Help me decide on high speed film

[Jordan W.]

Hi everyone, just a quick note because I just noticed this thread... I'm an occasional Diafine user myself and I would recommend AGAINST trying HP5 Plus in it. It doesn't look good -- the grain is very objectionable. I figured that there was a reason that no-one discussed this combo, but I just had to find out for myself.

Neopan 1600 in Diafine seems pretty good. I've done one roll with this combo. I don't know exactly what EI you can shoot at, but I used 1600 with no ill effects. Some examples here:

http://www.photosensitive.ca/index.php/image/0547-2/
http://www.photosensitive.ca/index.php/image/0547-6/

I recently bought a 100' roll of Neopan 1600 from Megaperls in Japan. The shipping from Tokyo to Toronto took just over a week. I was pleasantly surprised, and I recommend using their "Small Packet" option. It beats the pants off the local price for this film (C$7.50 per 36exp roll). Unfortunately I haven't had much time to try it, and the one roll I did use from it was lost due to bad developer (some MYTOL -- home-brew XTOL -- that had gone bad).

 

[peter_n]

Jordan thanks for sharing the pics, I especially like the top one - it looks like a typical NP1600 night shot - a bit on the noir side... I've seen Neopan 400 in Diafine here and they look a bit gray to me (I do like contrast) but this looks pretty good! Thanks again! 🙂

 

[T_om]

I'm an occasional Diafine user myself and I would recommend AGAINST trying HP5 Plus in it. It doesn't look good -- the grain is very objectionable. I figured that there was a reason that no-one discussed this combo, but I just had to find out for myself.

"Doesn't look good" ?? Huh?

Well, I am not an occasional Diafine user... I have been using it pretty much exclusively for 25 or 30 years now.

HP and FP emulsions do just fine in Diafine. It depends upon what you are looking for.

The shot "Bamboo #3" in my gallery is HP5+ in Diafine. It looks great at 20"x30" on my wall. Very nice tonality and the grain, while present of course, is not in the least objectionable.

Last, I NEVER "recommend against" trying ANYTHING. Experimentation is the father of creativity.

Tom

 

[Jordan W.]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

I certainly don't have the benefit of your experience, Tom, but HP5 Plus / Diafine in my hands gave grainy negatives that scanned very poorly on my Minolta Scan Dual II (in my experience, some combinations give especially grainy scans, and this is one. I'd imagine that a higher-end scanner would perform differently.) FP4 Plus / Diafine, however, does really well. Of the five or six types of film I've tried in Diafine, HP5 Plus was the only one that left me disappointed.

I agree that it was incorrect for me to recommend against trying this combination, though. It's always worthwhile to try it out.