Recommend budget B&W Film to replace LegacyPro 400?

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mike.chambers

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I have been shooting film for a little over a year, and have been experimenting with different types to find something I like. Recently, I have also begun to develop my own B&W, and have been having some good results with Freestyle's Legacy Pro 400 shot and developed at 800 (or even 1600).

However, it appears that FreeStyle no longer carries Legacy Pro 400 B&W. Now, I know this is actually Fuji Neopan 400, and I can buy that, but the price difference ($1.50 vs $5.00) per roll is a bit much for me.

So, can anyone recommend a good black and white film, that pushes well that doesn't break the bank? Right now, im shooting about 3 - 4 rolls a week, and plan to continue at that pace (or increase it). Ideally, give results similar to LegacyPro 400.

I would like to find a film I can stick with for a while, so I can experiment and learn exposure and development.

I have also shot with FujiNeo Pan 1600 (which I really liked), and Ilford Delta Pro, and HP5.

mike
 
Yeah, I have had my eye on that. How is the Tri-X when pushed? Looking through some shots on flickr, it doesn't seem to offer much contrast, but, of course, that could be how it was developed / shot.
 
Speaking of Arista Premium, does Tri-X curl as bad or is AP an edge cut or something?

I just shot two rolls of it at 1600 and will develop it in Rodinal soon if no one else can answer. Though based on my experience with HP5 @ 1600 in Rodinal (especially how little time it takes) I'm sticking with that I think.
 
Tri-X seems to curl a lot.

I recently tried HP5+, also supposed to be a Tri-X replacement. It does not curl at all. I think it is a bit cheaper than Tri-X. (I had a couple free rolls with the Ilford paper I bought.)

I am sorry the Legacy 400 and 100 are gone, that was a great deal - although speaking of curling, the Legacy I have actually develops a funny curl at the end of the roll, which goes against the overall "bend" of the film roll. This has caused problems getting the film on the reel.

Randy
 
I tried Ilford Surveillance P3 as my budget 400ISO film - got a 100ft roll for £25 on eBay. So far, I'm not sure what I make of it; it's a very, very thin and flimsy film base, and I'm not entirely convinced about the results. But I am (somewhat dogmatically) using Rodinal with it, so your milage may vary. And at that sort of price, you can shoot as much of it as you want. I've never pushed it, though. Don't know if I'd want to in Rodinal. Maybe with stand development...?


(Click on the image for a larger version)
 
Currently you can get three rolls of HP5+ for $9.79 at Freestyle.

It's very predictable, doesn't seem to curl at all and pushes to 1600 better than any film I've ever used.
 
Fomapan is great stuff to use, don't know about pushing. Arista Education Ultra use to be Fomapan, but now it is something else that blows out like mad on white or blue at the slightest overexposure.

Considering that Arista EDU changed, I wonder if Premium will? See right now Tri-X is like $5.50 a roll anywhere that had to purchase it recently.

HP5 does not curl, and has way more resolution than Tri-X. Tri-X is not that high quality - especially in Tmax developer - but I like how it looks anyhow. In fact... Tri-X is the only stuff I have used that curls as bad as it does.

The cheapest thing to do right now is bulk-load because after the first buy it is about $3.15 per roll no matter what you use (HP4, HP5, Delta, PanF+, Fompan, Efke, etc).
 
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mike.chambers said:
Yeah, I have had my eye on that. How is the Tri-X when pushed? Looking through some shots on flickr, it doesn't seem to offer much contrast, but, of course, that could be how it was developed / shot.
Click to expand...

I'd say it was probably how it was scanned and post processed.

Tri-X pushes just fine. If you want more contrast, develop it longer (push it), print at a higher grade, or use curves in Photoshop. It has plenty of contrast if you want it to.

Oh, and B&H has Tri-X for $3.99/roll.
 
Have grown fond of kentmere 400. Cheap as chips, dries well and shot at 800 it looks very good to me.

I also shoot the arista premium 100 at iso 500 and quite like it. I'm pretty lo-fi though.
 
emraphoto said:
Have grown fond of kentmere 400. Cheap as chips, dries well and shot at 800 it looks very good to me.
Click to expand...

Have you got any examples of the Kentmere, emra? I was curious about how that looked a while back and I don't think I ever got round to seeing something shot on it.
 
i like kentmere for its flatness and the grain i got at 400 in tmax and d-76. the grain can be a bit clumpy, but that probably was just me. that's the film i used when learning to soup film ...
 
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