A black and white film to stick with for a year?

[dogbunny]

So, I decided to shoot b&w exclusively for a year. It is mostly just an exercise for me. I want to develop it myself. I thought it might be better to choose one film/developer and stick with them (mostly I decided this based on info from peeps here). I mostly shoot with my Hexar AF and RF, though I shoot with an old SLR and a toy camera sometimes. I shoot outside a lot during the day and at night(in a a well-lit urban environment), I also shoot indoors, mostly in social situations.

This is what I'm looking for.

1) a film that is flexible enough use in varied situations

2) a developer that is forgiving--I assume I will have a learning curve, and I don't underestimate my fallibility

Photography is really just a hobby for me, so I am not shooting rolls upon rolls. The AF shutter speed might be a bit of an obstacle for just using one film all the time, but I suppose I could us a ND filter or something. Sorry for starting this post if it has been discussed elsewhere. There is just so much info here it can be difficult to find exactly what you are looking for.

cheers,

db

 

[Ezzie]

I know what I would choose, but its wouldn't be for everyone. Acros 100 in Caffenol-C-M. Can be pushed and pulled to your heart's desire. Caffenol is a compensational, fine grain, lowish contrast developer and very forgiving of varying exposure. But being homebrew it is frowned upon by most, personally I couldn't care less as it gives me the results I'm looking for.

 

[btgc]

Maybe Rollei RPX400? With some care/ND filter/pulling to 200 it could be day film, yet it's said to push well for situations when you'd need more than ISO400.

 

[MartinP]

HP5+ and ID11 1+1, can be pushed or pulled as you wish. The same would go for Tri-X and D76 of course.

On the other hand, Petronius here has chosen an ISO50 film to shoot with for a year in his Rollei, so all things are possible !

Another point would be to estimate how much film you will want, add 50% and buy a lot on-line in order to save money and, more dramatically, save "oops-my-last-roll" film stress !! 😉

Edit: My apologies, I now realise that Kodak and Ilford might be less convenient for you, given your location, so you could just as well substitute Fuji Neopan, assuming that is more available.

 

[dogbunny]

Thanks guys,

I'm not too worried about getting the film. A shop I go to here carries a variety of Ilford, Kodak and Fuji. There might be limits as far as what developers are easily available, but there are definitely film choices.

 

[andersju]

You can't go wrong with Tri-X or -- my personal favorite -- Neopan 400. I love them both in HC-110, the super-convenient one-shot developer. A bottle with last you 100-200 rolls depending on dilution. Both films push nicely. I suggest just trying a roll or two of each before deciding.

 

[David Hughes]

I'll vote for FP4 Plus and - for us in the UK - it's worth knowing that 7fdayshop are selling off their stock cheaply and complaining about price rises. Probably the silver...

Regards, David

 

[mfogiel]

It is obvious, Tri X in a developer that is easy to use and does not have issues with life in an open bottle. There are 2 good choices: Rodinal or HC 110 - while HC110 will give you slightly smaller grain and more classic tonality, it will give you also less acutance. Try whichever one is available to you , and learn how to use it. For the film, you can substitute Tri X with Arista Premium 400 from Freestyle - same stuff, half price.

 

[topoxforddoc]

HP5 and XTOL 1:1. You can use it from ASA200 up to ASA1600 with ease. I've pushed HP5 to 3200 before and got perfectly acceptable results in XTOL 1:1 with minimal grain. In fact that's pretty much been my standard combo for a few years. I've used a bit of Neopan 400 (Legacy Pro 400) as that was really cheap and that's fine too in XTOL.

 

[Leica All Day]

Tri-x and D-76....you can't go wrong

 

[Thomas-Paris]

I personally would have to pick TMY and Xtol, because I love the flexibility of the combination. With that one combination you can cover a great range of lighting and contrasts. The flip side of flexibility, however, is that you need to think about what you're doing -- having control means you're responsible for controlling the setup.

It sounds like you want something that requires less thought about the process? I'd say Tri-X or HP5+ in HC-110 or Xtol. You still have some control for when you need it, but one of those would be much better for a shoot-and-forget-about-it type setup. If I'm shooting without a light meter, I use HP5+ and Xtol 1:1.

 

[paulfish4570]

tri-x/arista premium 400, and d-76 OR tmax 1+9.
no muss, no fuss with the tmax concentrate, which can be mixed in one roll amounts.
d-76? it's a gallon at a whack 1+1, but it keeps for weeks, yea, even 2-3 months.
for scanning, i like the tmax best; it holds highlights better for my epson 4490. for prints, it's your call ...

 

[John Lawrence]

HP5+

John

 

[Roger Hicks]

DON'T buy any one film on anyone else's say-so, and DON'T believe anyone who says, "You can't go wrong with..." YES YOU CAN!

B+W is 90% alchemy, and a combination that works for one person may be the worst imaginable combination for another. For example, Acros in anything would be bottom of my list, and caffenol would be bottom of my list of developers to try (and I'm not afraid of home brews).

Choose a reliable developer: most films are tested with ID-11/D76, so that's GOT to work with almost anything. Personally I'd avoid Rodinal for 35mm (low speed, big grain, despite good tonality and high sharpness), but I like liquid concentrates so I'd go for DDX over ID-11/D76 or Xtol.

Then buy 4 or 5 films you think you might like. I'd back 400, so maybe HP5 (my favourite) or Tri-X (my wife's favourite), Delta 400, TMY, Neopan 400. With 100/125, maybe FP4, Delta 100, TMX, Plus-X, whatever Fuji makes (I'd go for Fomapan 200 if it's back -- it's virtually identical in speed to FP4 but gives me better tonality than FP4 in 35mm, though I love Delta 100 in 120 and FP4 in LF). I'd avoid anything too far out of the mainstream, especially Maco/Rollei as they have a track record of discontinuations and emulsion changes.

Try 'em. One will almost certainly look significantly better to you than the others. Shoot another roll or two of that to be sure. THEN embark on your year-long project.

Cheers,

R.

 

[helen.HH]

TriX or for a more SMOOTH Look Tmax 400
Rodinal
HEAVEN !

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Tell me which light you'll have all the year, and which DOF you'll prefer all the year... 🙂

OK...

Tri-X and Rodinal 1+50 is beautiful from ISO50 incident/sunlight with yellow filter (f/8 1/250) to ISO400 for almost everything under soft light, to ISO1600 for low light. With dev. times going from 15 to 45 minutes... But ISO3200 and ISO50 films are clearly better lots of times. If we were making no compromises when using just one film for every different situation, no other films than that one would exist...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Mesti3K]

A bit does depend on your shooting style..
Acros will give you a super sharp, almost digital look
TriX--One of the standards
Tmax 100 is the best for me..like Helen said, smooth, but not an 'all situations' film like Tmax 400 which is a fine film as well.

 

[maddoc]

(sarcasm) ... a BW film that will be still available after one year (/sarcasm)

... Tri-X or HP5 or Neopan400 are excellent candidates for the film, HC-110, Rodinal, XTOL, D76 are good choices for the developer. Pick one combination and enjoy ! 🙂

 

[tagheuer]

I was in the same boat with you about 2 weeks ago. So I went to a local store and picked up some chemicals in smallest quantities. At least I didn't spend too much money If I screwed up, frustrated or didn't like the results

I picked two rolls of Kodak Tri-X. Mixed 1 L of D-76 into stock solution. And make the working solution 1:1.

Use destilled water for stop bath.

And Ilford Rapid Fixer 1:4 for fixer.

Kodak Photoflo at the end.

I make all solutions and water at 20 degC (including running tap water for washing). I think this aspect is pretty important so the film doesn't get too much stress due to temperature change during development. Only my 2 cents though.

The whole chemicals cost me about $30 and another $10 for the film.

The results were stunning for first timer like me. I am hooked and decided to do more.

I am very clumsy and not very detail, so I think the above chem+film are quite forgiving with the fact that I can get it done.

Hope it helps.

 

[venchka]

Once more, this is a question with 100 folks giving 200-300-400 answers. Check your local sources. Use what is available. Or have Freestyle ship several kilos of film and chemicals.
Learn how to alter the look of the film with changes in developer. One reason to do something like this I suppose. I may be doing this same thing soon if I want to use up 4 boxes of PanF+ long rolls.