Grainiest ISO 100 - 200 B/W Film

[Peter_S]

Oh, I forgot. Try Agfa Scala at 100 ASA developed like APX. You may like that. Contrasty, punchy and grainy.

But at the end of the day, for consistent, balanced results with good but tight/hard grain, FP4+ (in either Rodinal, DD-X or FX-39) would be the way for me. 🙂

 

[DominikDUK]

Peter isn't Scala out of production?

Dominik

 

[Peter_S]

So is APX 😉
Ebay!

Whether you buy expired Scala or re-labelled APX does not matter, me thinks, except that the APX is cheaper

 

[sem]

Not at all. Most people like to avoid it.
Trix and tanol will also work. I like to use it with wideangle from voigtländer
Take a look:
http://rf-post.blogspot.de/

Kind regards

 

[RobVinc]

You could also increase the grain by developing at high temperaturs (25-28°C)

 

[DominikDUK]

RobVinc thanks, I really am stupid I've been using Rodinal for the past 10 years and completely forgot its temperature issues. To excuse my stupidity I have been using Rodinal for the past 3 years mostly 1:100 Stand. Great tip

Dominik

 

[haempe]

From my experience Efke 100 is grainier than APX 100.
I would start with Rodinal 1+25 at 25°C ~4,5min.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I went through a phase of doing something like this many years ago. I would develop a medium speed film, say FP3 or FP4 in print developer. I made the developer up to the normal dilution and then, from memory, gave it 5 minutes. That will generate as much grain as you could wish for. 😀

 

[DominikDUK]

Sejanus I don't want excessive grain, just slightly more visible grain. My whole posting comes down to having been shocked by the lack of character and grain I've got from Rollei Retro 400S I know an ISO 400 film and I am asking about ISO 100, but my Fomapan 100 shots used to exhibit more grain than the Retro. Due to its ongoing Q.C. Issues I was looking for alternatives to the Foma product that are to give me Q.C. and Character. Furthermore I want to use the Summar whose min. aperture is f12.5 and exhibits low contrast and Iso 100 usally are more contrasty than their ISO 400 counterparts.

Dominik

 

[Teuthida]

Neopan SS pushed to 200iso and developed in Rodinal. Nice grain. Lots of it.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

Sejanus I don't want excessive grain, just slightly more visible grain.

In that case, try doubling the dilution of the print developer, as in 1:3 becomes 1:6, and experiment around 8 minutes for FP4. That might give you the contrast and grain size you're looking for.

Rodinal's been mentioned quite often in this thread. At low dilutions, it can be quite lively. I'd think along the lines of FP4 developed at 1:15 and start experimenting in the 5 - 10 minute range.

I only use FP4, so I can't comment on other films.

 

[mdarnton]

Another possibility is Polypan F. I find it works best at 40, but many people shoot it at 100 or even more. What I did not like at 100 was the excessive grain, when I used my usual D23 developer. For instance, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdarnton/6973154761/sizes/l/in/photostream/ I think the grain is the result of underexposure as much as anything.

 

[DominikDUK]

Thank you Sejanus.

Mdarnton what is Polypan 50?

Thanks Dominik

 

[sandermarijn]

Kentmere 100 is another option. Or the 400 plus ND. Very grainy in Rodinal. Now if you like the type of grain is another matter.

 

[mdarnton]

Polypan F is a very cheap B&W movie printing film that comes via Ebay from one single seller in Germany-- http://myworld.ebay.com/cameraboerse/ . Ninety meters of it costs about $30. There's a Polypan F group on Flickr-- http://www.flickr.com/groups/44223278@N00/ and you can pick up some discussion in bits all around the web. I thought it would be fun to use a film that didn't cost hardly anything at all. It turns out to be a bit slower than I like, but the price is right.

Another Polypan shot; more reasonable exposure, slightly less grain: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdarnton/6972646479/sizes/l/in/set-72157604235654981/

In both pictures, notice how the bright lights near the edge run off the film. That's because as a printing film it doesn't need an anti-halation backing. Consequently, highlights, if they're really bright, glow. Kind of cool, really, but they need to be really bright to do that. You can find better examples on the Flickr group.

 

[RFH]

I find Fomapan 100 in HC110 to be very grainy, even with 120 film.

 

[DominikDUK]

Thank you mdarnton.

Sandermarijn what is wrong with the Kentmere grain ?

RFH I agree Fomapan is grainy as hell. As well as a beautiful film but Foma unfortunately still seems to have Q.C. issues otherwise it would be the perfect choice.

Dominik

 

[wblynch]

I find Fomapan 100 in HC110 to be very grainy, even with 120 film.

My suggestion is also Fomapan. but in Ilfosol-3. Try it. You will see.

No quality issues with Fomapan 100.

 

[DominikDUK]

wblynch and rfh after your endorsement I might have to try Fomapan again.

sandermarijn forget my question after looking at examples I have to say the grain structure is absolutely hideous. Thank you for warning me.

Dominik

 

[Nokton48]

Eastman Double-X 5222 Motion Picture Film is naturally grainy, due to it's 1950's emulsion formulation. I like it's grainy rendition of most subjects.