Favourite Film/Developer Combo for Available Light?

haziz · Jun 18, 2010

What is your favourite film and developer for available light handheld photography? EI of 400-800 should cover what I have in mind. The film should ideally be also OK for outdoors and general purpose photography.

TMY2 in Xtol?
HP5+ in DDX?
Tri-X in Diafine?
Other?

The latter (Tri-X in Diafine) was too grainy for my tastes though the EI is sweet. I am currently experimenting with TMY2 in Xtol 1:1. In my case the output would be both scanned and wet printed.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Hany.

Ian Grant · Jun 18, 2010

Delta 400 in Pyrocat HD for 120 and HP5 in Pyrocat HD for hand held 5x4.

Ian

Rick A · Jun 18, 2010

Tho I'm a long time user of D-76(40+ years), I have been trying Pyrocat_HD for all my films, and concur with Ian. I love the overall look of my negatives in it. I inadvertantly shot a roll of Ilford Pan F+ at 125(forgot to change my meter setting) and ran it through Pyro(compensated) and it looks very normal, no graininess or high contrast, nor thinness.

mcgrattan · Jun 18, 2010

HP5 in DD-X is good.
Neopan 400 is good in almost anything -- I've had good results with DD-X, Adox ADX, Aculux, and even Diafine.
Delta 400 in DD-X is also good. I've only shot a couple of rolls developing it with Spur HRX, but those were fine, too.

I've had less joy with TMY, although some of the nicest negatives I've had were with TMY it was a roll I sent out for development, and I've never worked out what they used. Lovely tonality, and crisp without obvious grain. I've been trying it recently with TMax Dev and haven't been convinced.

mcgrattan · Jun 18, 2010

And if you don't mind chromogenic films, I've had really excellent results with XP2 and Neopan 400CN. One roll of XP2 that I underexposed by at least a stop [and even then it was marginal] produced surprisingly usable negatives, although that was in medium format, not 35mm.

Mark Antony · Jun 18, 2010

I like Ilford Delta 3200 in 120 developed in Rodinal (EI1000-3200) or Microphen (EI3200-25000)
Mark

Peter Schrager · Jun 18, 2010

slow film is 120 acros in rodinal; general use is TMY2 1:2 semi in Xtol
Best,Peter

df cardwell · Jun 18, 2010

TMY2 and XTOL--- you can get a neg that holds 14 to 16 stops in a straight line as well as 2 stop push.
Dilute 1+1, agitate minimally. The neg prints normally, but you benefit with fiber paper instead of RC, and a softer-than-Dektol-Developer. The world of available light has changed since 1960 !

Easie-Peasie

anon12345 · Jun 18, 2010

My favorite film and developer really depends on the quantity of, and the color of the available light, and the speed of the chosen lens plus the desired iris setting. Generally, if I have this information available to me in advance then my favorite combination will most likely be an ISO 100 B/W film developed in D76. Occasionally I will stray from this standard and choose an ISO 50 film, but that again depends on the amount of, and color of available light. I must admit that I have never used a combination of film or developer that wasn't available to me. I do like to use orange and red filters on occasionally when exposing film to the light of certain subjects. Using certain filters might require that I use only an ISO 100 film. Tripods can add an entirely new level of complexity to my choice of film and developer, but that's better left for another thread.

topoxforddoc · Jun 18, 2010

HP5 in XTOL 1:1. I regularly shoot HP5 at 1600 and the enlarge to 16 x 12. I shoot a lot of low light (night shots or gigs). It's a very reliable combo with minimal grain even at 1600.

Charlie
www.charlie-chan.co.uk

GKR1 · Jun 18, 2010

I like Neopan 100, 400, and 1600. HC110 and Rodinal. That is all I use after going through the ilford and kodak line.

eddym · Jun 19, 2010

HP5 in Ilfotec HC/HC110 @ 1:31.

brian steinberger · Jun 21, 2010

I'm currently searching for a new favorite combo after Neopan 400 got discontinuted. Neopan 400 in Xtol 1:1 was my main combo for years. So far I'm getting along nicely with HP5 in ID-11 1:1 at 800 and even 1600, and FP4 in ID-11 1:1 and also Rodinal 1:25, negs are beautiful!

haziz · Sep 19, 2015

haziz said:
What is your favourite film and developer for available light handheld photography? EI of 400-800 should cover what I have in mind. The film should ideally be also OK for outdoors and general purpose photography.

TMY2 in Xtol?
HP5+ in DDX?
Tri-X in Diafine?
Other?

The latter (Tri-X in Diafine) was too grainy for my tastes though the EI is sweet. I am currently experimenting with TMY2 in Xtol 1:1. In my case the output would be both scanned and wet printed.

Funny quoting myself! As I return to B&W film after a hiatus of shooting only digital, I am still looking for a good film that would give me at least an honest 400 speed. I am spoilt in that I get a true 125-160 ISO using FP4+ in Sprint Standard developer (I did formal Zone I tests four times and tested using two different densitometers) and have generally been very happy with my results using FP4+ at 125, and therefore find the 250 ISO I get out of HP5+ in Sprint fairly disappointing and not worth the extra stop.

Would TMAX 400 (TMY2) in Xtol 1:1 give me a true 400 speed? I am hoping to do some handheld shooting with medium format, which kind of dictates a reasonably high shutter speed, utilizing a not so fast lens. I will do my own testing but will use this info as a starting point.

Any further input or suggestions?

ic-racer · Sep 20, 2015

What ever film is in the camera.

AlexMalm01 · Sep 21, 2015

What's wrong with a little grain? Are you scanning or wet printing? If you're scanning what kind of scanner? Some are more prone to grain aliasing than others.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

oscroft · Sep 22, 2015

I'm also looking for a regular 400 ISO film and developer combination (to complement my APX 100/HC-110 combination), and I have Delta 400/DD-X lined up as one to try - DD-X is designed for Delta films, and Ilford claims it gives full speed.

Jim Noel · Sep 22, 2015

The fastest film available in low light is Fuji Acros, and it needs no special developer. Although its established ISO is 100, it's almost total lack of reciprocity departure makes it faster in low light situations.

removed account4 · Sep 22, 2015

whatever i have in the camera
( maybe its plus x? ilf fp4/5+, tmx/tmy, tri-x or neopan or across or ..
something else probably expired, or hand coated paper, glass or metal )
and a strong brew of caffenol C with a little dektol ..
works like a charm every time, every film/paper ( lf-paper negatives ) ... or dektol 1:8/4 mins + caffenolC with s splash of dektol in it for 4 mins )
( same thing, works like a charm )

haziz · Sep 27, 2015

I finally got around to testing Tri-X effective speed in D76 1:1 under my conditions (a Zone I test following Fred Picker's instructions in the Zone VI Workshop - itself based on others including of course Ansel Adams). I got an EI of "300" (half stop slower than 400 - does that technically add to 300??? I know the third stop points are 250 and 320). I tested using 35 mm film stock, and using a densitometer. I may retest briefly using 120 roll film since the film base is a little different but I suspect the results will be close.

I will likely just shoot it at 400 and sacrifice a little shadow detail, in the interest of "hand-holdability" of my medium format camera and marginally sharper images due to the mildly faster shutter speed.

I am still exploring, more feedback and input would be still greatly appreciated.

Sirius Glass · Sep 27, 2015

Kodak Tri-X 400 and replenished XTOL

haziz · Sep 30, 2015

haziz said:
I finally got around to testing Tri-X effective speed in D76 1:1 under my conditions (a Zone I test following Fred Picker's instructions in the Zone VI Workshop - itself based on others including of course Ansel Adams). I got an EI of "300" (half stop slower than 400 - does that technically add to 300??? I know the third stop points are 250 and 320). I tested using 35 mm film stock, and using a densitometer. I may retest briefly using 120 roll film since the film base is a little different but I suspect the results will be close.

I will likely just shoot it at 400 and sacrifice a little shadow detail, in the interest of "hand-holdability" of my medium format camera and marginally sharper images due to the mildly faster shutter speed.

I am still exploring, more feedback and input would be still greatly appreciated.

I just rechecked again with my densitometer. Looks like I was overly optimistic the first time. I am getting an effective speed of 200. Not fast enough in my book, and not fast enough to replace my FP4+, for which I get a true speed of 125 to 160 in Sprint Standard developer.

Sigh.....

The search continues.................

Kyle M. · Sep 30, 2015

Kodak T-Max 100 in Rodinal 1+50, Fuji Neopan Acros in Rodinal 1+50 or HC-110 Dilution H, and HP5+ in HC-110 Dilution H. Those are my favorites

ColColt · Oct 1, 2015

Tri-X and HC-110 or Rodinal
HP-5 and HC-110

piu58 · Oct 2, 2015

Kentmere 400 in RHS-DC / AM 74. Gives 600 ASA real speed and 800-1000 ASA usable speed.

Favourite Film/Developer Combo for Available Light?

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