Slowest B+W Films? By slow I mean < 100

I want to know this also + SIDE QUESTION, are modern slow ISO 100 films like TMAX100 sharper then old slower films like Efke 25?
 
Moriturii said:
I want to know this also + SIDE QUESTION, are modern slow ISO 100 films like TMAX100 sharper then old slower films like Efke 25?
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Film sharpness is largely a function of local contrast and with the right developer, delta and tmax films are very sharp. But then so are non t-grain films in the right developers. You just a need a developer which gives enhanced edge effect. Rodinal is very good for this IMO but so is DD-X and I beleive T-Max developer too.
 
Definitely Efke 25, and Rollei makes some ISO 25 films too (in 35mm). I also have about 20 rolls (120) of Agfa 25 in my freezer, but now I'm just bragging.

Jim B.
 
Assuming you use film to make prints, you could (only barely, technically) consider Efke's positive B&W paper as slowest...believe the EI is a whopping 6.
 
Fuji MiniCopy II is about ISO6. I think Kodak still has an equivalent copy film. Grainless and sharp, and really difficult to coax good tonality out of.

Marty
 
You might try Kodak 5366 (finegrain duplicating film) or 5234, which has an ASA equivalent of 5
 
tlitody said:
Just wondering which are the slowest B+W films currently available ?
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There is a concurrent thread about shooting infrared where people are talking about Efke 820 with IR filtration having an effective e.i. of 1 or less. And it is said to have high reciprocity failure as well. So if an e.i. of one is still too high, stop down the lens and your exposure time becomes infinite.
 
The reason I asked this question is because I was thinking about fill flash on a Zeiss Ikon which has a max sync speed of 1/125 th.
On a bright sunny day you will be at or close to the sunny 16 rule. All well and good except if you want to shoot at F4 instead of F16 you can't close down 4 stops and chnage speed to 1/2000 because you lose sync speed. So if you want to use fill flash and F4, you would need a film speed of around ISO 8 just to get a shutter speed of 1/125 th with some fill flash.

Now I see why people like leaf shutters for fill flash work in bright sunlight.
 
Bob Michaels said:
There is a concurrent thread about shooting infrared where people are talking about Efke 820 with IR filtration having an effective e.i. of 1 or less. And it is said to have high reciprocity failure as well. So if an e.i. of one is still too high, stop down the lens and your exposure time becomes infinite.
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I've played the IR game years ago. Fortunately for me I don't particularly like the so called wood effect it gives to anything with Chlorophyll in it. I do like how it renders blue skies as black but you don't need full IR film to get that effect.
 
tlitody said:
The reason I asked this question is because I was thinking about fill flash on a Zeiss Ikon ....................
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Now I understand. May I suggest an alternative of a 3'x4' sheet of white foamcore used as a bounce card? If you really want to get spiffy, spray one side with contact cement and stick on aluminum foil. That is how I deal with the problem.
 
Bob Michaels said:
Now I understand. May I suggest an alternative of a 3'x4' sheet of white foamcore used as a bounce card? If you really want to get spiffy, spray one side with contact cement and stick on aluminum foil. That is how I deal with the problem.
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Yes this would make life easier. Might need an assistant though.

And I guess ND filters would work too.
 
I've used Efke25 but it's delicate (gets easily scratched) and has some factory problems (occasional spots on the emulsion) in some rolls...

I'd look for options (maybe filtering?) with PanF50, which is a great film...

Cheers,

Juan
 
I like Ilford Pan F 50 quite a bit. I've also used the CMS 25...don't even think of over-exposing it as it can't handle it.
 
tlitody said:
The reason I asked this question is because I was thinking about fill flash on a Zeiss Ikon which has a max sync speed of 1/125 th.
On a bright sunny day you will be at or close to the sunny 16 rule. All well and good except if you want to shoot at F4 instead of F16 you can't close down 4 stops and chnage speed to 1/2000 because you lose sync speed. So if you want to use fill flash and F4, you would need a film speed of around ISO 8 just to get a shutter speed of 1/125 th with some fill flash.

Now I see why people like leaf shutters for fill flash work in bright sunlight.
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You're really better off just using ND filters, then. Far easier and will give you much flexibility in terms of film choice.
 
Bob Michaels said:
Now I understand. May I suggest an alternative of a 3'x4' sheet of white foamcore used as a bounce card? If you really want to get spiffy, spray one side with contact cement and stick on aluminum foil. That is how I deal with the problem.
Click to expand...
Dear Bob,

Crinkling the foil first and then smoothing it out again, of course, to avoid hot-spots. I'd be surprised if you didn't use that trick, but others reading your excellent advice may not know it.

Cheers,

R.
 
Don't you guys check Freestyle's B&W film selections?
Of course if you are not in the US, shipping can be expensive, so buy in bulk.

I have so far used:
Adox ORT 25
Adox CHS 25 and 50

I don't know why people complain about these films being delicate, I don't maul my films in development, but I'm not extra gentle either.

And these are great films for yet another reason, very nice, gentle, long slope of tonality. Which suits the types of photos I usually make.
 
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