Favorite black & white film for flash photography?

Minoltafan2904 · Nov 23, 2017

I've started to do more and more flash photography with my Minolta X-700, i've shot slide and colour neg with flash, i've never shot black and white with flash however, i have some T-Max 100 in my freezer that is begging to be shot, but some people have for 30 years complained that T-Max can produce very dense blown out highlights, flash use would only aggravate that, so what 35mm film would you recomend for indoor flash use?
So far even with slide film i've gotten pretty nice results with the X-700 / Minolta 280PX combination, it does have TTL - off the film flash metering however and gives quite accurate exposure for 35+ year old technology.

Ko.Fe. · Nov 23, 2017

If you like (I see nothing wrong with it) fat, black shadows, then pull your 100 ISO @50. I'm in the opposite for TTL flash, I push 400 film to 1600 and flash is to the top. It gives me ambient like light.

bdial · Nov 23, 2017

Any film can produce dense, blown highlights if you let it. If T-max 100 is what you have, there is no reason not to use it with flash. Shoot a roll and evaluate the results.

rrusso · Nov 23, 2017

Whatever is your favorite film without flash...it's not the film, it's technique.

And unless you want snapshots, stay away from TTL. Practice with the flash - you will burn through some rolls, but that's ok.

It's time well spent learning something that a good percentage of photographers shy away from because they're scared.

Sirius Glass · Nov 26, 2017

Try using the flash bounce off the ceiling. That gets straight on illumination and softens the harshness. Also try some Kodak Tri-X 400, Ilford HP5+ and Ilford FP4+.

pentaxuser · Nov 26, 2017

If anyone can show evidence of a film that is better designed for flash then I hope he/she will do so. In the 12 years I have been here this person has kept this a secret. It is time you revealed your secret to the rest of us. We promise not to reveal it to anyone else

pentaxuser

Loren Sattler · Nov 26, 2017

I am very happy with people photos shot with Tri-X exposed at ASA 200, developed in D76 1:1 for 8 min 15 sec with vigorous agitation (6 inversions at 30 second intervals according to Kodak's website). This are shot straight on (no bounce) with either a Nikon F2 with Vivitar 285 flash or Rollei Prego 90 point and shoot with built in flash.

MattKing · Nov 26, 2017

Loren Sattler said:
I am very happy with people photos shot with Tri-X exposed at ASA 200, developed in D76 1:1 for 8 min 15 sec with vigorous agitation (6 inversions at 30 second intervals according to Kodak's website). This are shot straight on (no bounce) with either a Nikon F2 with Vivitar 285 flash or Rollei Prego 90 point and shoot with built in flash.

I think your example lacks shadow detail .

Arklatexian · Nov 26, 2017

Minoltafan2904 said:
I've started to do more and more flash photography with my Minolta X-700, i've shot slide and colour neg with flash, i've never shot black and white with flash however, i have some T-Max 100 in my freezer that is begging to be shot, but some people have for 30 years complained that T-Max can produce very dense blown out highlights, flash use would only aggravate that, so what 35mm film would you recomend for indoor flash use?
So far even with slide film i've gotten pretty nice results with the X-700 / Minolta 280PX combination, it does have TTL - off the film flash metering however and gives quite accurate exposure for 35+ year old technology.

In the past, I have had slow B&W films (ASA50) that I had to use higher guide numbers with electronic flash than some higher speed films. I don't know if this is still true or not so if I had this question, I would sacrifice a test roll of B&W to find out, using the recommended guide number and several others on either side of it........I would also say that if you are getting "quite accurate exposures" with your equipment, you are using 2017 technology, no matter how old your equipment might be.......Regards!

removed account4 · Nov 27, 2017

anything but tmx100
used it ( & tmy400) for years and regretted tmx when
it needed automatic ( electronic ) light
built up too much density / blocked it up and it was a real drag to deal with/print.
i only used it for ambient / available light or barely any electronic fill/key
it wasn't a fly by night thing, i had been using tmx for IDK 7-10 years as my go to film for everyting
( it and tmy were probably the only things i used since they were released )
the film wasn't cooked in developer, just processed normally ... if i had the knowledge then that i have now
still not sure if i would use it, or just use tri x ... or something ilford has to offer ..

YMMV

markbarendt · Nov 27, 2017

Minoltafan2904 said:
I've started to do more and more flash photography with my Minolta X-700, i've shot slide and colour neg with flash, i've never shot black and white with flash however, i have some T-Max 100 in my freezer that is begging to be shot, but some people have for 30 years complained that T-Max can produce very dense blown out highlights, flash use would only aggravate that, so what 35mm film would you recomend for indoor flash use?
So far even with slide film i've gotten pretty nice results with the X-700 / Minolta 280PX combination, it does have TTL - off the film flash metering however and gives quite accurate exposure for 35+ year old technology.

I firmly believe that flash, used skillfully, never ruins a shot. If you have been successful with flash using slide and colour neg just use the same techniques and you'll be fine.

What does normally ruin shots are photographers. With flash, one needs to learn to balance ambient and artificial light, learning that takes a while.

Minoltafan2904 · Nov 27, 2017

Ok, thank you all for the replies

Sirius Glass · Nov 27, 2017

I found the key is to use the film box speed and set the strobe according to the manual and all will work well.

benjiboy · Nov 28, 2017

My favourite monochrome film of ae is Ilford FP4 Plus and has been since it first came on the market..

Jarrett · Nov 29, 2017

FP4 so far

Photoguy365 · Mar 26, 2018

As stated earlier, bounce the flash. Or get a diffuser. Bouncing eliminates most of the harsh shadows and blowout.

Favorite black & white film for flash photography?

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