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Chromogenic BW film

Mainecoonmaniac said:
Hey Bethe. Nice shot! So what made you try XP2? I feel the same about processing my own "Real BW" film. I was told XP2 was way better than XP1. I might give it a shot in the future inspired by your shot of the old boots.
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Thanks! Well, actually, I used it because I was taking a workshop in Montana and they wanted to be able to get our shots back quickly. Most of the class was shooting digital and they suggested that the film people in the class (all 2 of us out of 12) might want to use XP2 unless we wanted to use color. since I use so much B&W, I went with it and liked it. I've had no problem getting good prints out of it in my darkroom. I used it in 35mm and 120 (645) and like it in both. I prefer 120, though.
 
Hi Bethe,
Now I'm changing my notion of chromogenic films. I think I'm just an old dog too used to shooting convention BW film. It looks like XP2 is worth a second try.
 
Like any other film it takes some experimentation and learning to get the best out of it, but definately a nice film and worth a couple tries.

One of the really nice things about XP2 is it has very little grain compared to other 400 speed films. It enlarges really smoothly.
 
This is XP-2 (a negative scan though):
 

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I've had outstanding results from both XP-1 and XP-2. XP-2 is better, but XP-1 is still excellent. I haven't used XP-1 in a number of years, but the last (out of date) material I used kept very well under refrigeration. Generally, I've had these films processed by commercial labs in their standard C-41 lines. I especially like the way these films print on regular paper.
 
I think every film are light year different from each other. I saw Master of Leica , Magnum photographer Ara Gülers Salvador Dali pictures taken by and printed on ilford and it was like a dream. But these films needed a very high contrast , noisey , grainy , extreme skin detail old Leica lenses. I tried them with japanese cameras and they were horrible.
If you have a Leica , its good to use ilford , if not use other films. I cant think myself using other than leica. I bought a Rollei 35S and it was dissapointing.
This summer I will invest in Leica R3 and Telyt and forget all the trouble.
 
It possible that I gave up experementing too soon


Maybe I should have experimented more with the film. All I know is that I got frustrated trying to get a good print in the darkroom with XP1. I shot it at ASA 400. I also shot a roll of conventional BW film and processed it myself. And as usual, it printed easily and beautifully. I will give XP2 a try sometime.
 
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