Shooting Fuji Neopan 1600- EI & Dev??

[Daniel Unkefer]

Hi All,
I was at the local pro shop today, and they had a box full of 36 exp Fuji Neopan 1600, priced at $3.99/roll. So, I picked up twenty rolls, since I've heard a lot of good things about Neopan 1600, and the only other high-speed 35mm film I've used recently is Delta 3200, which I rate at 1600, with good results in DDX developer.

I'm using Voigtlander Bessa R's and L's, and I normally de-rate my meter setting by one stop. I shot alot of Fuji Press 800, set all the meters to 400 and get great looking negatives.

With the Neopan 1600, I've heard the real EI is 1250. Is that what you use for your meter settings, or do you also de-rate the film/meter EI?

Also, what developer works well with this film, post examples if you are so inclined. Thanks everybody!

-Dan, I like Delta 3200, but it's rendition is kinda "gritty".

 

[Pherdinand]

I used it in my yashica gsn at iso 1000 (the max that the gsn can do). Turned out fine. Also turned out fine at 1600 in my slr. I let it developed commercially, though. I think they used Agfa Refinal. You have to be careful not to overdevelop it (i think in general its dev times are SHORT) because it gains too high contrast. Happened to me.

 

[Daniel Unkefer]

OK, thanks for that. Got a roll in one of the Bessa R's now, set the meter to 800EI (for starters). Your advise about overdeveloping the film seems sound, I've heard it can get excessively contrasty. That, of course, means it has been excessively developed.

-Dan, my alltime #1 favorite film developer is Pyro PMK+. I also have Agfa Rodinal, a gallon kit of Diafine, some good 'ol D-76, and DK-50 (that's old stock!) as well as Ilford DDX, and a few others around.

What works best with Neopan 1600??

 

[peter_n]

Daniel using the search engine both here and over at PN will provide you with the beginnings of some useful information:


Advice on developing Neopan 1600


Best developer for Neopan 1600

 

[Daniel Unkefer]

Thanks Peter

Some very interesting threads there. Which led me to Megaperls Webshop, so now I have two rolls of bulk Neopan coming from Japan.

 

[peter_n]

Great! Dirk is a terrific guy and is also a member here. I think you'll enjoy using the film!

 

[Goodyear]

Bearing in mind I don't have the experience to o anything other than keep it simple, I like it at 1600 dev'd in Xtol:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marramgrass/113675962/

 

[sleepyhead]

I've developed Neopan 1600 exposed @ 1600 in both Kodak T-MAX developer and in Diafine - both for the manufacturere's recommended times and temperatures. I can't see any big diffference between them. I've settled on Diafine because it's much more economical than the Kodak developer.

By the way, at first I rated Neopan 1600 at 1280, but I found that overexposure made it very contrasty, dense and hard to scan. But this could be my water hardness, pH, etc. I would shoot a test roll with exposures at 1000, 1280, 1600, and 2000 to see what works best for you.

 

[kaiyen]

By the way, at first I rated Neopan 1600 at 1280, but I found that overexposure made it very contrasty, dense and hard to scan. But this could be my water hardness, pH, etc. I would shoot a test roll with exposures at 1000, 1280, 1600, and 2000 to see what works best for you.

Not to be overly nitpicky (and not to be picky to you, specifically), but shooting at 1250 didn't cause that. You just overdeveloped. Shooting at a lower EI will decrease contrast, not increase it. However, if you developed it as if it were 1600 or didn't not pull enough then it's overdevelopment, which will lead to more density.

allan

 

[rich815]

Great film. I shoot it at 1000 and pull back on dev time about 30-40% depending on how contrasty the circumstances were. It is not an overly contrasty or grainy film (as so many are so quick to label it). It can easily be developed with very nice contrast if one does not over do the development time. Contrary to what most people think giving a little extra time in the developer "too be sure" is pretty much the worse thing you can do with almost any film. Giving a little less time "to be sure" would be infinitely better most of the time, especially if you plan to scan the negs.

Here are two links to two Neopan 1600 shots of by son Ben developed in D-76:

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=130866606&size=o

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=130866629&size=o

 

[Daniel Unkefer]

My Fuji Presto 400 (Neopan 400) and Presto 1600 (Neopan 1600) 30.5-meter rolls arrived yesterday from Megaperls in Japan. Very quick shipment😀