Fuji Neopan SS 100

I've just returned from a trip to Peru & Bolivia, where I ran out of my usual HP5+. The only b&w film available locally was Neopan SS 100, so I bought some and rated it at 200 (perhaps not ideal but 100 is generally too slow for my style of photography). I have the Fuji information PDF for this film and am considering development in stock D76, however before running tests I was wondering if anyone has had experience of this film in various developers and, if so, what they recommend? I am not looking for development times so much as experience of grain/tonality/sharpness in D76 and other developers.

Massive Dev Chart Search Results
Film Developer Dilution ASA/ISO 35mm 120 Sheet Temp Notes
Neopan 100ss Acufine stock 200 3.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Acufine stock 400 5 20C
Neopan 100ss Arista Liquid stock 100 7 7 20C
Neopan 100ss Beutler 1+1+10 100 9 20C [notes]
Neopan 100ss D-76 stock 100 6.75 7 20C
Neopan 100ss D-76 1+1 100 8.25 9.5 20C
Neopan 100ss D-76 1+3 100 9.75 26C
Neopan 100ss D-76 stock 200 7.25 9.75 20C
Neopan 100ss D-76 1+1 200 9 20C
Neopan 100ss Emofin stock 100 5+5 5+5 20C
Neopan 100ss Fuji Microfine stock 100 9.5 9.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Fuji Microfine 1+1 100 11.5 11.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Fujidol E stock 100 6.75 7 20C
Neopan 100ss Fujidol E 1+1 100 7.5 8.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Fujidol E stock 200 7.25 20C
Neopan 100ss Gamma Plus 1+7 100 5 5 20C
Neopan 100ss Gamma Plus 1+12 100 7 7 20C
Neopan 100ss Gamma Plus 1+20 100 11 11 20C
Neopan 100ss HC-110 B 100 4.5 20C
Neopan 100ss HC-110 B 200 6.25 7 20C
Neopan 100ss ID-11 stock 100 5.5 6.25 20C
Neopan 100ss ID-11 1+3 100 9.75 26C
Neopan 100ss ID-11 stock 200 6 20C
Neopan 100ss ID-11 stock 400 8.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Ilfosol S 1+9 100 5 20C
Neopan 100ss Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 100 5 20C
Neopan 100ss Ilfotec LC29 1+19 100 5 5 20C
Neopan 100ss Ilfotec LC29 1+19 200 6 6 20C
Neopan 100ss Microdol-X stock 100 7 7 20C
Neopan 100ss Microdol-X 1+1 100 8.5 8.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Microphen 1+1 100 10.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Mini Grain 1+10 100 13 24C
Neopan 100ss Perceptol stock 100 9 9 20C
Neopan 100ss Perceptol 1+3 100 23 20C
Neopan 100ss Pressmax 1+19 100 7 7 20C
Neopan 100ss Rodinal 1+25 100 7-10 7-10 20C
Neopan 100ss Rodinal 1+50 100 14-16 14-16 20C
Neopan 100ss SPD 1+1 100 7 7 20C
Neopan 100ss SPD stock 200 5 5 20C
Neopan 100ss SPD 1+1 200 7.5 7.5 20C
Neopan 100ss SPD stock 400 9 9 20C
Neopan 100ss Studional 1+15 50 3.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Studional 1+15 100 4 20C
Neopan 100ss TMax Dev 1+4 100 5 20C
Neopan 100ss TMax Dev 1+4 200 5.5 5.5 20C
Neopan 100ss TMax Dev 1+4 400 8.5 8.5 20C
Neopan 100ss TMax RS stock 200 5.5 5.5 20C
Neopan 100ss TMax RS stock 400 8 8 20C
Neopan 100ss Ultrafin Plus 1+4 100 9 9 20C
Neopan 100ss Ultrafin SF stock 100 9 9 20C
Neopan 100ss Xtol stock 100 6 6 20C
Neopan 100ss Xtol 1+1 100 9.5 20C
Neopan 100ss Xtol stock 200 6.5 6.5 20C

I have found SS to be grainy in D76, just about anything for that matter. I have had my luck with SS in microdol-X, but have never pushed it

I'd do one roll at a time untill I found the development I liked. First try stock and then dilution 1:1, 1:3, if you thought you needed improvement. It is a trade off between grain and sharpness with FS the sharpest.

I've only done it in D-76, but in your case diafine might be worth considering; you'll probably get the one stop push , but you get the ease of developing for sure.

Underexposing by one stop from box speed - you probably can't do much better than Xtol for that situation. It'll give you as much shadow density as you can have under those conditions, and it's a nice developer on top of that.

Plenty of information, as pasted above, at www.digitaltruth.com - they are the home of the Massive Development Chart. It's not a bad place to find reasonable starting times. But then, of course, you have to tweak your development to completely suit your needs. Looks like 6.5 minutes for stock @ 20*F / 68*F according to the above. If I were you I'd probably try 8 minutes, and agitate every minute, two inversions.

- Thomas

If you're into a slightly more contrasty look, pushing this film will probably have more pleasing results than exposing at rated speed, as it's a bit low on the contrast side. Either XTOL or D-76, or anything really, will work fine. It's not really that grainy in D-76 (are people still bothered by grain these days?).

I have found the my best results for me to be to treat it like Plus-X and develop it thusly in Rodinal. Buy a couple of more rolls, expose it like you did on your trip and be sure you have nailed the development BEFORE you process your trip film. I did not do that and boy, I was sorry!

~Steve Sloan
San Jose, CA

I'd say Xtol 1+1 or 1+2.

Considering that you've under exposed it by one stop, you're going to need to squeeze as much as you can from this film. Rodinal won't do that, and neither will Microdol-X. Neither developer has a reputation for boosting shadow densities, and allowing for some over exposure is prudent if you plan to use either of them. Diafine is probably a decent choice. I can't say that it will be perfect, but it should get you pretty close to normal contrast negatives. I like it best with Tri-X, but I've used it with other films and gotten reasonably good negatives. It is not a fine grain developer, so don't expect that. But Neopan SS isn't a terribly grainy film either. Keep your enlargements modest and it's not bad. XTOL or Microphen are two other considerations that would be reasonable choices. Either can deliver a reasonable boost, between 1/3 to 1/2 stop, to film speed without driving the contrast through the roof. It's up to you at this point. Since I keep some Diafine around for special occasions, I'd try that first. It lasts a long time and can be reused many times over. If you aren't familiar with it, you can read more about it here: http://www.dunnamphoto.com/diafine_developer.htm. Find a couple of videos about using the developer here: http://figitalrevolution.com/2008/03/20/processing-black-and-white-film-for-scanning-diafine-and-tx/

Many thanks for the suggestions. I may use this as the excuse to open that old packet of M&B Promicrol that's been lying around for years. And yes, I did buy a few extra rolls to run tests on before developing the real stuff.

lawrenceimpey said:

Many thanks for the suggestions. I may use this as the excuse to open that old packet of M&B Promicrol that's been lying around for years. And yes, I did buy a few extra rolls to run tests on before developing the real stuff.

Click to expand...

Decided to forget this idea as the Promicrol's a nasty brown colour. Have decided on a comparison between D76 and ATM49, which I have now made up. Will post results.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I just happened to have loaded two rolls of Neopan SS in my tank and went to check the MDV for my dev time. Not only do I not find a listing for ISO 100 for HC-110, but now I'm reading all sorts of stuff on the web that suggest it is actually a 200 rated film. Is this to imply that the DX rating itself is 200? I picked this stuff up cheap while on vacation and just assumed the box speed to be 100, which was what I wanted. Now I'm worried that with two rolls loaded and ready to go, that I might not actually know what speed they were shot at.

Any hints as to whether I should develop for 100 or 200 and what would be the best time for Dil-B, which I understand will soften the grain somewhat?

Cheers,

If it were really a 200 speed film and you effectively EI'd at 100, you'd probably be better off in the long run. Just develop in D-76 (I'd try this) or XTOL for ISO 100 times. I really believe this is a low contrast film in comparison to Tri-X or Neopan (ignore grain, it's not a big deal). Then again, I was under flat light and may have underdeveloped slightly as I bumped the contrast on these after the fact.

Nikon F3HP + Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 AIS, Kodak XTOL 1+1, Fujifilm Neopan 100ss

Neopan SS + HC-110

It's a good film, grain is fairly prevalent for an ISO 100 film, but it's got some really nice tonality, and responds well to developers of different types.

My favorite developer for it so far has to be Edwal 12, but HC-110 at 1+100 dilution worked pretty well too.

I rated it at box speed. Attached is an example with HC-110. I can't remember the time as I forgot to make notes.

- Thomas

Thanks folks.

The examples I'm seeing look really nice. I think I'm going to stick with HC-110 and pull the times back from ISO 200 just a tad. I don't think you have to do much for a one stop pull.

Thomas, are you going to be at Photostock this year?... my work schedule got all screwed up, but I'm driving up for the last couple of days.

Hey... just noticed... this is my 400th post. (kinda feels like my birthday or something)

Well, I think I'll soup the Neopan in the morning. Wish me luck.

Cheers, folks.

Hey Tom,

I'm 99% sure I'm going, and 95% sure which days... I'm trying to fit some stuff in with Bill, and I'm not sure what days will work out. I sure hope to see you there.

By the way, I found that Rollei pistol grip in the basement... Sorry. I thought I'd sent it. Do you still need it? I don't even have the Rollei anymore. Sold it to Ike. I'll give it to him if you don't need it.

- Thomas

He he... He's in Ireland! (Shhhh!!! give it to me... )

Hope to see you there.

(By the way... looks like a damn' good show he's putting on over there, too. He's got some great work on his blog.)

Now back to our regular program...

Cheers,

Success... decided on 5:30 in Dil-B... at the last second added 15 sec to the timer. (not that it made that much difference) So 5:45, and the negs look really good. Still too wet to really inspect, so I can't comment on the grain yet. Thanks for the hints, folks.

Cheers,

Toffle said:

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I just happened to have loaded two rolls of Neopan SS in my tank and went to check the MDV for my dev time. Not only do I not find a listing for ISO 100 for HC-110, but now I'm reading all sorts of stuff on the web that suggest it is actually a 200 rated film. Is this to imply that the DX rating itself is 200? I picked this stuff up cheap while on vacation and just assumed the box speed to be 100, which was what I wanted. Now I'm worried that with two rolls loaded and ready to go, that I might not actually know what speed they were shot at.

Any hints as to whether I should develop for 100 or 200 and what would be the best time for Dil-B, which I understand will soften the grain somewhat?

Cheers,

Click to expand...

It's an ISO 100 speed film, rest assured. I picked up a bunch of it on the cheap a while back. Nice film.

fschifano said:

It's an ISO 100 speed film, rest assured. I picked up a bunch of it on the cheap a while back. Nice film.

Click to expand...

So I see. I was just a little taken aback that I could not find appropriate develpment data when I needed it. The negs might be a little contrasty, but as I've been doing some alternative printing, they look just about perfect. Interstingly enough, it seems to be spooled a little on the long side. One roll has 37 frames and the other 40. I think I need more neg sleeves...

Cheers,

Toffle said:

So I see. I was just a little taken aback that I could not find appropriate develpment data when I needed it. The negs might be a little contrasty, but as I've been doing some alternative printing, they look just about perfect. Interstingly enough, it seems to be spooled a little on the long side. One roll has 37 frames and the other 40. I think I need more neg sleeves...

Cheers,

Click to expand...

I get the 42 frame sleeves (6x7) just to handle this situation. It's good to have room for burn frames and anything else possibly related.

Neopan 100 SS is Acros, right? If so, try it in Diafine for 5 mins + 5 mins. Diafine dirrections call for rating the film at EI of 200.

Sandy King

sanking said:

Neopan 100 SS is Acros, right? If so, try it in Diafine for 5 mins + 5 mins. Diafine dirrections call for rating the film at EI of 200.

Sandy King

Click to expand...

No, Acros is somewhat like TMax100. Neopan SS is an older style film that is not being actively sold by Fujifilm in some markets, but appears in others. Fujifilm Australia told me several years ago that it was "probably" going to be discontinued.