Freestyle's new LegacyPro films

This is welcome news - I love the Fuji B&W emulsions.

The packaging sure got a good beating with the ugly stick, though.

194364.jpg
 
This is welcome news - I love the Fuji B&W emulsions.

The packaging sure got a good beating with the ugly stick, though.

194364.jpg

It's definately very 70s/80s. Not in a cool retro way, either. I think they do that on purpose--make 'generics' or in-house brands ugly. One, nice packaging COSTS. Two, why not leave the spit-and-shine to the premium brands?
 
This packaging is a marketing ploy...they want you to open the boxes so you can throw them away...therefore using the film and then buying more...leading to opening them boxes again...
To be truthful, I like the box...
 
The Arista Premium boxes, while not works of are, look a lot nicer than the Legacy Pro.

Then again, if it's good film, who cares about the packaging. :)
 
Arista Premium 36exp $1.99, Legacy Pro 36exp $2.79. I recalled Fuji Neopan Acros is the cheapest film available, cheaper than Tri-X and HP. Neopan 100 is $2.29 at B&H now. Why private label is more expensive? I think I will stick with $1.99 for now.
 
I recalled Fuji Neopan Acros is the cheapest film available, cheaper than Tri-X and HP. Neopan 100 is $2.29 at B&H now. Why private label is more expensive? I think I will stick with $1.99 for now.
Let's be clear that Fuji has TWO 100-speed B&W films:

Neopan SS (been around a long time in Japan)
Neopan 100 Acros (T-grain, relatively new)

SS is the $2.29 stuff at B&H - look at the picture of the box. Acros is $3.95 at B&H, and Arista Legacy Pro 100 is most likely Acros.

Bottom line is, you're saving over $1 a roll if you want Acros by using Legacy Pro 100! :D
 
I would absolutely switch to Tri-X that was re-branded as Rangefinder 400, assuming a decent price!
Vic
 
Have any of you shot and developed any of this Legacy Pro yet to confirm it's Neopan film?

I like Tri-X, but Neopan is a step up in terms of the clearness of the film base after developing and film flatness.

The most important thing for me is that Freestyle offers both LegacyPro films in 100 foot bulk rolls. As far as I know you can't buy Fuji Neopan in bulk rolls in the USA, correct?
 
Fuji evidently has stopped providing Neopan Presto 400 in 100 ft rolls, even in Japan.
The Legacy Pro could very well be Fuji 400. I haven't tried it yet though. Still have 700 ft of Arista Premium 400 and about 1500 ft of Tri X in the freezer. Enough for a while ( also 3000 ft of Double X).
The Neopan SS is an interesting emulsion. It was concocted as a "school film" for teaching black white photography and was also used as a movie stock emulsion at one time. Very tolerant of exposure screw ups and sloppy developing. Great film for Sunny f16 shooting. Not particularly fine grained - a bit like Plus X - but great tonal range. The Acros 100 is contrasty and VERY sharp and in the right developer, extremely fine grained but is a bit finicky as to exposures and developers.
I kind of like the Legacy Pro box - you could stack a whole bunch of them and use them for checking lens distorsion. Otherwise I hate film boxes - both Kodak and Ilford used to have 50 pack boxes, Kodak still had the plastic container, but Ilford stuck the cassette in foil wrapper. You could fill your pockets and easily carry 20-25 rolls without the hassle of unpacking and discarding boxes and cans.
 
Has anyone developed Legacy Pro 100? If it looks like Acros, the contrast is much to my liking although I must use tripod and handheld meter to shoot.
 
Has anyone developed Legacy Pro 100? If it looks like Acros, the contrast is much to my liking although I must use tripod and handheld meter to shoot.

I had checked the dev times when they released the film and they both lined up with Acros 100 and Neopan 400-PR exactly.

Knowing how FS works, I think it's safe to say they're both what we think they are.
 
The photos I recently posted in my gallery were shot with the Arista Premium 400. Tom recommended it and I went for it. It's definatly Tri-X. It not only behaves just like it but it processes the same in Rodinal including turning purple.
 
Through a friend I got some Legacy Pro sample rolls. Did a first run last night - one roll of Legacy Pro, one roll of Neopan Presto 400. Same camera, same lens, same process run. D96 ( Kodaks movie stock developer - it was already mixed up. It behaves like D76 for all practical purposes).Run for 7 min stock - my usual time for Neopan 400 Presto.
Up on my Flickr site now,
 
I have 100ft of 400 LP coming from Freestyle and more Xtol which worked very well for me with Neopan... if it behaves the same way as Neopan in Xtol I'll be a happy camper! :)
 
I just ran out of 35mm film and I'm on the fence between ordering Arista Premium or Legacy pro. I've been using Rodinal for a lot of stand developing lately and love the look I get from AP400. I've tried the same with Neopan 400 in 645 and 6x7, and found tons of grain.
 
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