Looking for a sharp film.

[JCJackson]

Freestyle offers a developer called Legacy Pro Mic-X that is claimed to be identical in formulation to the discontinued Kodak Microdol-X. This will give very fine, smooth grain with most of the films discussed above. But in my experience, Microdol-X yields negatives that are a little soft, lacking a bit in acutance, so I'm not sure it is the best choice to get something "sharp."

 

[hpulley]

In 35mm the smallest grain I find is PanF+, no grain visible at 11x14" enlargements, developed in DD-X 1+4. Super sharp as well, beautiful stuff.

Delta 100 135 I still find grainy if I really look at an 11x14" enlargement, developed in either DD-X 1+4 or HC-110 1+31.

For some reason I haven't tried T-Max 100 in 35mm lately but in 120 it is incredible stuff, absolutely grainless in 6x7 enlarged to 11x14". Looks nice developed in HC-110 1+31. Seeing how good T-Max 100 is in 120 I should really try some in 35mm but I have a lot of Delta 100 in storage that I'm working through now.

 

[Mark Fisher]

My experience mirrors Thomas'. For 100 speed, I love Acros. Surprisingly, Tmax 400 isn't far behind. If you are shooting handheld, the 400 speed image may be sharper than the 100 speed. In the end, though, sharpness isn't the only parameter in choosing a film. Tri-x is beautiful to my eye and it is neither fine grained or sharp compared to most other films.

 

[Rolleijoe]

Take a look at the lineup of Rollei films. I prefer the Orthopan myself, but there is also an ATP1.1 (or something like that), which beats Tech Pan in a head to head race. THESE are the sharpest on the planet w/out going to CMS20 which takes a special developer (sold with it), but is only in 35mm format.

As usual, Freestyle in the place to go for ordering. When Agfa went under, I tried the Efke 25 which indeed doe have a particular look to it, especially when printed on fiber paper. Never had any QC issues with it, and the tonality & sharpness is great, although the Rollei films are the most modern "clean" looking sharp.

Kodak had pretty much turned its back on photography, so much so, the only thing I'll buy will be Tri-X and HC110. Don't need them for anything else, and that's their own doing.

Hope you have good luck with the Rollei films.