roteague said:
If you are going to ask a general question, you should create the thread in the Lounge - not everyone here shoots B&W.
Cut the kid some slack - this is not a bad question, I have seriously seen far worse here. I don't know why you got so defensive when he DID NOT ask what B&W FILM people are using - just
what film. Perhaps a little more constructive responses would be better - he's very young, with all the enthusiasm and yes, the maturity that goes along with it. Alienating him without educating is really no more mature than some of his posts here.
Just my opinion, though - but I think everyone was 13 once. At least he has a hobby and aspirations, more than can be said for many his age.
Well, enough whining, back to the subject at hand.
I used to use a lot of APX100 and 400, before the formulation changes in the latter and the eventual demise of both.
I mainly used to use FP4+ and TriX. FP4+ is my main film, I really like it - TriX is suffering from my distaste towards Kodak and their recent "we're all about digital" attitude, but wow, in my humble opinion, the best all around B&W film ever made. So now I am trying to fall in love with HP5+, and having a rough go of it...
I always have a roll of PanF around just for that occasion that calls for it, and recently I tried Efke 100 and may be falling under its spell.
Generally, if I need a little more speed but want finer grain, I will reach for a roll of Delta or Acros for portraits (gorgeous in Rodinal), but that happens rarely. I have never managed to get satisfactory results from Delta 3200 or TMZ - I am sure its my fault, but I have had better luck pushing 400 films than trying to tame those. Perhaps one day...
Colour goes to grocery store 400 film for general shooting (which I do little of) and Velvia. I have been so dissatisfied with quality of prints I get that I don't think I will give colour much more thought until I have facilities to process it myself.
Peter.