How did you choose your film?

[Sirius Glass]

But my original question was about film, not developers.

Tri-X and HP5+ are good starting points. Both are fast enough to use smaller f/stops and higher shutter speeds and have the latitude to shoot in dimmer light.

 

[grain elevator]

The way film behave is influenced by developers, so why try to separate the two? Btw. I'm under the impression that some films are especially sensitive to different developers, HP5+ and Kentmere 400 under its various names seem to be among them. This idea I got mostly from obsessing over pictures online and https://fotoimport.no/filmHP5 (have fun staring at this for hours, as you seem at least as obsessive as I am!), I haven't experimented enough myself to be sure of anything.
Me, I can't seem to settle. I always intend to, buy a brick of one film, use it up more or less but then usually I want something else. I guess I would have sort of settled on TMY-2, had they not increased the price so much. It's ok though.

 

[MattKing]

My Dad brought home a roll of 127 Verichrome Pan to go with the Brownie Starmite I received for my 8th birthday - both undoubtedly purchased using his Kodak Canada employee discount.
That was reinforced when, for my 11th birthday, he brought home the 616 folder, some more Verichrome Pan, and all the necessities for learning to develop film and make contact prints.
Everything since has essentially been an evolution from there, with a heavy Kodak influence.
Currently, I think that T-Max 400 is the best black and white film out there.
The "choose one film and stick with it" advice remains, IMHO, excellent advice for someone learning about using black and white film. The lessons learned from that approach can then be applied when one wants to try out new films.

 

[Vaughn]

"Sticking with it" might be two months for some folks, 2 years for others.

Tried what ever was on hand to start with -- Verichrome was a forgiving film to use as a beginner, but once I had figured a rough direction to head with my photography, I tended toward slow, fine grain film. At the time, Kodak Panatomix-X in 120 fit the bill...developed in Microdol-X 1:3.

Switching formats in the late 70s to 4x5, meant a new film and I settled for what the camera store had...Royal Pan, Super XX, some Plus-X if I remember right. Eventually went to TMax100.

Alternative photography led to different negative requirements (and larger formats)...the big one being no TMax100 due to its UV blocking layer (TMax 400 okay). FP4+ is now my primary film as it expands well for my needs. But I have specialty films I can use if needed.

 

[grain elevator]

Brownie Starmite

Weird! Is the mite somehow unbeknownst to me revered in North America or why did they put its name in a camera?

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Weird! Is the mite somehow unbeknownst to me revered in North America or why did they put its name in a camera?

It was supposed to be starBrite, but the designers assitant made a typo.

 

[relistan]

When I got back into film I started with Fomapan 100 because I bought an Exakta in Poland and then was in Prague and Fomapan film was everywhere. It was crazy cheap. I took home ten rolls. Then I bought it from Freestyle in bulk for several years. I shot Delta 100 as my other film because of the look and the fine grain. Then I moved to Germany and APX-100 was available at the drug store by my house for cheap so I started shooting that. WOW that was better film. Ever since I’ve mostly shot that, ADOX Silvermax 100 which is its cousin, or Delta 100. In 120 I still mostly shoot Fomapan 100, Delta 100, or HP5.

I originally only used Rodinal for everything but switched to mostly Diafine for a few years. Eventually I landed on XTOL and occasionally PC-Glycol. I still use Rodinal on Fomapan 100 in 120.

 

[radiant]

Tri-X and HP5+ are good starting points. Both are fast enough to use smaller f/stops and higher shutter speeds and have the latitude to shoot in dimmer light.

Maybe the questions are:
- Do you want classic b&w look with nice grain but overall very good film? Tri-X.
- Do you want digital look with awesome tonality? Tmax 400.
- Something between previous two? HP5.

 

[Disappointed_Horse]

I have my film developed at commercial labs so I prefer to use conventional films rather than T-grain films. I have tried TMax 400 and Tmax 3200 and was disappointed with the results. I use both Tri-X and HP5+ and like them both about equally (I generally shoot Tri-X at 250 and HP5+ at box speed). I also use FP4+ for brighter conditions.

I feel a little more confident in Ilford's long term viability and commitment to black-and-white film photography, so I tend to prefer their products.

 

[MattKing]

Weird! Is the mite somehow unbeknownst to me revered in North America or why did they put its name in a camera?

I expect the "mite" part is related to "mighty" .

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Doesn’t matter. He loves posting that chart, even though I was the first to post it on APUG.

I feel like there's a wager in there somewhere. Which one of you wants to give up a beloved camera if you weren't the first, and I'll search the apug archives tirelessly to find out for sure? I'll do that for you because I'm such a generous person....and I'll get one of your cameras.

 

[BradS]

I’m Spartacus!

 

[foc]

I’m Spartacus!

No, I am Spartacus !

 

[Adrian Bacon]

This is probably strange, but for me personally, the first order of business is how the film handles after its been processed. It’s it’s hard to handle and doesn’t lay flat, I generally avoid it unless it has some other aspect that I have to have. From there, it’s then a matter of traditional grain or newer grain, then from there, film speed. Sometimes I rank film speed above emulsion type.

 

[Adrian Bacon]

The facts of sensitometry point to the myths in film exposure/development. It is more simple than people make it out to be.

I'm not trying to say one shouldn't choose one thing and stick with it. This is a perfectly valid way of working, and can also keep things simple. There is certainly no need to jump around for no particular reason. However people tend to be dogmatic about these things, which is fine, but that does not mean there is any relationship between a particular worker's print quality and the choice to use one film.

Most current general purpose films are similar enough. The point is, if film X were to disappear, a competent craftsman could switch to film Y in fairly short order. There is not all that much involved.

this is true. I’ve noticed that a lot of the “complexity” or “difficulty” tends to be self induced variables via work habits that many workers seem to be unaware that they’re doing to themselves. Removing variables tends to simplify things considerably.

 

[Bill Burk]

A much overblown philosophy, by the way.

Well, I picked the world’s best at first.

Kodachrome 25 and Panatomic-X 35mm. I also carried Kodachrome 64 and 200 and Tri-X but whenever possible I used the slowest film the lighting conditions allowed. Somewhere I read Velvia 50 was best so I switched to that.

Then I bought a 4x5 camera, Kodak bought me and I started using TMY2 exclusively.

Now I am messing around with a little of everything.

 

[Wallendo]

My choice of film varies with the cameras I use.

My favorite film is TX400 - it just looks like what I expect B&W to look like. I don't use it on my older mechanical cameras, because the film's speed forces me to often shoot at 1/500s and f16 - not my favorite combination. For those cameras, I tend to shoot FP4+. I also like to keep Fomapan 100 on hand because it seems to have a "retro" look that I enjoy for a change of pace.

For color, which I shoot much less often, I generally go with Velvia 50.

With current COVID travel restrictions, I find myself shooting the same scenes repeatedly and have been playing around with different films including Finesse 400, Rollei IR 400, and I just bought 100 ft of TMAX 100 for a change of pace.

 

[removed account4]

So how did you choose your film?

hi christopher
i buy like a big box of expired or soon to be expired film and dump it into a bigger box, with more of the same.
i stick my hand in the box and pull out a roll and put it in the camera. i put the camera at IDK f4 or 5.6 or wide open
depending on the day and situation, and the shutter anywhere between 1/15S-1/125S depending... and i just push the button, if it is a box camera i just load it and shoot.
i don't differentiate between film stocks and iso's. i just put the film in and use it.
when i process it, i develop it all at the same ( color or b/w ) time for about 10 minutes split between 5+5 caffenol c and whatever print developer i have lying around
i haven't exposed film in over a year now and have between IDK 10-25 rolls to develop from 2019. year and 1/2 should give me enough distance to have fresh eyes
when i look at the negatives... can't wait because i processed about 20 rolls the last run i did, and didn't see the stuff i wanted to see

 

[ChristopherCoy]

hi christopher
i buy like a big box of expired or soon to be expired film and dump it into a bigger box, with more of the same.
i stick my hand in the box and pull out a roll and put it in the camera. i put the camera at IDK f4 or 5.6 or wide open
depending on the day and situation, and the shutter anywhere between 1/15S-1/125S depending... and i just push the button, if it is a box camera i just load it and shoot.
i don't differentiate between film stocks and iso's. i just put the film in and use it.
when i process it, i develop it all at the same ( color or b/w ) time for about 10 minutes split between 5+5 caffenol c and whatever print developer i have lying around
i haven't exposed film in over a year now and have between IDK 10-25 rolls to develop from 2019. year and 1/2 should give me enough distance to have fresh eyes
when i look at the negatives... can't wait because i processed about 20 rolls the last run i did, and didn't see the stuff i wanted to see

How many anti-anxiety pills do you take each day? I need a xanax just reading that post. Too many unknowns for me.

 

[removed account4]

How many anti-anxiety pills do you take each day? I need a xanax just reading that post. Too many unknowns for me.

none, none of this stuff really matters too much so i roll with it.
i figure the film i end up with is between iso 50 and 1600, any of those films will get enough light, and i process the film enough so i've got nothing to worry about, there's always something on the film. been doing it like this for IDK a decade or more never had trouble.

 

[Sirius Glass]

hi christopher
i buy like a big box of expired or soon to be expired film and dump it into a bigger box, with more of the same.
i stick my hand in the box and pull out a roll and put it in the camera. i put the camera at IDK f4 or 5.6 or wide open
depending on the day and situation, and the shutter anywhere between 1/15S-1/125S depending... and i just push the button, if it is a box camera i just load it and shoot.
i don't differentiate between film stocks and iso's. i just put the film in and use it.
when i process it, i develop it all at the same ( color or b/w ) time for about 10 minutes split between 5+5 caffenol c and whatever print developer i have lying around
i haven't exposed film in over a year now and have between IDK 10-25 rolls to develop from 2019. year and 1/2 should give me enough distance to have fresh eyes
when i look at the negatives... can't wait because i processed about 20 rolls the last run i did, and didn't see the stuff i wanted to see

Well my photographs must be more valuable, because I take the time to expose the film with the advice of calibrated light meters.

 

[Adrian Bacon]

How many anti-anxiety pills do you take each day? I need a xanax just reading that post. Too many unknowns for me.

Not much of a point in getting worked up over things you have no control over. It always amazes me when I'm people watching to see people get absolutely torn up over things that they have no control over and can't change. Myself, I get torn up over what I can control and can change. If I can't control it or change it, then I just don't spend mental energy on it. In the case of @jnantz this happens to be part of his process. For some people, the joy is just doing and seeing what you get. You can either obsess over all the little variables, or you can just get on with shooting and see what you get. If you didn't get anything you like, then keep shooting. The reality of the matter is for every great picture you see from a photographer, there are at least a handful of "meh" pictures that he/she took. I don't know a single photographer that takes 5 star photos on every shutter click. Even the greats have a whole pile of images that are "meh" that the general public just doesn't see because they edit them out and only show the best ones.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Not much of a point in getting worked up over things you have no control over.

My AA Sponsor and all the text says the same thing. That still doesn't make it easy to do!

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

He's been teaching photography at college level for decades. He does use a digital in a more casual way - and I'm sure he's used plenty of film and cameras. But his experience with the 8x10 and hp5 is so vast that he can assess a situation immediately for proper exposure - including the use of flash. His name is Stephen DiRado - he has a website.

Stephen DiRado is an amazing photographer. That he is not more widely known in the community is a terrible shame. He is one of the very few photographers where I will visit their website and look at their photos again and again. I wish he had a few books I could buy. He has done some superlative work.

 

[Bill Burk]

I am starting to experiment with Double-X as a replacement for TMY2 in 35mm

Adrian Bacon might not like it for the acetate base. It wasn’t engineered to be wound tightly so I expect it will curl.

But I do expect picturesque grain