannot be expanded beyond N+1 or at most N+2, and you can leave the film for a half-hour in highly concentrated developer and it won't develop past a certain point. In fact, he specifically suggests Tech Pan when you want something on the order of N+4. Back when he wrote that (ca. 1982), I seem to recall him also noting that the only still-available conventional film that could expand to N+3 was Super-XX, which of course has disappeared in the interim.<P>

 

That said, if you take your basic 400-speed B&W film, say HP5+, shoot at 1600, develop per Ilford's recommendations for that EI, and then print on a hard grade of paper, you should be able to achieve a very contrasty image.

[michael_dimarzio]

Anyone want to comment on using a blue filter to achive this effect? Try a dark blue filter and experiment with your exposure to get some of the effects that you want. I shot some grave scenes in Ekaterinburg, Russia in the winter (a lot of bright white snow) with a blue filter, the contacts looked almost like liths, not the effect I was looking for so I quit experimenting (for now!).

[gene crumpler]

If you are use to Tech Pan in 35mm, be aware that 120 Tech Pan is different. Why, I don't know. Developers that work well with 35mm TP will give different results in 120. A very particular problem is uneven development of 120. I've had this happen with several developers that worked well with 35mm !?!?

 

This seeming continuing bug-a-boo with 120 TP, caused me

to stop using it. I now use 120 Delta 100 in Ilfosol-s and get results nearly as good, grainwise, with none of the problems. All I shoot these days is 6x6 and 6x7. Pretty much given up on 35mm altogether, both B&W and Color.