One Film Many ISOs, or a few films for different ISOs?

I'm all over the place. I shoot Rollei Ortho 25, Rollei Pan 25, Efke 25, Ilford PanF+, FP4+ and HP5+, and Neopan 1600. I use lots of different developers. Each film is shot at one ISO and developed in the same developer almost all the time- most films have only one developer I'll use with them, though I have several ISO values for HP5+ and several developers.
 
I shoot mostly trix at 400 (60%), followed by Delta 3200 at 3200 or rarely 1600 (30%). I also experiment with various infra-redish films like Efke Aura or SFX (10%).
 
DNG said:
Which is better.....??
Have one film and shoot at at ISO 100-800 or
A few films to shoot at ISO 50-250, and ISO 400-800

I am of the belief that say a 100 ISO film can be shoot at ISO 64-160 for best results that have a good tonal range, and will scan/print better.

I think I am a 2 film guy....
ISO 100/125, and ISO 400 for ISO from 64-800 between the two, and yes I have 2 film cameras with similar primes... SLR with a 28 and 40, and a RF with 28 and 50.

What are your thoughts, and recipes for "1" Film Shooting?
And for "2" film shooting and recipes?
Click to expand...

What your reason for wanting to shoot ISO 100 film? If it's to deal with brightly lit, high-contrast scenes, I think you can get by just fine with a single film.

TMY2 performs beautifully at EI 400-800, processed normally in Xtol, yielding normal contrast negatives with its famous grain and tonality. If you want higher contrast, you can push process it at 800, and you get even a little more contrast (and grain) at EI 1600.

As for the low end of the scale, it performs nicely at EI 200, with a little more grain but nicely reduced contrast for those harsh light situations where you might otherwise wish you had an ISO 100 film.

I don't stick to TMY2 100% of the time, but probably something like 80-90%. The other 10-20% of the time is when I'm reaching for TMX, TMZ K64 or Ektar. But if I were to lose the other options, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
 
DNG said:
Which is better.....??

Have one film and shoot at at ISO 100-800 or
A few films to shoot at ISO 50-250, and ISO 400-800

I am of the belief that say a 100 ISO film can be shoot at ISO 64-160 for best results that have a good tonal range, and will scan/print better.

I think I am a 2 film guy....
ISO 100/125, and ISO 400 for ISO from 64-800 between the two, and yes I have 2 film cameras with similar primes... SLR with a 28 and 40, and a RF with 28 and 50.

What are your thoughts, and recipes for "1" Film Shooting?
And for "2" film shooting and recipes?
Click to expand...

1 film shooting: Kodak Portra 400
2 film shooting: add Kodak Tri-X 400 (at times it may be the first choice, if light is really low and I have no flash)
3 film shooting: add Kodak Ektar 100 / Fuji Velvia 50
 
I shoot pretty much anything, but if I were to start developing myself, I'd maybe try to settle down on one or two.
 
I'm trying to settle on a couple films, couple developers strategy. I will try to accomodate extreme lighting differences by having less hesitation to change the film mid-roll. But then, I don't have to be fast for my style of shooting.

This summer, I weeded out all the Iso 25/15° alternatives and settled on Pan F in Spur SD 2525, rated at Iso 32/16°. My standard is APX100 / Retro 100 in SD 2525, rated at Iso 100/21°. And for the dark season, I'm going through the Iso 400/27° options with an eye out towards push development right now...
 
Thomas-Paris said:
What your reason for wanting to shoot ISO 100 film? If it's to deal with brightly lit, high-contrast scenes, I think you can get by just fine with a single film.

TMY2 performs beautifully at EI 400-800, processed normally in Xtol, yielding normal contrast negatives with its famous grain and tonality. If you want higher contrast, you can push process it at 800, and you get even a little more contrast (and grain) at EI 1600.

As for the low end of the scale, it performs nicely at EI 200, with a little more grain but nicely reduced contrast for those harsh light situations where you might otherwise wish you had an ISO 100 film.

I don't stick to TMY2 100% of the time, but probably something like 80-90%. The other 10-20% of the time is when I'm reaching for TMX, TMZ K64 or Ektar. But if I were to lose the other options, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
Click to expand...

Why?
Mainly to get an idea on what films people like and why.
I am considering standardizing on 2/3 films....A 100/125 ISO, and a 400 ISO....

I tried Plux-X at 125...It's alright, but I think I want a bit more detail revealed... I soup in Xtol 1:3 for the best sharpness and tonal range. I have Illford Pan X, and Delta 100 and 400 in the mail system to give those a test drive.. I have tried Fuji Acros 100 in the past, just can't remember the sharpness and tonality I saw. Just forgot to order a few rolls ( :bang: )

I shoot in daylight, mostly and have a ND.6 if I want to use f/2.8 - f/1.5..But, I find myself taking images in shadowed areas also or in doors (medium light), Hence the 400 film tests.

Although, a tight 400 film might be a good all around film, I can shoot at 250 - 640, and just adjust my dev-time a bit.
 
DNG said:
Why?
Mainly to get an idea on what films people like and why.
Click to expand...

Well, this part was clear :)

DNG said:
I am considering standardizing on 2/3 films....A 100/125 ISO, and a 400 ISO....
Click to expand...

What I meant by the "why?" was, there are many things that can change between EI 64 and EI 800, what is it you were looking for, exactly? For myself, I shoot my TMY between 200-1600 to control the contrast. Some people like slow films so they can shoot fast lenses wide open without filters. Some like the consistently boring flat greys that come from pulling slow films. And so on ... just curious about the motivation in your case.

DNG said:
Although, a tight 400 film might be a good all around film, I can shoot at 250 - 640, and just adjust my dev-time a bit.
Click to expand...

Personally, I don't think 640 is pushing the film far enough for some low-contrast situations if you're talking about TMY. Depends on what you want to get out of the negative, of course.
 
gb hill said:
One thing I like about XP-2 is you can get by with shooting the same roll at different speeds with normal processing times. I have had good results with 200 to 800 but have seen others who shot it at 1600 & normal dev. times & was acceptable. Cool film. I don't think Kodak's BW400CN is as forgiving as XP-2.
Click to expand...
Yes that is my experience also. XP-2 seems to more flexible.
 
I personally prefer having different films for different ISOs.
I know how each will act, I know the limitations, and I know what I can pull off with each one.

Sadly some are no longer around so I have to go hunting for new alternatives...
 
I used to be fairly settled on Tri-X 400 and Agfa APX 100 but recently have been trying a much wider range. My workflow changed recently when I started shipping films to NCPS, and I've been experimenting to see which films give the best results with their scans. So far 35mm scanning seems to be good for anything, but I have to be more selective with 120 film. Ilford Pan F 50 and Neopan Acros 100 and Neopan 400 are turning into new favourites for this workflow. I've just got hold of some Neopan 1600 and waiting to get first scans back so looking forward to this :)
 
I have just received 3 Illford films to try...
Pan F 50, Delta 100, Delta 400, 3x each

One at rated
One at below rated 1/2
One at above rated 3x
with adjusted soup times.

all in Xtol 1:3 at 23c (my room temp for liquids)

I'll how it goes with Illford....
 
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