First roll of Neopan 400: questions

[rumbliegeos]

I just received my first roll of Neopan 400 (120) back from the processors. Are the negatives supposed to have a warm, brownish cast? These look like old negs from the 1930s that have yellowed. Also, I was fairly disappointed by quite high contrast and graininess in the images. I did a search on Neopan in the archives here, and it seems to be a contrasty film which is sensitive to development variables. Does that yellow cast indicate poor processing?

 

[Keith]

I process my 400 Neopan myself and I ususally notice a slightly purplish or blue tinge but not what you describe so I would be dubious about the processing. Graininess and excessive contrast are also not characteristics of this film if processed correctly so this would indicate that the lab didn't do a great job and aren't an option for the future!

 

[ibcrewin]

set yourself free brother...Develop your own!

 

[NickTrop]

set yourself free brother...Develop your own!

Yes. I just - literally, processed two rolls of this, printed several from 1 roll. Bought 4 and 4 of Acros 100 and Neopan 400. Don't think I've used this before. Very nice. Sharp. Good contrast and reasonably priced. Anyway - no tint at all. D76 1:3 for 15 minutes. (Prefer longer times, lower dilutions with D76).

 

[john_s]

I wouldn't worry about the brownish tint of the image. I use a developer that does that by design (Pyrocat-HD), but some developers can do that anyway. I used Microdol-X 30 years ago to dev Panatomic-X and they are brownish and still excellent.

The other issue is contrast. Neopan400 is not especially difficult. It's my favourite film. It is best with gentle agitation in my opinion. As someone has already said, if you develop your own you will be operating at a much higher plane. It is a very rare commercial lab that does a good job of black and white film. If they sometimes do, it's often a random accident.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I just received my first roll of Neopan 400 (120) back from the processors.

Developing silver based b&w film is not a rigidly defined process such as C-41 or E-6. There are many variables in b&w, which is why most of us who shoot it also develop it ourselves.

Neopan 400 is my standard film. I shoot probably an average of four rolls (120 & 35mm) per week. But if you're not going to develop it yourself, I'd recommend XP2 as C-41 is a constant process you can learn to work with.

 

[charjohncarter]

set yourself free brother...Develop your own!

It is cheaper and less time consuming than 'sending it out,' plus (and most important) you do it your way.

They sound like they were under fixed, buy some fixer and fix them correctly.

 

[rumbliegeos]

Thank you very much for the information and the advice. The negatives simply did not look right to me, and the proofs were even worse: very contrasty, on color paper. I'm convinced about the value of developing the film myself. I actually have the equipment for a wet printing darkroom packed away, but I will probably just get a changing bag and film tank. I have good solution mixing equipment, thermometers etc - even a water temperature control board somewhere, but I also have some good scanners. Any advice on a tank to get for 35mm and 120 to be used by someone with very little experience in loading tanks (i.e. not stainless steel reels)? Someone without brain surgeon manual dexterity.

 

[NickTrop]

Any advice on a tank to get for 35mm and 120 to be used by someone with very little experience in loading tanks (i.e. not stainless steel reels)? Someone without brain surgeon manual dexterity.

One word - Hewes stainless steel reels. I use these for 120. Patterson for 35mm. (I never had a problem with 35mm with plastic reels but I did have difficulties using plastic reels with 120. Hewes are pricey for what they are but worth every penny imo.)

Another trick I picked up from this forum recently, is don't wind 35mm all the way, leave a little sticking out "by feel" when you rewind. Then rather than getting the film started blind in the changing bag, pull a little film out in load it past the sprockets of your Patterson plastic reel. THEN put it in the bag partially wound ready to walk the rest of the film out of the cassette on to the reel. The hardest part using a changing bag is finding by feel the sprockets and loading the film past it. Make sense? You "start it" in daylight watching what you're doing. This only works for 35mm.

My set up is simple and cheap but I'm satisfied with the results - especially with 120. I have an Epson 3170 scanner that has neg holders for 120 and 35mm. I'm satisfied with the results, especially with 120. I print on Ilford Gallerie Pearl (5x7 for 35mm, and 8 1/2 x 11 paper for 120 making nice 8x8 prints, cut them to 8x8 from a 6cmX6cm neg with an Exacto knife) My printer is an HP 8450 that has the black ink cart exclusively for black and white print making. I used to use Epson with MIS inks but had too many problems with the printer not reading the chips and also print head clogs. Moved to HP - bite the bullet on ink costs, and never looked back. I use PS and Lightroom too, along with Vuescan software.

I - literally, just printed some 120 Neopan 400 and am pleased with the results. I like it a lot, and it's the best bargain (IMO) in 120 film out there.
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[infrequent]

@nick - yes a wonderful trick. some motorized cameras stop for a couple of seconds while rewinding which allows you to open the back and take the roll out before the leader gets all the way through. the hexar AF and RF both do this.

 

[JeffGreene]

One word - Hewes stainless steel reels. I use these for 120. Patterson for 35mm. (I never had a problem with 35mm with plastic reels but I did have difficulties using plastic reels with 120. Hewes are pricey for what they are but worth every penny imo.)..... |

I agree as well, Nick, but prefer the Hewes myself for 35 and the Paterson for 120. The Hewes reels are superb, but do take some practice. For some reason I always had difficulties with rollfilm on the Hewe's reel. I sold my Hewes rollfilm reels, purchased the Patersons and am quite happy. The only issue with the plastic reels is keeping them clean and dry. I'll generally load two rolls of 120 per reel on the Patersons which is not doable on the Hewes.

Just my two cents.

Respectfully,

Jeff

 

[goo0h]

One word - Hewes stainless steel reels. I use these for 120. Patterson for 35mm. (I never had a problem with 35mm with plastic reels but I did have difficulties using plastic reels with 120. Hewes are pricey for what they are but worth every penny imo.)

I was initially using a JOBO tank and plastic reels. I don't know. Couldn't ever get those reels to work smoothly for me. In a changing bag, as soon as it gets the slightest bit humid, those plastic reels would seem to seize up on me.

Then I made two changes: Hewes reels and archival gloves. I've found the Hewes reels to be a breeze to load, and the gloves mean I don't have to worry about touching the film accidentally in the changing bag. Turns out that with the gloves on, the film just glides past my finger tips when winding the reel. So it's even faster to do.

I think I got the Hewes reels and stainless steel tank (16 oz, takes two reels) from a "starter" kit by freestyle. The white archival gloves from B+H.

Of course leaving the leader out of the cassette after winding back the film does make it easier to start the film on the reel, but I don't always bother. I'm a bit anxious that I might forget the film was used and produce a bunch of double-exposures. 😉 Though, I guess in reality that's not likely to happen because you can tell by the little creases at the tip of the film if it had been in the camera before. Sometimes I even slightly bend the leader tip so that it goes more smoothly into the take-up spool, and that has the added advantage of making a bit more noise when it pops-off when rewinding the film.

 

[Rob-F]

I would be concerned that the brown or yellow cast might affect the contrast with variable-contrast paper. In fact, I wonder if that is why the results were too contrasty.