If I like Acros 100, what is a good 400 film?

[stradibarrius]

My two favorite B&W films are Acros 100 and 125PX. The grain and the tone for me are great. What is a 400 film that has fine grain and similar tone? What about Neopan 400?

 

[brian steinberger]

Acros and Plus-x are quite different films. I would think of Kodak TMY-2 or Ilford Delta 400 as 400 speed equivalents to Acros, and something like HP5 or Tri-x as 400 speed equivalents to 125PX. Personally I think Neopan 400 is a wonderful film and is my film of choice. Many, me included believe it's a nice balance between the "technical" look of tablular grain films and the grainier and traditional look of traditional emulsions. I highly recommend Neopan 400.

 

[Leighgion]

Personally, I haven't seen any faster films that I'd compare in look to Acros. Of the films I've tried, Acros has a notably different personality than anything else. My limited experiments with Neopan 400 leave me feeling it's a much higher contrast emulsion than the rather mellow Acros.

 

[john_s]

Personally, I haven't seen any faster films that I'd compare in look to Acros. Of the films I've tried, Acros has a notably different personality than anything else. My limited experiments with Neopan 400 leave me feeling it's a much higher contrast emulsion than the rather mellow Acros.

It depends how you develop it. With adequate exposure and enough development but not too much, it's about as good as it gets imo.

 

[jja]

TMY-2 should be relatively close in terms of grain and tonality. I have used both Acros and TMY-2 a fair amount, but I have not put them side-by-side. Still, in my mind they are more similar than different, esp. relative to to other 100/400 comparisons.

 

[keithwms]

Neopan 400 in xtol 1+1.

 

[stradibarrius]

Thanks for the info. I will try Neopan 400 next. Currently I am only using D76. I am trying to keep the process simple and work on my overall processing technique. Once I feel like I have the process down good then I plan to try different developers and see how I like them.
My current thinking is to keep my developer the same so I get a fair comparison between different films.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Neopan 400 is nothing like Acros tonality wise. But Plus-X is also different from Acros, so the question is difficult to answer if not impossible.

I think Tmax 400 would be closer to Acros because it's linear. Neopan 400 has a pretty abrupt shoulder (which compares well with Ian Grant's observation of high contrast), which you have to be wary of in processing. With that said, Neopan 400 is capable of stunning results. Any film is, actually, and a lot depends on how you use and process it.

Master printer Andrew Moxom of this web site uses both Acros and Neopan 400 side by side. He processes Acros in Diafine and Neo 400 in Pyrocat. The prints from his negatives of either kind look very cohesive, so an all Fuji lineup would be worth a shot.

- Thomas

 

[stradibarrius]

I got my Neopan 400 today and I have one more question...at what speed do you shoot it...400 or something slower?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Box speed 400