Best B&W film for pulling in high contrast situation?

[Laviolette]

I want to take pictures for a large family gathering this weekend. Weather is supposed to be sunny so it will be high contrast... I will be using my Leica M4 and 35mm C-Biogon with a yellow filter (#8). The film will be developed in Xtol (1+1) on a rotary base.

I want to shoot the film at an higher E.I. than the recommended ISO and cut back the development time, but I am not sure which film to use.

I just checked my film stash and here's what I have :

HP5+ : I know that this would work, as I have pulled this film many times with good results, especially in large format. But this time it is 35mm, and I would like something a bit less grainy if possible.

FP4+ : I love this film and it's tonality in Xtol, but it is a bit higher contrast and I never tried to pull it.

Delta 400 : Grain is quite similar to HP5+ and contrast is a bit higher from what I saw, but I never tried to pull it.

Delta 100 : I have tried to pull this film in large format and the contrast was still pretty high (more testing needed). I love the sparkle in the highlights of this film. Only 2 rolls left.

Acros 100 : I don't have much experience with this film but it's developing time for ISO 100 are already quite short with Xtol on a rotary base (6min 30), and development times of 5 minutes or less can give uneven development. Only 2 rolls left.

Lastly, I thought that maybe I could try two different films to be able to do some comparisons...

Thanks!

 

[Chuck Albertson]

When I pull a film to reduce contrast, I shoot the film at a *lower* EI, then cut back the development time by 25% (that's what works for my setup). HP5+ is well-suited for this. If it's a really important gathering, you might try some tests first.

 

[Laviolette]

When I pull a film to reduce contrast, I shoot the film at a *lower* EI, then cut back the development time by 25% (that's what works for my setup). HP5+ is well-suited for this. If it's a really important gathering, you might try some tests first.

Thanks for the reply. When you say lower EI, do you mean one stop, or more? When pulling HP5+, I will use an EI of 100 and develop for 7 minutes instead of 9.

I was wondering also if rotary processing is the best for pulling : I read somewhere that when you use a method with intermittent agitation instead, the developer working on the highlights get exhausted first so they have less chance to blow out. Does it make sense to change my method for this particular situation?

 

[Chuck Albertson]

I use EI 200 or 250 for HP5+ or Tri-X. I've never used rotary processing, so can't comment on that.

 

[Roger Hicks]

FP4 @ EI 50 with 15% less dev time -- but TRY A ROLL first to make sure this works for you.

Wet printing, I take it?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Sparrow]

In Greece I often cheat and use colour print film (fuji 400) ... which is almost impossible to blow, but then I'm scanning and making monochrome c-type prints

 

[Mablo]

I use Tri-X @ EI 100 in high contrast lighting. Xtol, 1+1 for 7:30 mins.

 

[Sid836]

I have tried PanF + at ASA 50 and developed it in Rodinal 1+50 for 10.5 minutes. The result had great contrast and tonality although I had it shot durring mid-day under a blazing sun.
HP5+ is excellent as well, but I don't like it in Rodinal.

 

[Laviolette]

Thanks for your input everyone. I will try to pull HP5+ and FP4+ and will post results later.

Roger: both wet printing and scanning.

 

[Vics]

I'd lose the yellow filter, as it increases contrast. Then I'd pull the film a stop.