Need film stock advice, please

[Hjortsberg]

I'm nearing the end of my "one year with a Leica" project having only used one type of film stock: Kodak Tri-x 400 speed film.

I'm still only interested in black and white at this point and I'm looking for a new film to shoot. Any suggestions? I live in sunny southern california and only shoot in the day time, so I was thinking of a 100 speed Ilford film.

I'm assuming the slower speed has a finer grain?

as always, thanks in advance.

 

[segedi]

Consider Fuji Acros 100. Very nice film and while more expensive than tri-x, it's cheaper than FP4+ or Delta 100.

 

[kokoshawnuff]

Efke are great films and quite easy to process

 

[kxl]

I'm in SoCal myself so I understand your preference for 100 speed film.

I would recommend TMX (TMAX 100). Not the most forgiving of B&W films, but when you get it right, it is simply beautiful.

 

[David Hughes]

My vote's for FP4 + but I've been using it since the days of FP3 etc, etc, and feel I know it.

Regards, David

 

[Austerby]

I'd be tempted to go for the something from the slowest films on the market - Pan F+ or Adox CHS25 for example. Not easy to get right, but they can produce lovely results, quite different from Tri-X, so a whole new learning process.

 

[ruby.monkey]

Try Rollei Ortho 25 or similar for a real old-school look.

 

[Teuthida]

Whatver you chose, if you're shooting outdoors in the sun Tri-X is overkill. Go for a slower ISO film.

I second the Pan-F recommendation. Love its tonality and fine grain. If you could find a few 100 ft rolls of Plus -X you may want to give that a try. Tonalities similar to Pan-F but double the speed with a hint of grain. Both are old, "classic" emulsions i.e. not the newerr tech "T grain" type, and hence tend to be more forgiving. If you want to experiment with a new twch film, I second the Acros 100 idea. Never liked T Max, either 400 or 100. Just always seemed to have a harsh look to me.