well i agree that the FP4 is a good place to start (nothing wrong with it long term either) and i also said it is very forgiving. but Charles do you really think it as bad as 'someone's world would crash around them' if they used Delta or TM film? surely its not that hard, even for a beginner, pretty much mix the ingredients, right temp and right time as per the instructions and Bobs your uncle eh 😉
As a lab assistant, in college, I saw a LOT of beginners having trouble with both films. With the Ilford Delta Pro, they'd use a wash that was just a few degrees too cold and the film would reticulate so badly that it looked like a shed snakeskin. Then too, I figure this guy will be using Microdal, D-76, or one of the other more foolproof and commonly available "beginner's" developers with it, and he isn't going to get much contrast from Delta Pro using those unless he push processes it.
T-max ... well, it is sensitive to EVERYTHING. Temperature, any developer but T-Max developer, dillution, agitation, ... your mood. Just look at it cross-eyed and you get grain from hell, let alone rapping it too hard to get rid of bubbles. Yeah, you can get some kind of photo out of it, but a beginner's photos will almost certainly be grainy and T-Max is
supposed to be almost grainless (that's what tabular grained films are
for). Took me years to master that one, to the point that I know what to do to control the development of grain so it comes out just how I want it -- and that's what I use it for.
For example, this is T-Max with a little grain (nudity):
http://fallisphoto.deviantart.com/art/Nude-Portrait-3113845 (what appears to be grain is actually the texture of the paper, picked up by my Agfa Snapscan flatbed scanner).
This is T-Max with a lot of grain (nudity):
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=75138
This is T-Max pushed and agitated to achieve a very controlled grain (no nudity here):
http://fallisphoto.deviantart.com/art/Smith-Mountain-Lake-3219175
