If you could shoot only one Black & White film, what would it be?

[Nicholas Lindan]

Tech Pan

 

[Paul Verizzo]

If only AGFAPAN 400 still existed, but alas, then it became Tri-X, but then the price rose a little too much, now it is Hp5+, all in 120...

Your English is great. I struggle to barely speak a bit of Spanish. Mi Espanol es muy malo y poquito.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Cheapest in bulk I could find at the time I needed it.

 

[thefizz]

Tri-X in 120

 

[destroya]

apx 25 in 120, TMY for everything else, assuming money doesn't matter (tmy in 4x5 is crazy expensive)

 

[Cholentpot]

Tmax if cost wasn't an issue.

Otherwise whatever is cheapest and comes in the longest rolls.

 

[GregY]

The price ofTMY2 in 5x7 plus $Cdn exchange & shipping made me shoot more 4x5...
If you can't make a fine 16x20 print from a 4x5 neg..... well... that'd be a shame!

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Tmax if cost wasn't an issue.

Otherwise whatever is cheapest and comes in the longest rolls.

I shoot two 35mm B&W options. One is TMY-2 for the "good" sessions. This is up to $150 plus shipping for a 100' roll at Adorama and B&H. The other is Ultrafine Extreme 100 for just knocking about. Another option would be Arista.EDU. Both are under $70/roll.

 

[Eric Rose]

Ilford FP4

 

[BradS]

FP4+ or Tri-X

 

[nosmok]

Panatomic X, assuming I never leave SoCal. Although it's perfectly fine at 125ASA as well.

 

[MattKing]

TMY-2.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Kodak Tri-X and Rollei IR 400 are two different films with different purposes so I cannot limit to one. For 4"x5" I use HP5+ or FP4+. I have a number of rolls of Plus X 120 for special situations.

 

[Cholentpot]

I shoot two 35mm B&W options. One is TMY-2 for the "good" sessions. This is up to $150 plus shipping for a 100' roll at Adorama and B&H. The other is Ultrafine Extreme 100 for just knocking about. Another option would be Arista.EDU. Both are under $70/roll.

I have a fridge full of lucky stuff I found. Orwo Un-54 and N-74. I have about five bulk loaders loaded right now. 50D, 250D, DoubleX, UN-54 and Ultrafine Xtreme. I have two more loaders on stand bye for the roll of 400 feet of HP5+ cine film I broke down years ago.

So currently my go-to for fast B&W is N-74 for everyday. It doesn't push all that well and UFX-400 for push as it really pushes nice. For slow I go with the Double X.

 

[ic-racer]

Well, I do only shoot one B&W film: HP5. 16mm, 35mm (Minox splitter too), 120, 4x5 and 8x10.

 

[ic-racer]

Ilford FP4

It has been years since I used that. Should get some agin. What do you like best about it?

 

[juan]

If I don’t have to pay for it TMY-2. If I do, green X-ray film.

 

[Terrence Brennan]

Ilford HP5 Plus, in 35mm and 120.

 

[drkhalsa]

Ilford FP4 Plus

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Interesting responses.

It looks like Ilford FP4+ (what an awkward name!) is the most common candidate. Perhaps Kodak was short sighted dropping Plus-X. Not perhaps, definitely. What a grand film it was.

TMY-2 is frequently mentioned, but often with a cost caveat. Boy, I get that! Even bulk loading, best current price, call it $9/roll.

I'm surprised XP-2 didn't get more nods. Very fine grain, very versatile exposure indexes.

 

[GregY]

Paul, perhaps XP-2 didn't get chosen more often because it's a chromogenic film designed to be processed in C-41 chemistry. Some people, especially those doing their own processing and printing prefer a true BW film, especially in the case.... 'if you could only have one'.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

Paul, perhaps XP-2 didn't get chosen more often because it's a chromogenic film designed to be processed in C-41 chemistry. Some people, especially those doing their own processing and printing prefer a true BW film, especially in the case.... 'if you could only have one'.

I certainly get that. Home C-41 is pretty easy, especially since we aren't talking the tightrope of color.

OTOH, I love the classic, basic, old fashioned B&W chemistry.

 

[madNbad]

Not much love for Ilfords' Delta, either.

 

[GregY]

I certainly get that. Home C-41 is pretty easy, especially since we aren't talking the tightrope of color.

OTOH, I love the classic, basic, old fashioned B&W chemistry.

There have been at least a handful of comments about film cost.
Wouldn't shooting XP2 and processing it in C41 be one of the least economical choices?
Part of the reason i'm asking is that I only work in BW..... (& do my own processing and printing in roll & sheet film formats)....so the XP2/C41 seems a round about way to get a BW negative

​

 

[markjwyatt]

There have been at least a handful of comments about film cost.
Wouldn't shooting XP2 and processing it in C41 be one of the least economical choices?
Part of the reason i'm asking is that I only work in BW..... (& do my own processing and printing in roll & sheet film formats)....so the XP2/C41 seems a round about way to get a BW negative

​

I hear of a lot of people shooting and developing XP2 as classical B&W film.

ILFORD XP2 Super in black and white chemistry

Chris Moss takes us along on his journey where he develops ILFORD XP2S shot at various speeds in black and white chemistry,

www.ilfordphoto.com