Best ILFORD 35mm for scanning

[Ken_Watson]

This is a post about film although maybe I should have posted this in the scanner section. Nevertheless...

I've just got back into using film after a 25 year gap. I never previously did my own developing so I have no experience of that side of the photographic process.

I live quite close to the ILFORD processing facility in Cheshire, England so it's quite convenient to drop off film there to be processed. They then post the finished work out to me.

As an experiment I am working my way through the ILFORD range to see which film type takes my fancy. Up to now I have shot a couple of rolls of Delta 400 (I like the sharpness and detail), a roll of HP5 (I like the grain and the tonality), I am waiting to see the results on a roll of Delta 100 which is at the lab at the moment and I currently have a roll of FP4 in the camera.

ILFORD develop the film and then hi res scan onto disc for me.

I would be interested to know from those of you that scan your negs, if you have a preferential film type that you feel works well with scanning. Perhaps some film types are better for scanning because they are more even tonaly and therefore retain more scannable detail in both the light and dark areas of the image??

Obviously, I'll have my own opinion for what it's worth when I've finished shooting the chosen range of film. But I am very interested to hear the opinions of the photographers on the forum that have more experience in this area.

Regards,

Ken.

 

[Godfrey]

For scanning purposes, I prefer Ilford XP2 Super. The reason is that this is a C41 process film ... like a color neg film with only one layer ... so I can use the IR dust and scratch reduction features in my scanner to "clean" it rather than having to do that by hand after the fact. Saves a lot of time.

XP2 Super also has a very nice, high resolution feel with a very long toe and shoulder. It's hard to block it up completely and it will record well even rated at ISO 800 or 1000. More importantly, modest amounts of over exposure (ISO 250-320) help reduce contrast nicely and present a better negative for scanning.

 

[NeeZee]

I've shot a lot of hp5, fp4 and some of the Deltas, too. The hp5 is one of my favourite b/w films but not the best for scanning. Have you tried xp2? It's c-41 and not everybody's cup of tea but from my experience it's the easiest one to scan with the best results (if sharpness and low grain is what you want).

 

[Ken_Watson]

Godfrey, that's priceless information thanks. The comments that you have made directly address many of the questions I have on the subject. I have a roll of XP2 in the bag so I will try it out.

 

[Ken_Watson]

NeeZee, thanks or the input.

I am by no means trying to eliminate the grain. The grain texture and beauty is one of the reasons I have returned to film photography. What I am wishing to optimise is maximum tonal detail retention when transferring from neg to a digital file so that I have the most detail to work with at the digital post processing stage.

I will take your advice and try out the XP2.

Regards, Ken.

 

[ChipMcD]

xP2 is beautiful and scans beautifully too. A common criticism of it, and of some of the new technology silver films, is that they look "digital." I've found that HP5+, at least in 6x6, FP4+ in any format I've used, TriX and Delta 3200 scan well, although grain is apparent in the faster films.

Have fun.