Favourite 400 speed B+W film?

Favourite 400 speed B+W film?

  • Kodak TriX 400

    Votes: 858 41.1%

  • Kodak TMAX 400

    Votes: 238 11.4%

  • Ilford Delta 400

    Votes: 138 6.6%

  • Ilford HP5 Plus 400

    Votes: 636 30.4%

  • Efke KB400

    Votes: 12 0.6%

  • Fomapan 400

    Votes: 38 1.8%

  • Fuji Neopan 400

    Votes: 328 15.7%

  • Rollei R3 400

    Votes: 15 0.7%

  • Forte Fortepan 400

    Votes: 2 0.1%

  • Arista EDU Ultra 400

    Votes: 22 1.1%

  • Arista II 400

    Votes: 9 0.4%

  • Another unlisted 400

    Votes: 112 5.4%
  • Total voters
    2,090
Erik van Straten said:
Tmax400, still the best.

Leica M2, Color Skopar 50mm f/2.5, Tmax400.

Erik.

14994393100_7378894fb8_c.jpg
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Erik, your prints/scans/whatever are great, all av them! Just browsed through the 50/2,5 Color Skopar thread where a lot images are.
I also posted the following in that thread as well but my question is probably more approriate here.
So, would you mind sharing how you work with Tmax400?
I have recently came back to film after almost 10 years with digital and sort of decided to stick to Tmax400.
I´m still in learning with this film but the dark greys in your images are kind of what I´m looking for. The dark greyscale/tonality together with the shadows and bright highlights are simply stunning. Some really great shots as well.
 
returning back to film and been loving acros 100. looking for faster 400 speed film yet still with decent grain control and looking to try tmax400 based on some of the results ive seen. i looked up bulk load prices and was astounded that the price of Tmax 400 100' ($120) is more than 18 rolls of Tmax 400 ($89). i though bulk loading was suppose to be cheaper. any thoughts on why it is not the case here?
 
ronw said:
returning back to film and been loving acros 100. looking for faster 400 speed film yet still with decent grain control and looking to try tmax400 based on some of the results ive seen. i looked up bulk load prices and was astounded that the price of Tmax 400 100' ($120) is more than 18 rolls of Tmax 400 ($89). i though bulk loading was suppose to be cheaper. any thoughts on why it is not the case here?
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"Was" is right... Many emulsions are barely below break even when you look at bulk vs rolls. Used to be better.
 
all the other 100' rolls still looked worth while, even tmax100, delta400 and hp5 but it will be a no go on tmax400. f-it, just get 1000' XX and load to the hearts content 😀
 
I only shoot HP5 but tried TMax 400 the other day. Shot the exact same scene with HP5 and TMax and noticed that TMax has more grain and a higher contrast, so I'm sticking with HP5. You can't reduce grain in post but you easily add more contrast in post, so HP5 it is for me 🙂
 
Ned Bojic said:
The misconception of Grain.
Grain is in the film, not in the developer.

This being said, HP5 is absolutely gorgeous.
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Dear Ned,

Partially true. Different developers do give larger grain (and usually more speed) or smaller grain (and usually less speed). A few give big grain and low speed (e.g. Rodinal).

But as I've said elsewhere, people see what they want to see. How familiar are you with formal ISO testing and microdensitometer tracing?

Cheers,

R.
 
Larry Cloetta said:
I've got the same question. I'd like to process HP5+ in a way that gave less grain than TMax, all other things being equal, if I knew how.
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Dear Larry,

Can't really be done. A great deal depends on crystal habit. Monosize crystal emulsions (e.g. TMax, Delta, tabular or epitaxial)) give finer grain than traditional cubic crystals. But less latitude and different tonality.

Cheers,

R.
 
Many have mentioned Agfa APX which is not in the list,probably because it is discontinued but, is it not available as Rollei Retro 400? Ilford FP4 is not in the list because it is rated at 125 iso but I find it great pushed/pulled at any speed between 25 and 1600 iso. My old favorite used to be TriX, now I almost never get results I like, I am not sure is it because I have lost the touch in developping (I do it much less than I used to), they changed the emulsion (good excuse) or I changed my taste and got so used to having no grain that I lost the taste for it.

GLF
 
Ilford HP5 for me. Hard to screw it up and А LOT cheaper than Tri-x here. Tried Rollei RPX recently. It has somewhat contrastier/ retro look to it, which really works for some photos, but i still prefer HP5 as it has medium contrast, which is good for scanning ( and it dries really flat ). Wish Neopan in 120 was still around, as it's the film i'v never tried, but i think it was amazing film
 
I always love Neopan 400 ...

at least with my limited developing skill, i can pull from 100 push to 3200 with acceptable results
very smooth
nice contrast
i easily can control the grain

Sincerely
William Jusuf
 
I love tmax 400, but with the massive price increase in 35mm (funny how the 120 is cheaper than it was a year ago) I have moved on to rollei retro 400s, which is actually a EI of 200 for me. just as sharp, I love the extended red sensitivity and very cheap.
 
Neopan 400 in Kodak XTOL works well at box speeds, and I've pushed to 1600 with great results. It's even passably usable pushed to 3200 if you can nail the exposure. I used to stick to good old D-76 but it's shelf life seemed to be reduced by a few months because its so warm here.

Love the nice contrast, tight grain, and quality of Fuji's emulsion.

Being here in hot 80-degree year round, 80%+ humidity Hawaii, XTOL seems to be more stable on the shelf at what passes for "room temp" here. Added bonus, Neopan seems to do better when pushed in XTOL.
 
HP5 @ 800 and 1250 in DD-X works well for me. I'm not in love with it, but it's the best 400 B&W film/dev combo I've found so far.
 
Interesting poll results, not a lot of love for Fomapan 400. I quite like Fomapan 100, I think it's a great film. But that's a different poll altogether now, isn't it? 🙂

But if I could have voted more than once, I would have put in a vote +1 for Tmax 400 and +1 for Tri-X.

Tmax 400 is a great modern film, easy to use, hard to screw up.

Tri-X has a classic look and is so incredibly versatile, I've gotten super results all the way from ISO 200 to ISO 3200.
 
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