Film Choice - Branching out.

Worker 11811

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I have always shot Kodak Plus-X, Tri-X or T-Max and developed in D-76.
My father was a photographer and he was always a "Kodak Man." Ever since I was a kid, film always came in little yellow boxes. All my photography teachers specified Tri-X or T-Max. This is just the way I was brought up.

I have been sitting here and thinking that I'd like to branch out and try something new. I just don't have experience with other films. I think I have shot Fuji film, maybe, once or twice but I honestly don't remember.

I have been reading up. I read good things about Legacy Pro. The price looks good. I've read about a few other films but it all seems complicated and preference based.

Right now, I am shooting mostly black and white and processing it at home. If I "need" color I take it to the photo store and have them do it. I'd say I'm 90%-10% in favor of B/W. I would like to develop color at home. I am sure I can do it. I have done it once or twice at school but the lab had all the equipment. I need to get better at hand developing before I try color film at home.

90% of my film will be scanned and displayed electronically. Many photos will be printed on my ink jet printer. Some photos may be taken to the photo store and printed traditionally or processed through a photo kiosk.

I would like to start making cyanotypes this summer if weather, time and finances are all with me. A long distance goal would be to set up a darkroom in my basement but that's not feasible at this time.

I have been considering whether to buy a bulk roll of Plus-X and a bulk roll of Tri-X and rolling my own at home but the prices I have seen on Legacy Pro are quite attractive. You can buy a 20-pack of Legacy Pro for less than half the price!

Of course I like fine grain. Who doesn't? But I also like nice bright highlights and good dark blacks with smooth contrast in between.

I have been using T-Max lately and, to be honest, I just haven't been feeling the love for it. Everything seems to have this slight gray patina, almost like looking through a sheer curtain. Who knows? Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I have had other people tell me the same thing about T-Max.

Which direction do you think I ought to go? That Legacy Pro looks mighty tasty and you can't beat that price.

Or, do you think I should get my sh** together and learn how to make use of Kodak films better?
 

pellicle

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Hi worker

the kodak films are nice, why not try ADOX CMS ... lovely look, but soft emulsion if you are home processing. Be careful with it when wet
 

jeffreyg

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The Kodak and Ilford films are fine and should give excellent results. I would settle on one (or two) and learn how to get the results you seek by proper exposure and processing. Personally I use Delta 400 and occasionally Delta 100 in 2 1/4 sq. and HP5 in 4x5. ID11 or pyro PMK developers (no pyro for the 100). Print on Ilford multigrade fiber base, hand-coated pt/pd or scan the negatives and print on Hahnemuhle photo rag or Innova fibaF.
 

rnwhalley

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Having recently been through a search for a fine grained but sharp film and trying lots of variations I must agree with pellicle that ADOX CMS is very nice but its not kind it you over expose. Another film range I liked a lot was Rolli.

Despite the above the suprise for me was how much I liked HP5 when shot on 6x7 and scanned on an Epson V700. I think the poor resolving of the eposon lens was kind on the grain.

My fav film though (and I never thought I would say this) is Ilford PanF 50 exposed at ISO25 and developed in ID11 at a 1:3 dilution. It gives me the detail, resolution and feel that I want. Developed in other solutions or exposed at ISO50 and I don't like it.
 

SilverGlow

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Worker, speaking of Legacy Pro...just ordered a bulk roll of it in 100 & 400 ISO's; from FreeStyle...this will be the first time I venture away from Kodak's Plus-X and Tri-X films....not that I think they're bad,...like you I just want to try something new and one can't beat the price for Legacy either...
 
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Worker 11811

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I have also been looking at that Adox film but I saw that it was 20 ASA and almost fell over backwards. There is a section on their site entitled, " Think you cant shoot at 20 ASA? " Judging by what they write there, I suppose I could shoot it.

I think I'm going to send away to Freestyle and get a 20-pack of Legacy and a couple of rolls of Adox.

What the heck, if I don't like it I don't have to buy it again. Right?

BTW: Where can I find data sheets on these films? I like to read up and find out what kind of developer to use and do my homework before I buy. I couldn't find any on adox.de website.
 
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Russ - SVP

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Legacy Pro, is repackaged Neopan 400 film. And, a fantastic film. By far, my favorite of the 400 speed B/W films. Wonderful film. Very fine grained and wonderful tonality. Give it a try!



Kiron Kid
 

Tony-S

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Kiron Kid said:
Legacy Pro, is repackaged Neopan 400 film. And, a fantastic film. By far, my favorite of the 400 speed B/W films. Wonderful film. Very fine grained and wonderful tonality. Give it a try!
Click to expand...

If it truly is, then shouldn't it be going away since a flurocarbon in the manufacturing process has been banned in Japan?
 

Russ - SVP

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Tony-S said:
If it truly is, then shouldn't it be going away since a flurocarbon in the manufacturing process has been banned in Japan?
Click to expand...

Tony

I don't know anything of the flourocarbon process or it's supposed banning in Japan. I do know that they have no intention of discontinueing the production of this film in 35mm format.
 

sperera

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Fuji Acros 100 is a great film...try it.....superb

 

BobMamiya645

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I agree with sperera. Fuji Acros 100 is wonderful - very fine grain and very nice tonal range. I have had success with TMAX developer.
 

Russ - SVP

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Cheverly_Bob said:
I agree with sperera. Fuji Acros 100 is wonderful - very fine grain and very nice tonal range. I have had success with TMAX developer.
Click to expand...


Indeed. Acros and Delta 100 always deliver the goods.

Kiron Kid
 
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Worker 11811

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Very cool! Thanks, guys! I will be ordering some Fuji and, probably some Adox, some time soon.

The camera store in town has about a half brick each of T-Max 100 and T-Max 400. They have some Tri-X and almost nothing else. If I'm going to keep at this game I'm probably going to be better off ordering my film than buying at the store... Too bad. I prefer to buy from the local shops when I can.

However, I'm not going to be able to order soon.
I talked to my uncle last week and he told me he's shutting down his darkroom and he gave me the whole kit and caboodle for $200.

I'm talking about all the trays, tools, measures, bottles, enlargers, timers, safelights and everything! There's a Beseler 23C enlarger, an Omega enlarger, a Time-O-Lite timer, a Gralab timer and all the lenses and everything. I've just got to haul it all out of there myself. That will take me a few trips to get it all home then it will take me a week or two to set it all up in the basement.

So, I won't be buying more than the odd roll of film for a little while but, once I get into production, I'm probably going to need a bunch of it.

All your advice is helpful. Now I just have to decide which film to try out in the new darkroom first!
 

Tony-S

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Kiron Kid said:
I don't know anything of the flourocarbon process or it's supposed banning in Japan. I do know that they have no intention of discontinueing the production of this film in 35mm format.
Click to expand...

Yes, 35mm is still in production but 120 is gone (I should have been clearer). It's the backing of 120 that requires the fluorocarbon, and this backing isn't used in 35mm film. But I have a total of 33 rolls in my freezer. That ought to last a few years if I stretch it.

Now, if I could only get those last three rolls of Kodachrome 64/120 processed...
 

AmsterdamMartin

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I can't tell you about Legacy Pro, but from what I have read from you: a Kodak person.
When you buy Ilford or Fuji, I think you will never be happy. Thats because once you have learned how to work with them, they are just like your Kodaks, in my opinion.

If you want something totally different you should try ADOX ART. Its an old time film type.
The Chinese Lucky film is described by many as `TriX from some generations back`, and is also very cheap.

If you want a cheap Ilford lookalike you can try Fomapan.
 
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Worker 11811

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I'm about ready to have a go at this.

I bought three Watson film loaders off Ebay. Paid $30.00 for the lot.
One of them still has a half a spool of Tri-X Pan inside. The film is still viable but it is expired. Already tested it. It is obviously foggy but it produces an image. It's good enough to just shoot around with for experimental purposes, etc.

Anyways...

I think I'm going to order a spool of Legacy Pro 100 and a spool of 400.
I'll give them a try. If I don't like it I don't have to buy it again. Right? But, at least this way, I have some experience with other brands.

Now... What should I buy when I use up the last bit of old Tri-X in that third loader?
 

AmsterdamMartin

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Worker 11811

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Just an update for you...

I got a bulk roll of Legacy Pro 100, a roll of Legacy Pro 400 and a roll of Ilford Pan F+.

I just shot some of the Legacy 100 and some of the Pan F today. They just came out of the soup about an hour ago and they are still drying, downstairs as I write this. From what I can tell just from looking at the negative as I was hanging them up, they look pretty tasty!

I spent most of both rolls bracketing shots and taking pictures of things I have shot before for familiarity purposes. Just about everything came out as good as or even better than I expected.

The Legacy Pro, I shot at 100 ASA and developed in D-76 1:1 for 9-1/2 minutes.

The Pan F+, I shot at 50 ASA and developed in D-76 1:3 for 14-1/2 minutes.

Both of them seem to have shot well either at normal exposure or one stop under exposed. The shots that were one stop over were passable but not optimal. I shot a few that were two stops over just to see what happens. They did come out but were marginal.

In the past few months since I started shooting film again, I have grown accustomed to shooting one stop over exposed but, with these two films, I seems like my experiments are showing that I can use normal exposure or one stop under exposed almost all the time and they will come out just right.

The film is still drying so I have yet to scan some of the frames and print proof/contacts but preliminary results look good!
 

Russ - SVP

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Worker

Those are two very nice films. Keep working with them. I think you'll be quite pleased with the results.

Kiron Kid
 

Russ - SVP

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maretzo said:
I get very consistent results with Delta 100 or FP4 in Xtol.
Click to expand...


I overexpose all of my negative films 1/3 a stop. and get very good and consistent results. My lab soups it in X-Tol 1:1. In the 100 speed, Delta and Acros are very good. In the 400 speed, I use Neopan 400 with great results. If Neopan 4oo isn't available, Ilford's Delta 400 does quite well too. If I'm in an extremely big rush, I go with Fuji's Neoapn 400CN (very similar to Ilford's XP-2 film) B/W C-41 process film. These fims never fail to deliver the goods.



Delta 100.


Delta 100.


Neopan 400.


Delta 400.


Neopan 400CN .


Neopan 400CN.


Neopan 400CN.

All of the above snaps are straight scans from the negs. No post processing.

Kiron Kid
 
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Worker 11811

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Here's what I got:

Pan F+



Legacy Pro 100 (Neopan 100)


These were just shot outside my back door. It is a familiar area so I know what to expect from the shot. The photograph is generic. I'm looking at the film.

What I see is pretty nice.
From what I see the films want a lot of light. I don't mean just because they are medium/slow speed films. I mean that they want good, strong light. As soon as the light gets weak they seem to get muddy contrast real quick. Especially the Legacy/Neopan.

These were both done in D-76. The Legacy was 1:1 and the Pan F was 1:3.
I'm sure I could tweak up the development some but what I see is a good start.

I also got some XTOL and some HC-110.
Kiron, you said you use XTOL for yours. I assume that's what gives you that "silvery" look. Right? I see some of that in my shots but, in yours that effect is more pronounced. I assume that's the developer.

I think I'm going to shoot some more pictures today. It's the first nice day we've had in a month. I'm sure I can burn two more rolls of each today.

That will give me lots of images to work with. I'll be able to spend the rest of the weekend playing in the darkroom!
 
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