About rebranded film stocks

[nonot]

I really enjoy shooting higher speed black and white film, I fell in love with Neopan 1600 when it was still around, and was fortunate to come into a fridge full of it and tmax 3200 a few years ago as well - since then I've used up/given away my supply of both of these stocks. I never thought much about the technical specifications of either, but was recently told that tmax 3200 was just rebadged/marketed 400 speed. Is this true, and if so is the same true of neopan 400? I realize I can push either, but was wondering if there really isn't a difference in these stocks. I can't seem to find much info on the topic other than what people "feel". Any help is much appreciated.

 

[sevo]

I never thought much about the technical specifications of either, but was recently told that tmax 3200 was just rebadged/marketed 400 speed. Is this true, and if so is the same true of neopan 400?

No, not at all. Both (as well as Delta 3200) are named after the sensitivity for push processing rather than their native speed - they have real speeds (by ISO definition) somewhere between 800 and 1600, so they could be said to be "closer to 400 than generally supposed", but they are quite different films, as evident by being entirely unsuitable as a replacement for their sister 400 film when not pushed...

 

[nonot]

Sevo,

This is the impression I was under too. I shot neopan at 1600 and the tmax at 1600 - I'm game to try and push 400 to 1600, any experience with that? I don't entirely mind losing some of the midtones, I liked the harsh contrast that both provided (in the right situations).

thanks.

 

[JohnTF]

Sevo,

This is the impression I was under too. I shot neopan at 1600 and the tmax at 1600 - I'm game to try and push 400 to 1600, any experience with that? I don't entirely mind losing some of the midtones, I liked the harsh contrast that both provided (in the right situations).

thanks.

If you like it, go ahead, but you are changing the curve of films when you push them.

You may like films which are over exposed and pull processed.

But, bottom line, you are pushing or pulling, with all that goes with it.

If you shoot a step scale, you will see what you are doing, might be good to buy one and shoot the first frame of every experimental roll.

If you do a bit of research, you can find what the ISO truly means, and find what a change in EI will give you what results.

There are a lot of variables with your own processing.

Regards, John

 

[Colin Corneau]

You don't have to worry about midtones when you push a 400 film to 1600, or above. You do see a loss in shadow detail, generally, but this can be adjusted to varying degrees by the choice of film you use, the developer you use and the developing regiment you use.

John's right, there are a lot of variables with your own processing, and that's a good thing.