best black and white c41 film?

[TennesseJones]

Just wondered what people thought was the best black and white film that can be processed at the local store? Can't develop at my flat at the moment so was going to buy a cheap bundle of film online... Thank you!

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

I've used Ilford XP2 since it was XP1! - and Ilford made a little dedicated dev. kit for it (very handy!) nowadays I take it to the local supermarket ( Tesco ) and have it processed on the one hour service. Very nice results, and scans well - unless you want mucho grain!
Dave.

 

[Roger Hicks]

XP2 Super (which should have been called XP3). About 1/3 stop faster than its Kodak rivals; sharper; slightly grainier; tonally quite a lot better.

Cheers,

R.

 

[brainwood]

Another vote for XP2 Super. It has become my main film stock for its great tonality and ease of processesing. I much prefer the look of it to Kodak BW400CN

Chris

 

[Lilserenity]

If you ever think you'll enlarge using a black and white condensor head enlarger, XP2 Super.

It's also a great film,BW400CN is nice enough from Kodak.

I've never tried Fuji's C41 offering.

Given the choice, I would shoot XP2 Super always over BW400CN.

Try both and see what you like.

 

[Avotius]

I use XP2 super as well, its my choice film for black and white when I am looking for more punchy results. Right now I am using HP5, its duller then XP2, the tone curve is not as aggressive, something to watch out with contrasty lenses and XP2....

 

[dfoo]

I've used lots of XP2 with good results in both my enlarger and my scanner! The negatives are quite dense compared with my silver negs, but they do print well with longer times. I've never shot BW400CN.

 

[TennesseJones]

thank you

thank you

thanks so much guys..
this site seems to be reasonable for these films, so i might try from here.. a shop in town wanted £7.50 per roll which is ruinous, so i thought trying on line etc.

http://discountfilmsdirect.co.uk/shop/acatalog/Black_and_White_Film.html

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I never used those... Do they have nice, sharp grain on silver paper after home enlarging?

Thanks!

 

[rbiemer]

I prefer the Kodak BW400CN, my self but that may be because I haven't used XP2 very much. XP2 has rarely been available locally and when it was, it was significantly more expensive. And when I started using C-41 B&W, local availability was important to me.
I looked at the link and that place has all three C-41 films and the prices are fairly close; I'd suggest buying some of each and seeing which one works best for you.
Rob

 

[Rayt]

For machine prints at one hour photo labs choose 400CN. For darkroom printing choose XP2.

 

[Acliff]

thanks so much guys..
this site seems to be reasonable for these films, so i might try from here.. a shop in town wanted £7.50 per roll which is ruinous, so i thought trying on line etc.

http://discountfilmsdirect.co.uk/shop/acatalog/Black_and_White_Film.html

Try 7dayshop.com great price on kodak 400cn, not bad on xp2.

 

[dfoo]

I never used those... Do they have nice, sharp grain on silver paper after home enlarging?

Thanks!

I've only printed mine to 8x10. At that enlargement size there is virtually no visible grain.

 

[dfoo]

For machine prints at one hour photo labs choose 400CN. For darkroom printing choose XP2.

I shot close to 50 rolls of XP2 this summer and used the same lab for all of them. The first few rolls they printed had terrible blue/green shifts on the 4x6. However, later the prints became much more neutral. Decent even!

Anyway, there is no substitute for printing your own good shots 🙂 The 4x6's are just so I have something to look at so I can keep encouraged that my shooting is worthwhile.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Oh... So it must look like a low ISO slide film turned to grayscale in photoshop...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[dfoo]

I'll make a scan of a print later and post it here.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Thank you!

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

For machine prints at one hour photo labs choose 400CN. For darkroom printing choose XP2.

Hi,

Do you know the reason?

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Roger Hicks]

Oh... So it must look like a low ISO slide film turned to grayscale in photoshop...

Cheers,

Juan

Dear Juan,

Not exactly. Ilford describes XP2 Super as "black and white film with dye added" and Kodak's version as "colour film with the colour taken out". This seems pretty fair to me.

The grain on chromogenics is NOT crisp -- but it's incredibly fine and unobtrusive. Also, with chromogenics, extra exposure = finer grain, the exact opposite of 'real' B+W film. In both cases, though, extra exposure = reduced sharpness.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Hi,

Do you know the reason?

Cheers,

Juan

Dear Juan,

Better (easier) colour balance on colour paper with Kodak.

Better sharpness, better tonality and faster printing times (no mask) on B+W paper with Ilford.

Cheers,

R.