Need low-sensitivity film recommendations

thorsten · 07-12-2006

I am planning a trip to Italy in about 3 weeks. Since I'm new (again) to film photography, I planned to stay just with a few films and 2 developers, not to mess up with too many combinations.

For ISO 400 I'll go with Tri-X, developed in D76, for high-ISO I'll go with Neopan 1600 developed in Xtol. Now I am missing a low-ISO film in the range of about 100 ASA, which offers great results together with either D76 or Xtol. I thought of Ilford's FP4+ but don't know, if it comes along with these developers nicely. Do you have any comments on FP4+ in D76 or Xtol or do you have other suggestions for a low-ISO film?

Thanks

rich815 · 07-12-2006

Fuji Acros 100 is nice, as is Delta 100, for more modern emulsions. If you want more "classic" look go for FP4+, Plus-X or Fuji 100ss (if you can find the ss).

dcsang · 07-12-2006

mmmm....Silvertone 100? Acros if you want T-grain stylin' and if you can find it; Ilford Pan-F (50 asa)

Dave

tetrisattack · 07-12-2006

I love slow film.

After trying many medium-slow speed films, I've settled on FP4+ in 35, 120, and 4x5, and Acros in 120.

FP4 is the first thing I reach for when I want to shoot something high contrast, due to the its rich and lovely tonal range. I particularly enjoy it at EI 80 and though I usually run it in Rodinal, I bet it'd look great in D76 1+1. IMO, this film does white-on-black and white-on-charcoal-black better than most.

Acros is special because you can essentially ignore reciprocity issues. It bothers me to no end that it can't be bought in regular sheet film sizes. It also looks better with a bit of overexposure. By the way people talk, one would think that this film is married to Rodinal, but I have certain knowledge that, if Rodinal is the wife of Acros, then HC-110 "H" is its sizzling secret Brazillian mistress. There can be some grand midtone punch with this combination. It reminds me of liquid metal. And it scans extremely well.

titrisol · 07-12-2006

100 low sensitivity? that is kinda funny, I have always thought of 100 as medium sensitivity (25 would be low).

Since you'll be using the ZM (according to your signature) sharpness will be the issue, since you'd like to take advantage of the lenses.
I think you'll have to decide whether you want a classic or a more modern look.

I'd go with either Ilford FP4 (expose as 100) or EFKE/ADOX 100 (expose as 100) as classic style BW emulsions.
Fuji ACROS or Delta 100 (as 80) are also great films, but they give a different look.

I'd reccommend you buy whatever you can find close by, run a test or two and stick with it. You can't go wrong with any of these in D76 or Xtol but as usual, you need to TEST YOURSELF!!!!

oftheherd · 07-12-2006

I have developed FP4 in D76 with no problems, but not in recent years, so if somebody else says it didn't work for them I would explore why and maybe listen. My experience goes back about 15 years.

If you can get it, Efke/Adox comes in a 25 and 50 ASA and usually gets good reviews from those who have used it.

thorsten · 07-12-2006

Thanks for your answers. Unfortunately, I got film-lust now.

Especially "It reminds me of liquid metal" (Thanks tetrisattack) made me want to try out Acros 100.

titrisol, of course you're right regarding low-sinsitivity-films. Sorry for my mistake.

Some more general thoughts. I want to get a combination for low-, mid- and high-ISO... I want to test myself all of these combinations with a densitometer to find out *my* actual film-speed and developing time. But I'd like to get a good starting point to not waste too much money with finding a combination which is worth trying. So through a lot of topics on these forums I found out, that Neopan 1600 seems to work nicely in Xtol, while TriX seems to be working good in the standard D76.

Please give me some recommendations for Across 100 and Pan F+. Which developer do you suggest?

HC-110 for Acros 100?
What about Pan F+?
Would you perhaps even suggest a different developer than D76 for TriX?

Thanks a lot and regards,

markinlondon · 07-12-2006

Pan-F can be fussy, my vote would go to FP4+, expose at EI50 if conditions are very contrasty. I've had good results with Tri-x in 1:100 Rodinal, but now use ID-11/D76 for everything except pushing. FP4+ in ID-11 stock just looks the way I think b&w photos ought to look.

Mark

jdef · 07-12-2006

Pan F+ or Acros developed in 510-Pyro can be really beautiful. See some of Todd Hanzelka's posts. All of film/developer combos mentioned are very capable. Good luck, and enjoy your trip.

Jay

rich815 · 07-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by tetrisattack

......but I have certain knowledge that, if Rodinal is the wife of Acros, then HC-110 "H" is its sizzling secret Brazillian mistress......

LOL!!! Good one.

rich815 · 07-12-2006

thorsten · 07-12-2006

Thanks again for your help.

Well, I think when going with too much developers in the beginning, I could end up with too many variables, so I decided to go only with XTOL for now, using it with Acros 100, Tri-X and Neopan 1600. I'm looking forward to get my ordered densitometer and see first results.

Regards,

titrisol · 07-13-2006

D76 and Xtol should work for most of the films.
HOWEVER controlling contrast can be a problem and then your won experimentation is necessary.