Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!
SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

High Contrast B and W Film
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Adapters and other accessories
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:33 pm    Post subject: High Contrast B and W Film Reply with quote
Absolute newb (never shot an image) with film. However I have an OM10 and lenses that I would like to have a play with. What is a nice contrasty Black and White film, any ISO up to 800? Links to samples would be nice to. Razz

Cheers
Terry


PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Could you be a tad more specific, Terry? How high contrast do you want to go? "Soot and Whitewash" is easily achieved with lith film, but that'll be no good for pictorial use. Etc Wink


PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Fomapan 100 inexpensive and excellent

http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/filmcamera/german/certo-six/?

Agfa rollei retro much more expensive perhaps best what I did try
http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/filmcamera/japanese/Konica/konica-baby-pearl/?

Agfa APX 100 not available as fresh film anymore

http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/filmcamera/japanese/Konica/konica-a4-agfa-apx-100/?

ORWO NP 15 long time before expired film

http://forum.mflenses.com/orwo-np15-30and-years-expired-storage-unknown-t43973,highlight,%2Borwo.html


PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Do you like to develope the film yourself? And do you like to print your own film or is it only for scanning?
If you wan't to develope it yourself go for any cheap B/W film you can get. I've never seen or heard of a bad B/W film. Cheaper ones are usually easier to handle as some expensive (professional) ones. You can't do anyhting wrong with a Formapan 100, APX100 and so on.

There are two general kinds of normal B/W film by the way - orthochromatic and panchromatic. Panchromatic films give a darker sky, water and eyes, cleaner and brighter skin and brighter plant-green as they also use some invisible infrared light (effect can be increased by red filters) and there are orthochomatic films which are not sensitive to infrared and give a more natural look.

Here's an example (from digital though) which shows an panchromatic-like effect.

(left is like panchromatic)
APX100 and Formapan 100 for example othochromatic, Rollei Retro 80s and Superpan 200 are panchromatic to name some examples.

But if you wan't to get your film devoloped by a drug store etc., you should try to get Koda BW400CN or Ilford XP2 - they are optimized to be developed in "C41 process" (usually for color films)
When you give a normal B/W film to a drug store etc. you will often get bad results because it's often handled and devoloped like color film. And all normal B/W film emulsions (except the named ones of course) need individual development times etc.

In most native photo shops you can also develope normal B/W films with good results, but you often have to pay a lot more than for the standarized color process.

Last edited by ForenSeil on Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:16 am; edited 13 times in total


PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:18 pm    Post subject: Re: High Contrast B and W Film Reply with quote
terry.langham wrote:
What is a nice contrasty Black and White film


I'm afraid I'll disappoint... but contrast is not a property of the film. Grain and acutance are. Contrast is determined by both the development
(chemicals, times, procedure) and the printing (choice of paper, of filters, of chemicals).
If you do only digital, then replace printing step with scanning/editing.
All commercially B&W film available today is good. Start with one and experiment until you find your own combinations of film/chemicals/times/operations.


PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I use Ilford XP2 because it's C41 process to develop and I get that done at the supermarket very cheaply, then I scan the negatives and get all the contrast I need by digital processing.


PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oh I forgot to say that C41 B/W films give a very neutral- and not a classical B/W-film look and grain. Some people would say it looks like a straight color to b/w conversion.
But as they have a high resolution and low grain, there's much space for digital post processing or printing as Lloydy said.

Attila wrote:
...
Agfa APX 100 not available as fresh film anymore...

It's not longer produced but according to Maco (the firm which bought all the AGFA APX 100 film, still delivers it to some big German drug store chains and also to international sellers and also partially resells it as "Rollei Retro 100") there is enough deep frozen APX100 to deliver enough "fresh film" until 2015 if I remember correctly. They have/had a statement on their homepage or somewhere else, If you wan't I could try google some details out for you as it's all in Germany language. You can buy fresh packs of 10 rolls for 23€ from them on their online shop (they do also sell to individuals).

APX 100 is a very good beginner film bye the way. It can be used for nearly everything and it has no problem to handle some inaccuracy from exposure or development. And it produces a very classical B/W look and tonality.

I'm a little bit more worried about Kodak BW400CN which seems to be out of stock everywhere in my local shops Sad

Last edited by ForenSeil on Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:26 am; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Wow, learnt so much already, and can see there is a lot more to get my head around.

For now I will be getting the film developed for me by a "Camera Store". Will also get them to scan them for me as I don't currently own a scanner or printing equpment. I do have a strong feeling the bug will bite though, and I will develop and print from home in the future.

Ilford XP2 is fairly easy to get here so I think that is where I will start.


PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
terry.langham wrote:
Wow, learnt so much already, and can see there is a lot more to get my head around.

For now I will be getting the film developed for me by a "Camera Store". Will also get them to scan them for me as I don't currently own a scanner or printing equpment. I do have a strong feeling the bug will bite though, and I will develop and print from home in the future.

Ilford XP2 is fairly easy to get here so I think that is where I will start.


When you have a camera store nearby you should ask if they are also able to develope normal B/W films.
XP2 is (at least here) about twice as expensive as normal B/W film... maybe difference is higher than the extra fees for an individual B/W film development.


PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
XP 2 is about the same as a decent colour film here, and the big pharmacy chain 'Boots' often has a 3 for 2 deal on film which makes it cheaper than any internet shop.

Tescos processing is 99pence, I think a DVD of the neg's is about £1-50. With a bit of hunting around it's a good deal, from unlikely sources.
The high street stores are the usually the last place to look for deals on something marginal like b&w film / processing, I was very surprised.
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Adapters and other accessories
Page 1 of 1