Future proofing your workflow.

[John Bragg]

I am a one film sort of guy and tend to stick with a winning formula. However of late the supply of some films has become sporadic to say the least. Also the cost is rising and that alone has made me return to Tri-X instead of Neopan 400. I am considering doing trials with HP5+ as well so as to at least have a handle on how it behaves. Is anyone else having similar thoughts ?

 

[Roger Hicks]

HP5 Plus and Art 300

Cheers,

R.

 

[charjohncarter]

Same dilemma I have. I use basically 3 films. I have everything down for them, and I hate the thought of going through all that testing again. I'll do it if I have to, but I don't want to.

 

[John Bragg]

How secure is the future of any of the film manufacturers? I hope for the best for all of them.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

Future proofing has always been tough in photography.

I think the big question is whether to stay with the most stable offerings... Or go for the advantages of the new, which will naturally change faster.

Are you a Tri-X sort? Or Velvia/Ektar?

 

[Keith]

I spent a lot of time getting Neopan 400 (LP 400) to look how I wanted it then of course Freestyle stopped getting the 100ft rolls of Legacy Pro 400 and Fuji discontinued these offerings a long time ago! I bulk load and that's the way I want to continue and after a few ventures into other emulsions I'm yet to find a go to 400 black and white film that pleases me as much as Neopan did! Tri-X is so so and overrated IMO and I can't get HP5+ to look like anything.

It's enough to make you go digital ... not really! 😀

 

[johnamazement]

I like to keep things simple too so I've got HP5 in D76 and Adox MCC in Ilford Multigrade worked out for me. Hopefully they'll be around for a while!

 

[Rob-F]

If you, and I, and others, stop buying and using Neopan 400 out of fear it will disappear, then its demise will become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

 

[gavinlg]

I spent a lot of time getting Neopan 400 (LP 400) to look how I wanted it then of course Freestyle stopped getting the 100ft rolls of Legacy Pro 400 and Fuji discontinued these offerings a long time ago! I bulk load and that's the way I want to continue and after a few ventures into other emulsions I'm yet to find a go to 400 black and white film that pleases me as much as Neopan did! Tri-X is so so and overrated IMO and I can't get HP5+ to look like anything.

It's enough to make you go digital ... not really! 😀

What do you think of T-max Keith? I bought a couple of packs of hp5 recently and it's REALLY not working for me - so they're just sitting there unused. Tri-x has never done that much for me either.

I do really like t-max however - it's got great tones and pushed to 1600 so very easily - in fact I found it has less grain/more pleasing grain pushed to 1600 than hp5 did at 400. Maybe I should just spend more time with the hp5... Maybe a new developer? I've been using d76 but also have t-max and r09...

 

[Keith]

What do you think of T-max Keith? I bought a couple of packs of hp5 recently and it's REALLY not working for me - so they're just sitting there unused. Tri-x has never done that much for me either.

I do really like t-max however - it's got great tones and pushed to 1600 so very easily - in fact I found it has less grain/more pleasing grain pushed to 1600 than hp5 did at 400. Maybe I should just spend more time with the hp5... Maybe a new developer? I've been using d76 but also have t-max and r09...

I like T-max for it's tones and resolution but I find the lack of grain disturbing ... I like grain! 😀

I've been messing around with Xtol again recently because I ran out of Rodinal. I just got 500ml of Adonal (same thing) from Vanbar which makes me much happier ... I seem to have a lot more consistency with that formula. I also like the way it brings out the grain in most films ... Xtol seems determined to hide it!

I'm keen to keep persevering with HP5+ now that I have a decent supply of Rodinal/Adonal and I think Ilford are definitely here for the long haul. Not only are their 100ft rolls of HP5+ reasonably priced I've noticed that Freestyle still have three packs (36 exp) for under ten dollars!

I think I'd like to shoot a lot more medium format for the rest of this year ... HP5+ 120 developed in Rodinal seems far better than in 135 ... not sure why though!

 

[gavinlg]

I like T-max for it's tones and resolution but I find the lack of grain disturbing ... I like grain! 😀

I've been messing around with Xtol again recently because I ran out of Rodinal. I just got 500ml of Adonal (same thing) from Vanbar which makes me much happier ... I seem to have a lot more consistency with that formula. I also like the way it brings out the grain in most films ... Xtol seems determined to hide it!

I'm keen to keep persevering with HP5+ now that I have a decent supply of Rodinal/Adonal and I think Ilford are definitely here for the long haul. Not only are their 100ft rolls of HP5+ reasonably priced I've noticed that Freestyle still have three packs (36 exp) for under ten dollars!

I think I'd like to shoot a lot more medium format for the rest of this year ... HP5+ 120 developed in Rodinal seems far better than in 135 ... not sure why though!

Thats right you scan with a v700 don't you? The interesting thing about scanning 35mm negatives that I've found is that the scanner makes a huge difference to grain in the file - my old v600 would smoothen grain quite a bit so I remember thinking the same as you about t-max (too smooth), but my plustek 8100 really accentuates grain/sharpness, so now t-max is just about right for me.

There really are a lot of variables with this film business..

 

[John Bragg]

I spent a lot of time getting Neopan 400 (LP 400) to look how I wanted it then of course Freestyle stopped getting the 100ft rolls of Legacy Pro 400 and Fuji discontinued these offerings a long time ago! I bulk load and that's the way I want to continue and after a few ventures into other emulsions I'm yet to find a go to 400 black and white film that pleases me as much as Neopan did! Tri-X is so so and overrated IMO and I can't get HP5+ to look like anything.

It's enough to make you go digital ... not really! 😀

I got Tri-X to play nice but it took a while. I am doing a Rodinal style develop with HC-110h and really liking it. I also really like Neopan but it is too costly now.

 

[bogelgelbo]

I only use 135mm HP5+ since last year dipped in ID11. Not really the experimental person when developing film though I experiment a lot when I'm printing in the darkroom.

 

[DNG]

After Neopan 400 went RIP, I tried HP5+ with Rodinal. I finely found a good ISO/Dilution mix that works for me... It gives a nice Tonal Range with great shadows and good highlight, and everything in between..

HP5+ // ISO 160, Rodinal 1:25.. I make sure the temp is under 20c to allow over 5m developing time. at 10s agitation every 60s. (Use the the ISO 200 times in Massive Dev Chart for ISO 160 rating). I would assume, I can over expose by 1.3 stops for the other speeds listed (200/320/400/800/1600/3200) for HP5+

I use a Plustek 7300 with SilverFast 8 (32bit--the 7300 doesn't support the 64bit version 8), but, with Ver 6.6 I can scan up to 16 times in "Multi-Scan" to reduce grain, if that is what I want. I use no more than 4 though... Ver 8 has 2 scans in this mode, and it can't be changed. They claim it has a different way to scan and is better than the Ver. 6.6 "Multi-scan" in results... I am not convinced.

I also like a stable workflow. it took a few rolls to get it down with HP5+.