There's a thread on here about Fuji 400 being on sale for a good price. I've never used it, and Tri-X does everything I want it to do, but for one instance. Often I like to shoot birds in flight when I run upon them, and if I don't nail the exposure (there often isn't a lot of time to get the shot) I get too much grain for this sort of thing. It's a fun challenge w/ a manual focus 90mm lens. You have to be pretty close, and they move pretty fast.
People mention that the grain is a lot tighter on the Neopan compared to Tri-X, but it still gives a similar look. Would the Neopan be a better film for this, or is it less flexible than Tri-X if I don't get the exposure perfect? I also usually use D76 or TD-16 for developer, and I understand that Neopan works better w/ Rodinal or Xtol? Rodinal is gonna give me grain no matter what, but maybe it's tenancy to give it to every object in the frame will unify the composition.
The photo below illustrates the problems I'm often having. I like the grain, but because it isn't present in da boid, it takes your eye away from the main element. The whitest and darkest points are on top of the bird's head, which is where your eye should go, and people will normally look at a face before looking at anything else, but my eye goes right past the bird to look at all that grain in the clouds. There's a hundred ways I could fix the composition, but in my mind the grain is the problem, especially set against a bird that doesn't have any. Anyway, that's what I'd like. Tri-X tonality w/ less grain for this type of shot.
People mention that the grain is a lot tighter on the Neopan compared to Tri-X, but it still gives a similar look. Would the Neopan be a better film for this, or is it less flexible than Tri-X if I don't get the exposure perfect? I also usually use D76 or TD-16 for developer, and I understand that Neopan works better w/ Rodinal or Xtol? Rodinal is gonna give me grain no matter what, but maybe it's tenancy to give it to every object in the frame will unify the composition.
The photo below illustrates the problems I'm often having. I like the grain, but because it isn't present in da boid, it takes your eye away from the main element. The whitest and darkest points are on top of the bird's head, which is where your eye should go, and people will normally look at a face before looking at anything else, but my eye goes right past the bird to look at all that grain in the clouds. There's a hundred ways I could fix the composition, but in my mind the grain is the problem, especially set against a bird that doesn't have any. Anyway, that's what I'd like. Tri-X tonality w/ less grain for this type of shot.
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