fraley's film

[back alley]

as i was heading out yesterday, i discovered that the mailman had delivered mr. f's film to my door. the konica b&w c41 stuff.
i dropped a roll into my 'p' and continued on my way.

i finished the roll this morning and just picked up the negs & cd.

it seems more delicate than the xp2.
shots were taken with the 100/4 canon (park/ice/ambulance) and the 35/2.8 (market)

here are a few examples.

[back alley]

where are my manners?

i want to thank fraley for the generous gift of this film.

i like the film but i don't think there is any in town, i'll have to check.
i know the lab had not seen it before and asked what it was.

joe

[Skinny McGee]

Wow that seems to have alot more contrast then the 400 cn. What speed is it? I like the look

[back alley]

Wow that seems to have alot more contrast then the 400 cn. What speed is it? I like the look

there's a bit of a photoshop boost in there.
i shot without yellow filters, no filters at all.

it's rated 400 - i shot at 200.

the market were all 60th @ f 4
outside shots were @1000 & 5.6/8

joe

[jlw]

it seems more delicate than the xp2.

Delicate in terms of tonal rendition, or delicate in the sense that it scratches easily?

The latter has been a problem for me with most C41 b&w films.

[wlewisiii]

I recieved mine and the 5 shots in my gallery from the Kiev 5 were taken with the first roll of it. I found it to be interesting, but overall I like the contrast of the current Kodak BW400CN a little bit better. That may be because I'm used to it though.

I do really like how "Pretty Woman" http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/7985/sort/1/cat/500/page/1 came out on it.

William

[Doug]

Does the Konica film have an orange mask?

[back alley]

delicate in terms of tonal rendition. there seems to be more information there.

it does have an orange mask while the xp2 is more purple.

joe

[fraley]

Hey joe, I like the market shots and the skaters! Nice work. I put up some more of the Konica in my gallery today, chain of lakes trees. I added brightness, they were generally a little flat. It was an overcast day. I was using a light yellow filter as usual, but I don't think it had much effect.

I like this film alright, but I might prefer the Kodak B&W too. There's two kinds of Kodak, one easily available in the drugstore, the other seems to be a pro film. William, have you compared the two? Is the BW400CN superior?

[wlewisiii]

I think that the BW400CN is better than the BWC. I'd say there is more contrast to the BW400CN and that the grain becomes noticable under more circumstances with the BWC. I have a couple of late afternoon shots with the BWC that came out quite grainy. Most times I'd like that, but it wasn't what I was looking for that day. The BW400CNs fault, if it is one, is that there's almost too much contrast.

I need to shoot more to be sure... :D

I've been buying the BW400CN at my nieghborhood camera store. It's a fairly cluefull place but it is quite pricey (not a chain afterall.) but I really need to find a cheaper place. Pity they don't sell 100' rolls of that.

William

[jlw]

Which of these films are orange-masked and which are more neutral?

The orange-masked films are designed to give neutral tones when printed on color paper (such as you'd get by taking them to a lab.) The neutral films are designed for conventional darkroom printing on b&w paper, where the orange-masked films are a huge pain in the butt (because the orange mask acts like a safelight filter and forces you to use hugely long exposure times.)

[Doug]

I think Ilford and Fuji are the only ones left making unmasked C41 chromogenics now that Kodak discontinued T400CN (which had a very faint salmon base tint but not the heavier orange mask). Years ago Agfa had made one too...

[digitalox]

As far as Kodak goes, there is also the Portra B&W, their highest end C-41 B&W I believe. I've only found at the pro shops, usually in the cooler. Very nice film IMO but pricey.

[wlewisiii]

The Portra and T400CN were phased-out in favor of BW400CN.

William

[Fedzilla_Bob]

I just bought two rolls of BW400cn yesterday at a local camera shop and paid over 8 bucks a roll. I then decided I needed to find a cheaper source- Amazon.com fit the bill @ 4.95 a roll.

[digitalox]

Portra was phased out? Oh no, guess I'm showing how long its been since I shot c-41 b&W! Can't see why they phased out the portra it was great.

[sockeyed]

I haven't been able to find the Konica B&W anywhere in Vancouver except in their disposable cameras (not really an option). I have hear praise of it in the past and have longed to try it out. The results look good!

I'm addicted to XP-2 for C-41 B&W. I find that the BW400 is mushy, and the orange mask makes printing in a traditional darkroom quite difficult.

[Pherdinand]

That "wrong way" is cool:)
Nice shots. Lookin' forward to try it out myself.

[pixman]

I am about to try C41. I will have to see if the film is available here in the U.K. Your shot of the skaters in the park is great and highly reminiscent of Lowry's paintings. Rod.