Fine grain bulk film

_lou_

_lou_

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I have a question for the film experts out there.
A few months ago I started shooting 35mm film again, after using medium format a lot.
This is mostly due to the appeal of lighter weight and less conspicuous gear, but also my discovery if Fuji's Acros 100. There is so much detail in a frame that it does not feel too restricted compared to 6x6. I develop in single-use developer LC29, which gives fine grain and scans well.

I also started bulk loading, because I find it a good way to reduce waste.

Unfortunately I cannot find Acros 100 in bulk in Europe. Options I have are mostly Ilford. I would like recommendations on a good developper for FP4+, because until now I did not find it so good looking or so fine grained. Delta 100 would be another option but is more expensive and the grain I find a bit "dry".
 
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Pan F+. I bought 1500 feet of it, when Freestyle Photo closed-it-out at $12.99/roll.
Labeled Aristo, but it's definitely PanF+.

D-76/ID11, or PMK Pyro+ are my favorites with this one.
 
I have some acros 100' 100 ISO film which I fine very fine grained which I might be persuaded to part with. If you are interested PM me.
 
 
Thanks to all for the comments, very inspiring. Tmax 100 is rather scarce here and therefore super expensive.
The attempts I made at PanF were in medium format, and I must not have picked the best soup for it, since I found it all greyish and lacking contrast, and scanning very strangely, giving kind of "dry" texture. But I guess I need to try it again.

There are some lesser known options such as Rollei and Fomopan (and some Agfa remaining stock). I tried Kentmere, which is fairly good for the price, but really not as fine as Acros.

I agree that fine grain is overstated to some extent, but moving from medium format to 135 feels... scary somehow. I guess my main criteria is how the result look once scanned, and there seem to be unclear things happening at this stage. I just need to find one good recipe.
 
_lou_ said:
There are some lesser known options such as Rollei and Fomopan (and some Agfa remaining stock). I tried Kentmere, which is fairly good for the price, but really not as fine as Acros.
Click to expand...

Foma 100 is a really excellent film (same as the Arista EDU 100 I mentioned)

If you're flatbed scanning, I doubt you'll come close to resolving the grain on any of the emulsions listed above.
 
6701998011_f93c49d45b_b.jpg


I find the ORWO UN 54 very good as a finer grain alternative. Rated at 100 iso it woks well in just about any MQ developer. In this case the D96 (Kodak's movie stock developer - similar to D76) and also gives you good, sharp negatives with Beutler developer.
Nikon S3 Olympic, Nikkor 35f1.8 2005 version. D96 @ 6 min.
Check "orwona.com" for more information. Cames in 400 ft rolls and also in 100ft rolls.
Anything slower than 100 iso gives me a bit of a problem as I mainly shoot handheld - and if the weather turns crappy - you are at the ragged edge of exposure and shutter speed!
 
Tom A said:
6701998011_f93c49d45b_b.jpg


I find the ORWO UN 54 very good as a finer grain alternative. Rated at 100 iso it woks well in just about any MQ developer. In this case the D96 (Kodak's movie stock developer - similar to D76) and also gives you good, sharp negatives with Beutler developer.
Nikon S3 Olympic, Nikkor 35f1.8 2005 version. D96 @ 6 min.
Check "orwona.com" for more information. Cames in 400 ft rolls and also in 100ft rolls.
Anything slower than 100 iso gives me a bit of a problem as I mainly shoot handheld - and if the weather turns crappy - you are at the ragged edge of exposure and shutter speed!
Click to expand...

I have 100 feet of this in the post can't wait, have you tried developing it in Rodinal ?
 
Noll said:
If you're flatbed scanning, I doubt you'll come close to resolving the grain on any of the emulsions listed above.
Click to expand...

I'm not flatbed scanning, and neither am I looking to resolve the grain, quite the opposite in fact. What is good with Acros combined with my scanner, it that every pixel is a distinct grey value, as opposed to some other films which will produce a random (noisy) arrangement of black and white points. Post processing can be used to cure this to a certain extent, but at the cost of reduced details.
 
I thought I'd give an example.

Here is a full size detail of an Acros scan :
acros.jpg


and a similar scan from Kentmere 100 :

kentmere.jpg
 
6897436233_3213ce383f_b.jpg


ORWO UN 54in Rodinal 1:100, semi stand development for 25 minutes with a couple of "flips" of the tank at 5 and 15 minutes.
Nikon S3, Nikkor 35mm f2.5
 
Tom A said:
ORWO UN 54in Rodinal 1:100, semi stand development for 25 minutes with a couple of "flips" of the tank at 5 and 15 minutes.
Nikon S3, Nikkor 35mm f2.5
Click to expand...

That looks great cant wait to try this film seen some very nice shots on flickr
 
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