Ilford XP2 B&W chromogenic film on ilford VC paper

[lhalcong]

I'm about to print ilfolrd chromogenic film on ilford B&W paper for the first time tonight. If anyone has experience on this before let me know what to watch for. Or what should I be mindful about. I rather avoid wasting to much paper if somebody already has good advise for me. I noticed the film base color is a very dark brown or I should say almost black. When the same kodak chromogenic equivalent BW400CN has a base color more towards the orange side.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Is it Ilford XP-2 Super?

The film base should have a slight purple tint to it, which doesn't give the same problem when printing as the Kodak C41 b&w film. That orange mask really messes with contrast in VC paper and makes printing on graded papers almost impossible.

The Ilford chromogenic b&w film is 90% like a standard b&w halide film. It will have smoother grain than normal ISO 400 film (except maybe compared to TMax 400), and gives a beautiful print. You don't have to make many adjustments at all compared to regular film.

Have fun! And enjoy the beautiful results.

 

[Truzi]

Not sure I can give much advice except to not worry about it. The last time I was in a dark room was an undergrad photojournalism class. The teacher had us use the chromogenic B&W so we could have a one-hour lab get our negatives to us quickly - we spent most of our time learning how to print.

The film really does print well on B&W papers, you should have no problems once you get your test exposures down, just like with traditional B&W film.

 

[J.Marks]

I used XP 2 extensively several years ago. I shot it at 200 asa, had it developed normally (for 400 asa) . Printed it my darkroom with fantastic results. Super creamy skin in portrait shots. Excellent detail in landscape work.