neopan 1600 ~ tasty.

[SuitePhoto]

Sorry for the noob question - I'm jumping into the RF world from digital. These shots are EXACTLY the look I want from my new camera (something that is tough to replicate with digital).

But changing the ISO setting on the camera to something different than the type of film you are using is new to me...

So moving the ISO setting down from the film speed - using 640 with 1600 film - tends to give you less contrast and more tonal range? what about grain - will that change? How about doing the opposite - using Tri-X 400 and setting the camera to 640?

Do you need to take into account any exposure compensation when you make ISO changes?

 

[thorsten]

Mike,

actually every film has its effective sensitivity which differs from the "said sensitivity". Often this effective sensitivity is lower than it is noted to be. The actual sensitivity is something you can only find out for yourself, depending on your own camera, your own light meter and your own lens. Another thing is the developing time. To say it generally: The longer you develop the more contrast you get. While developing longer raises contrast, it doesn't raise the film's sensitivity (at least not much). On the other hand, increased contrast means a smaller tonal range on the negative.

Grain really is nicer when Neopan 1600 is exposed at EI 640 and developed for this EI. So the effective sensitivity of Neopan 1600 lies anywhere around EI 640 (varying in dependance on your equipment). Regarding the things said above this means, if you expose Neopan 1600 at EI 1600 you have to develop it longer. Since increasing the developing time only increases the contrast with only little effect on the actual sensitivity, you will loose tonal range.

In general, grain is depending on your choice of developer. Normally, if you choose a developer, that offers fine grain, this goes together with less sharpness (acutance). Xtol is an example for a developer that takes the middle route: small/nice grain and a lot of sharpness.

If you really care, you have to do your own tests to find out your film's real sensitivity and developing time for your equipment. The reason why you could find this helpful is, that a "tested film" gives you the best possible negatives for easier printing and/or scanning. Here are 2 links you might find helpful:

http://www.halfhill.com/speed1.html

http://www.halfhill.com/speed2.html

Hope this helps,
Thorsten

 

[SuitePhoto]

Thanks Thorsten,

I will be using a lab to do my developing. Should I let them know if I shoot with a different ISO that what the film is rated at?

 

[thorsten]

Mike, it depends. Some labs send the films in and let them be done as standard. Other (pro-) labs also develop films individually; those should be able to deal with it. I don't know where you live, but here in Germany theres for example Fotoimpex which adjust their developing times when you tell them the ISO you chose. In both cases, you will probably get nice results... it's perhaps just this tad "better" when you do it yourself after testing yourself.

 

[Russ]

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Neopan 400, 400CN & 1600. Ever since discovering Neopan 400 a few years ago, I haven't touched Tri-X of HP-5. I overexpose them by 1/3 a stop and have them souped in X-Tol, with excellent results.

Russ