Coming home to film...

Not exactly a newbie but the last time I used b&w film was 1989! In those days I tended to alternate between TMax and Ilford. Having just acquired a Leica M2, I am trying to bring myself up to date on what is on the market. From the Silverprint 2011 catalogue, I see that products such as Foma, Adox and Rollei are mentioned.

I intend to dev the films at home with very basic facilities so want to avoid anything C41. Also need to keep an eye on the cost of film. The M2 will be used mostly for 'street'. Therefore recommendations for a reasonably fast film that is tolerant to less than expert development skills would be welcome.

Welcome home! I think most people would agree that Ilfords HP5+ is a tolerant and "easy" film to use and develope. But most of all, have fun!.

r

Mats

How can you possibly go wrong with Tri-X?

Mike

If you want a film that will be around in a few years, go with the HP5+. And welcome to APUG.

Ilford HP5+ is a good all-round film. Reasonably fast at box speed, and can be pushed easily. For me, it works fine with D-76, which is quite cheap as developers go. You mentioned Rollei, Foma and Adox as well. I have tried films of all three brands. Foma and Rollei does not, IMHO, excel in the area of fast film, but they both produce excellent 100 ISO options. The Rollei Retro 100 is based on the old Agfa APX100, and together with Rodinal (or one of its clones), it gives excellent results. And, it is quite cheap as well. Fomapan 100 is also a good, relatively cheap choice, and works well with both Rodinal and D-76. ADOX makes some excellent slow, fine grained film (25, 50 and 100 ISO). I have had good results with them, developing in Rodinal, but the emulsion is easily damaged, so extra care is needed during development.

Another vote for hp5+. Welcome to APUG Kieth.

Mike

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Welcome Home, Keith !

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I love the look of Tri-X in 35mm and very good for pushing. HP5+ is also great, these are generally more tolerant of developing variation than the more modern Delta or Tmax films.

I also love the slow speed Adox films, they are films that are still produced to 1950s spec, so give a vintage look, less sensitive to red.

Tri-X has been my staple 35mm b&w film for 30+ years. I don't do much 35mm of any kind any more, and these days it tends to be a color negative film if I do. If they stop making Tri-X, I'll switch to HP5+. T-Max 400 is good film, but it doesn't have the look of the traditional films, and is less forgiving of exposure and development errors.

Peter Gomena

HP5 and TriX are two films you can't go wrong with. BTW welcome back!

Jeff

Thanks for the feedback/information. Lots of food for thought.

Well, I did venture out this afternoon with a 75mm Summarit on the M2 to photograph the local rugby match - what a miserable wind/rain-swept afternoon! (Using HP5+ bought on a '3 for 2' deal at Boots).

I will take the easy option for these first two test-rolls in order not to jeopardise the negs and send them off for dev/contact print (I need to be certain that the M2's shutter speeds and rangefinder are accurate before the 'approval' period expires). Assuming that the results are satisfactory, the following films will be developed chez nous

welcome... i came back to the analog world about 2 years ago... been using tmy-2 and xtol - it's great.

T-Max is still here, and better than ever.

But I'd get Arista Premium 400 from Freestyle while you can. It is Kodak Tri-X relabeled at half the price (or maybe even less than half).

After that is gone, you can buy it straight from Kodak (hopefully), get HP5, or just use the T-Max if you prefer.