Loving Neopan 400

SchwinnParamount · Sep 25, 2009

Thomas Bertilsson said:
The only thing you need to watch with Neopan 400, which is a stunning film, is the shoulder. If you don't watch it, it's very easy to block up the highlights. ...

You can say that again! I've given too much development to many films over the years but the Neopan 400 gets seriously annoyed when I do it.

I stupidly gave what amounts to a 2 stop push to the film when souped in HC-110 when the film was exposed at 400. Highlights were awfully bad on all frames except those that were unintentionally underexposed. The underexposed/overdeveloped frames came out beautifully. Nice highlights.

Tom Stanworth · Sep 27, 2009

SchwinnParamount said:
You can say that again! I've given too much development to many films over the years but the Neopan 400 gets seriously annoyed when I do it.

I stupidly gave what amounts to a 2 stop push to the film when souped in HC-110 when the film was exposed at 400. Highlights were awfully bad on all frames except those that were unintentionally underexposed. The underexposed/overdeveloped frames came out beautifully. Nice highlights.

I have never pushed Neopan 400 and never will. I prefer to use Neopan 1600 at 640 for one stop over the Neopan 400 (which I rate at 320 in the same dev) or D3200 if i really need the speed., but will push TriX a stop or so if I must. I agree that Neopan 400 can result in very flat compressed highlights if a significant portion of the neg is at a very high brightness and you had to expose fully to get the shadows you want. Under these circumstances the highlights can be a bit muddy and compressed, but overall I find the shoulder quite handy for reining in hot highlights in sunny, contrasty scenes.

markus.heinisch · Oct 19, 2009

Thomas Bertilsson said:
The only thing you need to watch with Neopan 400, which is a stunning film, is the shoulder. If you don't watch it, it's very easy to block up the highlights. By using developers that respond well to agitation change, like Rodinal or Pyrocat; ...
- Thomas

I'm new to film development and I would like to know how do you agitate the film tank when using Rodinal? For example, first minute continuously, then every minute for 10 sec?
And btw. how long is your development time and what is your preferred dilution for normal processing?

Cheers, Markus

removed account4 · Oct 19, 2009

i enjoy neopan steeped in instant coffee with a splash of print developer.
the exact recipe, it is different every time

spencewine · Oct 20, 2009

I just switched off of Tri-x to Neopan 400 for all the reasons stated above. It's more contrasty, finer grain, better resolution (at least to my eye), and the same price. I process in D76. I haven't gotten the results I want with the neopan 1600 (processed in DDX) and opt for delta 3200 pulled to 1600. Delta seems to have a better tonal range at that speed.

clayne · Oct 20, 2009

Lots of fans of 400PR - don't know why people think it's unpopular in any way.

Alot of people mention things like switching from Tri-X to Neopan, etc. but in reality there is no reason to forcibly use one or the other - they can both compliment each other in different ways. Flat scenes naturally work better with Neopan due to it's higher inherent contrast - but so can contrasty scenes if handled appropriately. I think the key is to just stay consistent from one project to another.

Gennari · Oct 20, 2009

To set a counterpoint: I tried Neopan 400 in 135 and really wanted to like it, but whether in D76 or Emofin, the grain just didn´t suit my taste. Tri-X in Emofin on the other hand...

clayne · Oct 20, 2009

Gennari: there are other developers besides D-76.

Loving Neopan 400

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