Kodak 125 Plus X Best B&W Film All Time

cliveh · Apr 24, 2014

snapguy said:
Panatomic-X was the read deal. Plus-X was for wimps.

Are there any example images showing the wimpishness of Plus-X users?

chip j · Apr 24, 2014

I thought Plus-X had a wiry, gutsy quality, unlike FP-4.

Newt_on_Swings · Apr 24, 2014

Great film, shot the last of my 120 rolls 2 years ago and they had very low fog. I shot my only 25 sheet 4x5 box a few months ago that expired a few years before the 120 and it had a bit of fog but hc110 helped.

Xmas · Apr 25, 2014

chip j said:
The black short "lines" in the print are soft, not hard-edged. My lab has processed lots of brands for me, from Fortepan to Agfa et al. I think maybe Fomapan doesn't handle being frozen very well.

Id concur with Rick A the Forma film is not prehardened like Agfa, llford or Kodak film.
It needs to be handled different your lab may want a premium eg to use a harden bath like Rick.
Id have expected a lab to know.
Freezing mono is unnecessary a fridge is good for decades but if you let it unfreeze over a few hours before loading it in a camera it should be ok in original packing.

RattyMouse · Apr 25, 2014

As long as Acros is available, I dont see the problem.

Roger Cole · Apr 25, 2014

Acros is a radically different film from either Plux-X or FP4+ (ir anything else on the market.) The lack of reciprocity failure is the most glaring difference of course, but it's hard to see how that would ever be a negative. OTOH the spectral response is quite different and may or may not be what you want. Finally, while available in 4x5 it's rather absurdly expensive in 4x5 so unless I really needed the lack of reciprocity failure I can't see myself using it in sheets. I do shoot some of it in 120 though. It's a great film, don't get me wrong, but it's nothing like any other film I know.

Richard S. (rich815) · Apr 25, 2014

Agree. I Love Acros. But it's nothing at all like Plus-X.

Xmas · Apr 25, 2014

RattyMouse said:
As long as Acros is available, I dont see the problem.

If Acros is withdrawn you will only have

Delta 100
Fp4+
Formapan 100
Adox CHS 100 (II)
APX 100 (new)

and maybe others I don't use.

Noel

Thomas Bertilsson · Apr 25, 2014

Xmas said:
If Acros is withdrawn you will only have

Delta 100
Fp4+
Formapan 100
Adox CHS 100 (II)
APX 100 (new)

and maybe others I don't use.

Noel

TMax 100?
Kentmere?

subsole · Apr 25, 2014

Thomas Bertilsson said:
TMax 100?
Kentmere?

Rollei RPX 100 ?

ORWO UN54 (only 35mm)?

chip j · Apr 25, 2014

Rick A said:
There's your problem, you let a lab handle your film. Fomapan emulsion is "soft" and some care is needed when handling it. This is why I develope mine in pyro, to harden it and make it more scratch resistant. Labs are notorious for their machines being dirty and scratching film. I have shot many factory loaded cassettes and bulk load my own, none of it has shown scratches or debris of any kind. I don't get "soft focused" what do you mean by that? I find it a very capable film and the "old school" emulsion endearing, but it is far from soft looking.

Rick,What pyro do you use? there are several on the market. I can't use a toxic chemical because my hands are real sensitive. Thanks, Chip

markbarendt · Apr 25, 2014

chip j said:
Rick,What pyro do you use? there are several on the market. I can't use a toxic chemical because my hands are real sensitive. Thanks, Chip

All chemicals pose some hazard; Pyros simply require slightly more stringent lab procedures, like adding latex or rubber gloves for example.

chip j · Apr 25, 2014

markbarendt said:
All chemicals pose some hazard; Pyros simply require slightly more stringent lab procedures, like adding latex or rubber gloves for example.

I use rubber gloves now, for regular chems. I can't mix pyro "in the open air or w/a vented hood".

markbarendt · Apr 25, 2014

chip j said:
I use rubber gloves now, for regular chems. I can't mix pyro "in the open air or w/a vented hood".

Available Premixed http://stores.photoformulary.com/pmk-pyro-metol-kodalk-liquid-or-dry/

chip j · Apr 25, 2014

Thanks, Mark . Chip

chip j · Apr 26, 2014

Anyone remember when Plus-X 36exp was $1.29 @ Jewel Mart?

clayne · Apr 26, 2014

RattyMouse said:
As long as Acros is available, I dont see the problem.

Acros is probably the most boring, clinical black and white film available, so I do see the problem.

markbarendt · Apr 26, 2014

chip j said:
Thanks, Mark . Chip

As I understand it, the RolloPyro I use is a variant of the PMK I linked to above. RolloPyro (available powder only) is formulated/buffered/whatever to be more suitable for rotary processing, which is important to me. Part of my decision to use RolloPyro was because of the good luck to have tried it first under the tutelage of Per Volquartz at a workshop where I got nicely printable results.

Now, the more I use RolloPyro the more I like it, but even after the success at the workshop with Per, I resisted using Pyros partly because of the concern about the toxicity, sticking to more mainstream developers for years.

There are differences that I can see in the prints between the Pyros I've tried and the mainstream developers, but the differences are not monumental. It has taken years of practice and refinement of my style to get my skills and prints to a point where differences are starting to truly matter.

What has remained the same over this time (and that I don't fully understand) is that the results of certain combos just seem to fit me. FP4+ in RolloPyro was the first combo that provided "automatically" good prints for me, literally from the first roll. I'm now having similar luck with Delta 400 in RolloPyro.

If you do, or plan to do, rotary processing there's also Pyrocat HD premixed http://stores.photoformulary.com/pyrocat-hd-in-glycol/

chip j said:
Anyone remember when Plus-X 36exp was $1.29 @ Jewel Mart?

I'm old enough I'm sure, but no.

jerrybro · Apr 26, 2014

snapguy said:
Panatomic-X was the read deal. Plus-X was for wimps.

I'll call your wager and raise with Verichrome Pan 120.

JW PHOTO · Apr 26, 2014

jerrybro said:
I'll call your wager and raise with Verichrome Pan 120.[/QU

I'll second that! Miss that old VerichromePan film.

chip j · Apr 26, 2014

I have one frzn roll of Verichrome Pan 120.

Xmas · Apr 26, 2014

For years I only used verichrome pan 127, then I switched to HP3, never used plusx once.

Thomas Bertilsson · Apr 26, 2014

I just printed some 35mm Kodak Plus-X, shot in a half frame old Agfa range finder.

The prints look very nice! The grain holds up nicely like this, and I really enjoy the results. The prints from the roll of FP4 I shot in the camera are not easy to tell apart from the Plus-X.

Harold33 · Apr 27, 2014

Every recently discontinued BW film is the best B&W Film All Time.

fotch · Apr 27, 2014

Harold33 said:
Every recently discontinued BW film is the best B&W Film All Time.

I can think of several films that few missed when they no longer were available. Plus X is not one of them.

Kodak 125 Plus X Best B&W Film All Time

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