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Dang XP2 prints easy

markbarendt

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Been shooting C-41 and printing RA4 for about a year, mostly color and a few rolls of BW400CN here and there.

I may be weird but I actually find the C-41/RA4 combo much easier to get right than traditional B&W film and papers.

A few weeks back I found a deal on some XP2 and bought a bunch. Shot a fair chunk of it at seminar I attended at the end of September.

Started printing it today on black and white paper (both Panalure and Ilford MGIV) and wow, XP2 is so easy to print it's silly.

I've printed frames from three different rolls and they all printed acceptably without any need to adjust contrast. Just did a quick test to find the best exposure and bam, nice prints.

I think I've found my "one B&W film" at least for the smaller formats. Now I'm starting to wonder if Ilford will offer it in 4x5. :confused:
 
Yes it prints easily, but the tonality is nowhere near as good as conventional films.

NO chance of 5x4, that went years ago due to lack of demand before the big pro switch to digital, and as there's so few labs now who could handle LF XP-2 it's never going to happen.

Ian
 
Ian Grant said:
Yes it prints easily, but the tonality is nowhere near as good as conventional films.
Click to expand...

That may be true in a technical sense and/or with lots of experience using silver negatives, but so far I'm tickled with the tonality and what I've learned here in practice today is that it is a bunch easier for ME to get nice prints from XP2 negs than from any other B&W negative I've tried.

Of course that could just be a lack of skill on my part. :confused:

Ian Grant said:
NO chance of 5x4, that went years ago due to lack of demand before the big pro switch to digital, and as there's so few labs now who could handle LF XP-2 it's never going to happen.

Ian
Click to expand...

Drat.

I did print some color negs on the Panalure today too, that's pretty sweet, to bad it's not in production.
 
Yes it is nice film -- I have used it with teaching young kids photography (not having the time with them to go into developing their own negs). They got some great prints from it. One was of a concrete pathway in which I have never seen concrete looking so concrete, so to speak! I have in on my office wall.
 
I've never found it difficult to print traditional silver negatives that were well exposed in advantageous light and developed to a balanced result. The prints just come off the easel with zero extra work invoked.

See where I'm going with this, Mark? It most likely has nothing to do with the film.
 

I do. But I also see that you have three caveats.

One of the things I'm probably saying is that XP2 fits me. I shoot mostly color C-41 and the thought processes of shooting and processing XP2 seems to fit my style/normal processes better than say Tri-X or Delta.

What I know I'm saying is that; whatever the differences are or my failings may be, XP2 makes my life in the darkroom easier, more productive, and more fun.
 
From the little bit of printing I've done from XP2 Super negatives, I've got to agree with you. The stuff is easy to print. Can you make an exceptionally fine print from this film? Sure you can, but it's a little different than what you get with a more traditional film.
 
I remember the old XP1. Nasty stuff. 10 rolls from someone's vacation destroyed my roller transports working solution. Had to drain the tank and clean the sludge out.
 
Casey Kidwell said:
I remember the old XP1. Nasty stuff. 10 rolls from someone's vacation destroyed my roller transports working solution. Had to drain the tank and clean the sludge out.
Click to expand...

Times have changed.
 
I really enjoyed XP2 last I used it, but I found the stuff awkward to print. The C41 contrast curve was a poor fit for Ilford Warmtone; kept having problems getting separation in the highlights to print (that is, they were clearly on the neg, but the paper kept giving me trouble) until I discoved Forte Polywarmtone did a fantastic job with it—this made my day and also explained why I had so much trouble printing my silver halide negs on Polywarmtone. Naturally Forte up and died about two, three months after I discovered this.
 

I understand your thought here, Panalure is technically gone too.

I'm not saying that my prints were perfect and ready for a gallery showing, just that the prints a lot closer a lot easier than with my silver negatives.

I do intend to fine tune the process and try other B&W papers.
 
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