Why shoot Fuji Neopan 400?

GarageBoy

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So... now that the stuff is discontinued- please tell us why Neopan was your favorite ISO 400 B&W film?

(tempted to go out and buy some, as I've never used it before, but not sure how well ISO 400 film stores)
 
When you get Neopan right it has nicest blacks you'll ever see IMO ... that's what characterises the film for me. I'd still be shooting it if I could have kept buying it as legacy pro when freestyle had it ... especially in 100ft rolls. If I'd had any inkling it would be gone so soon I would have bought a thousand feet of it when they had it in stock!
 
I just like the feeling...

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had an intense, short-lived affair with it as legacy pro 400...it will be missed. loved, loved, loved it...


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I'm not sure why but this is probably my favourite Neopan shot.


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What the hell ... the stuff is gone ... more samples.


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And pushed a couple of stops where the grain becomes absolutely glorious.

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Yup, rich blacks, even when pushed.
Here are 3 recent examples,
all pushed to 1600 iso except for the egg seller,
at iso 800.

raytoei
 

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I still have about 70 rolls of Neopan 400 & 70 rolls of Acros 100 in 120 and maybe 5 100' rolls of LegacyPro 100...
So I'll be shooting it for awhile...
I shoot it for the rich blacks and creamy whites...and when loaded in the Yashicamat 124g it's pure magic...
 
Keith...I choose wisely when I trip the shutter...I will not waste this film on just anything...
Pretty soon I may have to store it in the safe...
 
if I had known, I would not have
spent the last 10 rolls of legacy pro
so quickly. i am currently working through
the remaining loose rolls of legacy pro 100
(acros 100) and arista premium 100 (plus-x).
After that it will be self-rolled kentmere 400
and polypan f 50 all the way.

Life is too short not to horde :)

raytoei
 
Well, they still have Neopan 400 in stock, for example at B&H, I am wondering if I should buy 10-20 more rolls for my deep-freezer (already 50 rolls there).

Deep frozen, it should hold up at least 3-4 years after the expiration date. I recently shot some Neopan 400 in 120, which had expiration in 2009, bought it from eBay, not sure about previous owners storage solution. Looked just normal and lovely.

Neopan 400 and Tri-X are very very similar (Tri-X will be my 400 option in 35mm and 120 now), similar tonal response (Neopan a little less red sensitive), but Neopan really knocks the socks of Tri-X concerning resolution and grain size and quality.

Really sad to see it go, after they revived it autumn 2012, I was hopeful that it may come back in 120 as well......and now this!

To be honest; I am so fed up by the killing of wonderful favorite films that I am thinking about quitting the whole thing, just shoot my last stuff and sell the damn freezer when it's empty.

By the looks of it, Ilford and Foma and Rollei being the exception, certain film companies seem to WANT the film-based photography art to die out.

Neopan 400 in 35mm, HC-110, cute dog in Turkey, July 2012


Roxy by znapper74, on Flickr


Neopan 400 in 35mm, HC-110, Stray cat sleeping.

If you don't roll down from it, you can sleep on it by znapper74, on Flickr
 
I liked the smoothness of tone and the grain structure, although a 'conventional' rather than tabular structure (ok it was rumoured to be hybrid like Tmax 400) it was very fine grained for the speed.


Fiona by Photo Utopia, on Flickr
 
Did anyone besides me have issues with Neopan 400 and excessive curl after developing?

I really love the look of this film, but have had SERIOUS curl issues with it. FWIW, I always have used distilled water for all steps of my B&W process as well as fresh chemicals.

The only thing I can think of is that the film substrate of Neopan 400 does NOT like the dry air of my hometown. Typically we're running at 25-35% relative humidity on any given day. I've had this issue with Tri-X, but not nearly as bad as Neopan 400.

A side note: perhaps I could count this as a blessing ... I loaded up on Neopan 400 in 36 exp. rolls and 100' rolls last year in a buying binge. If I can figure out this curl issue, I'll probably enjoy this film even more now that it's on its way out.
 
25-35% is too low - that's why it curls. Myself I'm about 200 rolls stocked in 135 and 50 in 120. Great film. Very similar to Tri-X but with steeper shoulder and toe. Can be pushed to 3200 easily. I never noticed a significant grain difference vs 400tx - which is it's natural replacement.
 
I shot it because I live in Japan and it was the cheapest of the black and white films available. I will miss. I am thinking of not shooting 35mm format anymore and just shooting medium format film instead.

Anyway, here are some photos.

I am going to miss it.

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When you get Neopan right it has nicest blacks you'll ever see IMO ... that's what characterises the film for me. I'd still be shooting it if I could have kept buying it as legacy pro when freestyle had it ... especially in 100ft rolls. If I'd had any inkling it would be gone so soon I would have bought a thousand feet of it when they had it in stock!

I liked that film very much because it was an excellent 400 ASA film with a solid neutral base and no QC issues but quite frankly and given my constant processing and results using D76 1+1 I couldn't really see any real difference with Tri-X, were it either on scans (got from a dedicated film scanner) or on FB wet darkroom 8"x11" prints.

And I could say the same if compared with HP5+...

It's sad to see it go because it's sad to see the film market getting narrower but I still have to discover whatever "special" Neopan 400 could offer.
 
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