Any C-41 B&W Films at slower speeds???

Helen B said:

I don't think that it is sloppy to refer to 'grainy' or 'graininess' when referring to dye-image film.
Helen

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Helen,
the word "sloppy" did not point on anybody personally here ! I just wanted to point out the difference, grains and clouds, which btw shows its effects at scanning too.
And underexposed (without a push) these dye clouds l can look so terrible that you wish you had used silver based film, very often I was really sour about the ugly results. It's simply a different thing, but in general I like its look and abilities.
Under grey skies, in diffuse light, it shows still amazing contrast and a creamy look with a fine tonality, under such circumstances i like it better than silver based film.

Regards,
Bertram

huggyviking said:

I don't know what I've been seeing, but I am fairly convinced I see a less apparent grain structure when I overexpose the XP2. (or dye clouds or whatever you want to call it).
I regularly stay in the ISO 100-200 realm when I use it, and only when I need it due to lack of light, I'll shoot at 400 or 800. All those negs come out printable, even very good, but especially so in ISO 200.

All I can say is try it. It takes one roll. Expose the same object, on a tripod, from EI 50 to 800, print them and see what happens. If you don't want to make a 16x20 of all of them, crop like crazy and print 1/4 of the neg on an 8x10 to see how it looks.

- Thom

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I see that there are now two threads running which are very similar. The other is called XP2 but this one is really XP2 or XP2 Plus as well. There appears to be some difference between XP2 Plus and older XP2.

Dealing only with XP2 Plus, if I may, it would seem that while there is agreement that it can be used at anything between ISO 100 and 800, there seems to be some questions over its performance at ISO 400 let alone ISO 800. In short it is great with over exposure but somewhat questionable at even ISO400 and above.

How much does it suffer at ISO 800? Should it still be developed normally at ISO 800 or does it benefit from pushing at ISO 800 and if so what push is required?

There may be a question over the film's archival properties as it is dye based. Should we now add a question over its adaptability at ISO 800?

I always thought that using it from ISO 100 to 800 on the same roll was one of its major selling points. Take that away and even if it can be pushed then an alleged major advantage over trad B&W film disappears. I have used it but only at box speed and did not have my own developing facilities then.

Experiences welcome. Thanks

Pentaxuser

This may sound like niggling over details, but for the sake of accurate/precise terminology, it's useful to remember that ISO only refers to the manufacturers rated film speed. Any derivation from this speed rating by the user is referred to as Exposure Index. (e.i.)

Hi Folks. I orginated this thread and I wanted to give you an update. I bought some XP2 Super in 120 format for my YashicaMat 124. I took my wife and son out and shot some great portraits of them at ISO 250. I had the film processed at a professional lab and then chose the right pose from the 12 shots and had the same lab make a 16x20 for me. It came out great!!! I surprised myself at how well I focused the camera (who came up with the idea of a waist-level viewfinder anyhow?). The "grain" (or whatever you guys are currently calling it) looked great. I was extremely pleased with the results. Thanks for the tips on shooting at a lower ISO, that was probably key to the great results that I got.

A couple of notes on chromogenic film. I have had much better results with Ilford than with Kodak. Also, if you take your film to a cheap processor (for 35mm) you will end up with a pink-ish sepia look on your prints. The prints from a pro lab look like tradional b&w prints from tradional b&w film.

I have one last question regarding this subject: Does Fuji make a chromogenic b&w film? If they do, do the negs have the orange-ish color like the Kodak or the traditional purple-ish grey like the Ilford? I've never shot Fuji film before, but I know a lot of you guys swear by it, so I thought I'd ask. Thanks.