Favorite 8x10 film

[EASmithV]

Well, I am a bit irritated to learn that they don't sell TXP-320 in 50 sheet boxes for 8x10 anymore. TXP-320 is my super best friend film ever. I need to buy a box of 50 sheets of something (10 sheet boxes won't keep me entertained for long). Any suggestions?

 

[Ian Grant]

EFKE P25, that's the ilm I've been using for about 4 years, although I still have some Fortepan 200.

Ian

 

[Anton Lukoszevieze]

I second the Efke 25 and I like Adox Ortho 25 too.

 

[Keith Tapscott.]

Well, I am a bit irritated to learn that they don't sell TXP-320 in 50 sheet boxes for 8x10 anymore. TXP-320 is my super best friend film ever. I need to buy a box of 50 sheets of something (10 sheet boxes won't keep me entertained for long). Any suggestions?

I think that Ilford HP5 Plus is available in 25 sheet packs if you are looking for a similar ISO film.

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

Five boxes of TXP-320? Depends if the extra cost of your current favorite is more than the expense involved in making another film look like your favorite...but experimentation is fun. I second HP5+, myself.

 

[mjs]

I'm torn between HP5+ and Foma 200 in its Arista incarnation from Freestyle. The Foma is cheaper but the emulsion is softer and its very long reciprocity characteristics are its ideosynchracies; on the other hand, in D-76 1:1 for 10 minutes or so, I can almost make myself believe it to be old Tri-X. HP5+ is a superb film in every way, except that it's considerably more expensive than the Foma (although not nearly as much as Kodak.)

Torn between two lovers...

Mike

 

[EASmithV]

Woah... HP5+ is a little more expensive than I was expecting.

Someone suggested Arista Pro.EDU ISO 200. Anyone here used it/first impressions? the price seems decent, but with Arista, I'm not sure about the quality/base thickness. I've bought 135 from them before, and the base is pretty thin compared to Tri-X.

 

[Barry S]

Woah... HP5+ is a little more expensive than I was expecting.

Someone suggested Arista Pro.EDU ISO 200. Anyone here used it/first impressions? the price seems decent, but with Arista, I'm not sure about the quality/base thickness. I've bought 135 from them before, and the base is pretty thin compared to Tri-X.

The base is fine on the Arista EDU Ultra sheet film, but as others have mentioned, the emulsion is soft compared to more modern films. If you can deal with the soft emulsion and the fact that the film is nearly useless in fading light due to bad reciprocity--it's a beautiful film.

 

[EASmithV]

Just how bad is the reciprocity? I always double my exposure time for reciprocity, just to be sure. And as for soft- do you think this is likely to be a problem in a very busy drying cabinet?

 

[Barry S]

http://www.foma.cz/Upload/foma/prilohy/F_pan_200_en.pdf

The reciprocity is very bad. At exposures of over 100 seconds, the corrected exposure is 18X the base exposure! So a 2 minute exposure becomes a 36 minute exposure. The emulsion needs to be handled with care and I think filtered water may be helpful, since I had some issues with embedded particles.

 

[jgjbowen]

Well, I am a bit irritated to learn that they don't sell TXP-320 in 50 sheet boxes for 8x10 anymore. TXP-320 is my super best friend film ever. I need to buy a box of 50 sheets of something (10 sheet boxes won't keep me entertained for long). Any suggestions?

You really summed it up when you described TXP-320 as your "super best friend film every. You aren't treating the film like a friend.

I feel your pain because my favorite film is TMax 400. BUT, when I consider how much research/time/effort/$$ associated with finding a film/developer combination that does what I need it to, the thought of changing films far outweighs the thought of having to deal with 10 sheet boxes. I may not be thrilled with 10 sheet boxes, but I wouldn't dream of switching films until Kodak stops making it.

Now, Kodak if you are listening, please bring back the 50 or at least 25 sheet boxes!!!

 

[Colin Corneau]

Your choice is either paying a bit more for 5 10-sheet boxes, or another film (in which case cost would seem to be your main priority, which makes the choice for you, really).

It's only up to you to decide which choice is right for you.

 

[gerryyaum]

that whole 50 sheet to 10 sheet box thing pissed me off bigtime also. I am now experimenting with Ilford HP5, 25 sheet boxes and the boxes are smaller, which makes them easier to carry overseas.

Going to Asia soon with 400+ sheets so thats 40 boxes, not very practical, unless I repackage everything. HP5 looks to be my film of the future.

Gerry
www.gerryyaum.com
www.gerryyaum.blogspot.com

 

[Colin Corneau]

Gerry, are you shooting 8x10 now? Thought you were a 4x5 man.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Going back to the Foma/Arista.EDU 200 film, for a moment, I shoot it all the time and have not had the problems with a delicate emulsion. I develop it in a Jobo expert drum @ 75f (the coolest I can get my Jobo to run), and have had no problems whatever. I don't use it for night photography, as previously mentioned, because the reciprocity sucks. If you need a slow-speed film with good reciprocity, Tmax 100 is actually the fastest film out there for long exposures. If you look at the reciprocity charts, Tmax 100 is actually faster out past several minutes indicated (non-adjusted) exposure than Tmax 400. However, if you are planning on doing alt process printing, Tmax 400 is preferred because it does not have the UV blocking coating which will screw up alt processes.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...Tmax 100 is actually the fastest film out there for long exposures...

I think Acros is far superior to TMX with respect to reciprocity performance. It's available in 8x10 too.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Sal - you may be right - I am unfamiliar with Acros' reciprocity data, and probably am operating on old information. The last time I researched this, it was a true statement.

 

[2F/2F]

Cheap 8x10 film is known as 4x5 film. With 8X10, if you shoot 36x less than you shoot with 35mm, you will end up paying the same amount in the end. If you want sheet film, yet need to shoot more and are on a budget, go with 4x5. You can shoot 4x more than with 8x10 for the same cost.

If you must have cheap 8x10 film, I would look at Efke films if you are not willing to pay for Ilford or Kodak. They are good and cheap. I would use the 100 speed if you like Tri-X 320. It is not the same, but it will be the closest of the three. I would probably use it with a little bit of green/cyan CC filtration if I wanted it to look even more like Tri-X.

If you are really cheap, and can do what you need to do with an extremely slow ortho film, you can use APHS litho film in your holders and develop with David Soemarko's LC-1 formula for "normal" results. It won't look like Tri-X 320, however.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Follow up-

According to Fuji literature, they don't publish reciprocity data for Neopan 400 - http://www.fujifilmusa.com/shared/bin/Neopan400.pdf
unless I'm going blind or stupid and can't find it.

Acros 100 is here - http://www.fujifilmusa.com/shared/bin/NeopanAcros100.pdf

120-1000 seconds, + 1/2 stop.

Tmax 100 and 400- http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f4016/f4016.pdf

according to Kodak, compensation begins at 1 second, and increases with time. Tmax 100 is faster past an indicated time of 100 seconds, requiring 33% less time than Tmax 400.

So it looks like Acros is the reciprocity champ.