Favorite slow film?

I am working with 120 format negatives, shooting with a heavy tripod, and I want to get results that are sharp, fine-grained, with good tonal separation, particularly in the shadows. Sharp definition is my highest priority, and to that end I have been using Rodinal (generally in 1+50 dilution) to achieve that. So far I have tried Ilford Pan F+, Efke 25, and Fuji Acros. All look pretty good if properly exposed, but when enlarged to 16 x 20 none of them look better than 35 mm Adox CMS 20. Are there other combinations I should be trying?

Rollei Pan 25 (iso 25) and Rollei ATP 1.1 Tech Pan (iso 32) are my favorite slow speed films resp. 200ln/mm and 400ln/mm and available in 35mm and 120 roll film. The first is nice in Rodinal 1+50 and for the second you need a special ATP-DC developer however Rodinal 1+150 at iso 12-15 is possible.
In 35mm pretty good (especially with my M7) but in medium format very good however limited by the preformance of most medium format lenses.

I found some very outdated Kodak Tech Pan (1984!) which I have exposed in a Wideluxe, at 25asa. Came with a small quantity of Technidol, print dev was also suggested, any hints or suggestions on developing it?

Sloooow Film

If you think that a 120mm acros ngative looks the same as the 35mm adox 25 please prove it to me...acros has no peer except for the new 400TMY2 but that is a 400 film...how about quality control and having the best or almost zero recriprocity of ALL films...period! shooting a few rolls of 3 or so films does not prove very much...you need to work with ONE film and learn what it can do for you. you can produce several different looks with one film and you should find what works best for you...
Best, Peter

You can also try Pan F+, pulled to 25 ISO and then developed in their fine-grain developer Perceptol. Generally there is a loss of contrast when pulling and Perceptol does not give much contrast so I tend to give a bit more agitation then normal. That said, I printed some 24x30's from a 6x7 negative and still could not see any grain with lots of tone. Some people like Rodinal with Pan F+ but I have never tried it.

Sound advice, and I am by no means unhappy with the Acros. The lack of reciprocity failure is really amazing, and very handy when doing very stopped down exposures to get extreme depth of field. But the Adox I am using is not the regular emulsion 25 - it is the CMS 20 that requires its own developer. I shot it at ISO 12 and reduced development time by about 15%. I have seen nothing that comes close in 35mm extreme resolution. The slight differences I am seeing may be related to lenses, or "pilot error."

It really isn't extremely slow but I am loving Plus-X for all of my B&W work lately.....I do want to try some of the very slow ADOX films and the ortho film that ILFORD still offers.

Maybe you can try Ilford FP4 (125 iso) or is that to fast?

Perhaps the lack of differentiation between 35mm and 120 has more to do with the enlarging process than the film. Is the enlarger aligned properly? Is the medium format enlarging lens of the same quality as the 35mm enlarging lens?

Anytime I want "results that are sharp, fine-grained, with good tonal separation, particularly in the shadows" I mount an 8x10 on my heavy tripod and then make contact prints

A final solution?

Sooner or later I'll probably have to get one of those things!

jgjbowen said:

Perhaps the lack of differentiation between 35mm and 120 has more to do with the enlarging process than the film. Is the enlarger aligned properly? Is the medium format enlarging lens of the same quality as the 35mm enlarging lens?

Anytime I want "results that are sharp, fine-grained, with good tonal separation, particularly in the shadows" I mount an 8x10 on my heavy tripod and then make contact prints

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JCJackson said:

I am working with 120 format negatives, shooting with a heavy tripod, and I want to get results that are sharp, fine-grained, with good tonal separation, particularly in the shadows. Sharp definition is my highest priority, and to that end I have been using Rodinal (generally in 1+50 dilution) to achieve that. So far I have tried Ilford Pan F+, Efke 25, and Fuji Acros. All look pretty good if properly exposed, but when enlarged to 16 x 20 none of them look better than 35 mm Adox CMS 20. Are there other combinations I should be trying?

Click to expand...

First, which camera/lens setup are you using? Shooting Rollei 120 with Zeiss lenses, give no issues whatsoever with sharpness or tonal separations. However, there are such things as sharper films.

For standard use, Ilford has a certain "look" to it which is easily recognizable. When shooting 35mm years ago, I could shoot HP5+, rate @ 200iso, and print 16x20 negatives with very very little grain.

The Efke films (which I shot for quite a while) can give good results when comparing it with other standard films.

However.

The current lineup of Rollei films with their second-to-none quality has had me using their films (especially the fantastic R³ emulsions which is no longer available) for the past 3 years. Even their IR400 is easily shot as standard panchromatic with amazing results. But the first Rollei film I ever used is the Ortho25.

Shot that the same weekend as some Efke 25 Ortho, Efke 25, and the results were astounding! They work well in Rodinal 1:50 (10min), and the immense tonal separation available is amazing.

You'll soon find with Rollei films, you won't have to compromise speed for fine grain, and the best tonal range.

What is slow? I've become used to Kodak TMax 100. The T grain films have outstanding grain and sharpness performance for their speed. Many prefer the Ilford equivalent - Delta 100. Ilford Pan-F has a fine reputation as well. These films have the advantages of long track records, wide availability, and support by a major manufacturer. The Adox 25 speed films have gained a good reputation as well, although they have rather high contrast and must be treated with care.

Acros is a great film, and so are Delta 100 and TMax 100. All are easy to develop and no exotic developers are required to make them work perfectly. But the hands down winner for the least grain and best resolving power is TMax 100. But in the end, that doesn't really matter, because all of them are fine grained enough and can resolve more detail than most lenses are able to deliver. With such high quality emulsions as these, I just can't see bothering with off beat products.

Sorry lad, but Rollei films aren't "off beat products". They're made by the same R&D lab that brought us the classic (and much sought after) Agfa emulsions. T-Mud, is just that, mud, when compared to Rollei 80s. In fact it's pure mud across the entire Rollei film range. And they don't require "exotic developers to make them work perfectly".

Think out of the yellow box, you'll be glad you did.

Eastman High Contrast Pan Intermediate (SO-331)

Ilford Pan-F Plus in PMK, for me... but I have yet to meet a slow traditional film I didn't like. (I don't really like technical films much.)