tedwhite said:
Wow, never used Neopan 1600... Any advice?
Well, yes.
Try to expose it as close to dead-nuts on as possible. Overexposed, it's quite opaque. Solid white foreheads, that kind of thing. (Was it Aaron Siskind who was quoted as saying "I always overexpose by three or four stops"? Bet my soul the bugger wasn't using Neopan.)
I've used it at ASA 800 as a daylight walkaround film, both urban and forest; that extra stop over 400 comes in handy in shaded areas, and I found it pulled reasonably well.
Don't fear the grain. It's tasty. And, it's very easy to focus on the enlarger easel with a focusing magniifier. Like fine gravel.
I've used it for portraits taken under a 40-watt bulb. Off a tripod. They were, shall we say, well-received. People liked the grain- they realised they were looking at something that's become a bit uncommon in this day and age.
It's a very good match for Agfa's Multicontrast fibre paper, and a decent match for Ilford's Warmtone fibre, although one can struggle to satisfactorily print an overexposed Neopan negative on the Warmtone. I've cursed it roundly, some evenings, being a chronic overexposer.
And try XTOL.
