best film dev combo

I know how it goes. Don't make personal recommendations because others don't agree. However, more than once have I been completely and utterly astounded at the quality I could get out of an Ilford FP4+ neg souped in the Pyrocat-HD developer. Not quite 16x20, but 12x16 enlargements from 35mm negs show so little grain that I had to look twice to believe it. I've tried the same with other films, and other developers. Have I come close to the performance of aforementioned combination? No.

I think Roger Hicks and Ole Tjugen et all are correct. This is what works best for me. Try it, it may work for you too. But I can't know that for sure. It's just my best suggestion.

By the way, the Hasselblad is an excellent camera. Ansel Adams shot LF most of his life, but towards the end of his career, he used a Hasselblad too for some of his work, and I have to say those prints are really nice too. Look at the work of Bill Schwab at this site, there are several of his pictures in the gallery. He uses Hasselblad cameras, and there's lots of landscape work that looks absolutely gorgeous. Have fun with it! I would love to own that Hasselblad camera if you don't like it... (Just kidding, I think).

- Thom

ACROS in PMK is most excellent, as is Pan F+ in PCAT- in fact any Ilford film in PCAT looks fantastic. BTW, I've also used Delta 3200 at 3200 in Celer-Mono and the amount of grain would put many an ISO 400 film to shame! But if I had to use just one film for MF, it would be XP2- gorgeous tonality and next to no grain. Oh yes, and no worries about finding the ultimate developer LOL.

Any film in any developer if accompanied with a good Scotch (seperate container).

-V

Here in Normandy nothing is complete without apples-also it's customary to have a glass of Calvados between courses, which is called un trou Normand. FYI Calvados is a super lethal apple brandy and a few glasses will cause un crise de tete et un crise de foie aussi...

Just use whatever you're already using for your 8x10, and plan to limit your print size to 30"x30".

I don't know if they are the "best" or not, but I really like:

- Kodak Tri-X (400TX) in 120 and 35mm developed in PC-TEA when the light is flat (EI 400-500)
- Ilford HP5+ in 120 and 35mm developed in Pyrocat-MC when the light is constrasty (EI 200)

APX 100 in Rodinal 1:50 is nice, but I'll be trying it in Pyrocat-MC soon.

APX 100 in TFX-2 is amazing. Mix the working solution according to directions, agitate for 1st minute, then 2 inversions at 3 minute intervals for a total of 25 minutes for a "normal" scene. 70 degrees F. I can see no grain in a 10x10 enlargement from 120 film. No blocked highlights, even in fairly "beefy" negatives. I rate the film at EI 50-64.