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MF beginner ... which film?

gregmacc

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Mar 1, 2009
Messages
141
Location
Adelaide, Au
Format
35mm
Hi all ... The new Hassy is arriving next week and I need some film suggestions. I'm looking for a general purpose slowish (100-200 ISO) film. I'll be doing general/varied shooting to put the new camera through it's paces, and will probably be using a tripod 75% of the time. I really like the look of HP5 in 35mm (but a bit too fast for outside/bright light shooting with a max. shutter speed of 500th sec) so something similar would be good.
Thanks
 
Try FP4+ or Delta 100 since you seem to like Ilford films, Plus-X is nice too.

I for one also like Fuji's Neopan ACROS 100 speed, a lot, I'd say it's my standard 100 for medium format.
 
If you like HP5 I'd go ahead and try it unless you specifically want to shoot at wider apertures. While the big yellow orb is probably a bit more intense down your way than up here in temperate Washington, I've found that long as I'm willing to stop the lens down that 1/500th sec is usually plenty for using 400 speed film in sunlight.

For slower films, I can second Fuji Acros for those who like a sharp, fine grain but mellow contrast. Fomapan 100, probably my current favorite slow B&W film, is very inexpensive and has a nice old school look. In a slightly different way, so does Kodak Plus-X.
 
FP4 or Plus-X.

Others when you decide you need a "special-purpose" as opposed to a "general-purpose" film.

For instance, FP4 is my general-purpose medium-speed film. For 90% of the medium-speed shooting I do, the film leaves ZERO to be desired. However, I also use the following medium speed films in the following circumstances:

Efke/Adox 100 - beautiful, unique look. Nice and grainy, nice and flat, interesting spectral sensitivity
T-Max 100 - long exposures, usually night photography, or when I want to really add some straight-lined contrast to a shot
Neopan 100 Acros - same as T-max, but generally only use it for 1. night photography, or 2. when I want/need black and white Quickloads (though they are now discontinued as Quickloads, so......you can scratch that reason. Fuji, in their genius, decided to interpret "We want cut sheets too" as "We don't want Quickloads," so Quickloads went away when they started importing cut sheets.)

BTW, I only really use anything slower than 400 in medium or large formats. If I need something slow in 35 format, I just go for gusto and use Pan F, usually. Occasionally I will use a slower film when shooting color negs.
 
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Get whatever is cheapest. They aren't terribly different really. The more you shoot the better you get.
 
Since you've used and seem happy with HP5+ in 35mm I'd stick with that. For bright light I've had a lot of success shooting at EI 200 and developing less. For B&W I use HP5+ almost exclusively between EI 200 and EI 1000 or so: a uniform choice of film helps prevent me getting in a right muddle!
 
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Greg

That's one of the nice things about medium-format, grain, what grain?

Tmax400 and D76 1+1, where is the grain?
 
As it is what you like and what you're used to, try HP5+ in Perceptol. Ilford gives times for EI 320 max but I suspect that 200-250 is probably better. This should give you useable shutter speeds even in very bright conditions. Sunny f16 in clear sunshine probably operates best at your latitude so its 200th at f16 which allows for 400th at f11.

It may be that between say 10am and 2-3pm and if you want to apply differential focus to throw the background out of focus, your apertures might then overexpose slightly but B&W neg can cope with overexposure very well.

You'll only know if you give it a try. In MF and with Perceptol you'll have grainless negs capable of really big prints without loss of resolution.

pentaxuser
 
RalphLambrecht said:
Greg

That's one of the nice things about medium-format, grain, what grain?

Tmax400 and D76 1+1, where is the grain?
Click to expand...

Just takes some determination. Underexpose, agitate constantly and violently and make sure you alternate temperature of your solutions by 20 degrees or so to shock the emulsion. The grain can be squeezed out.
 
This is one of those questions where you are going to get as many different answers as there are APUG members and none of the answers will be wrong. It all comes down to preference and what you desire in a specific film.

These days, my personal favorite 100 speed film in 120 is Foma 100. I like the old school look of it and I LOVE the way my Hassy renders an image with Foma film’s grain structure. Plus it doesn’t hurt that I find the film incredibly forgiving.

I would have to agree with others however that if you are comfortable with HP5 there isn’t really much of a reason to change. Unless you really want to shoot wide open with a shallow depth of field, 1/500th of a second should be plenty fast in daylight. I personally wouldn’t want to learn a new film and a new camera at the same time. I tend to like my changes in small doses.
 
Plus-X at box speed ISO 125.

Steve
 
Leighgion said:
Just takes some determination. Underexpose, agitate constantly and violently and make sure you alternate temperature of your solutions by 20 degrees or so to shock the emulsion. The grain can be squeezed out.
Click to expand...

I accidentally exposed some Tmax 100 @ 1600. I think I may find some grain, if anything at all when I develop them soon. Since I don't have a light meter I've been using my 35mm TTL meter on my Nikon...apparently I forgot to change the ISO back down. I'm counting on 10 faint images the garbage can may enjoy more than I will, but we'll see.
 
Thanks all ... Just arrived back from a quick drive into the city ... Ended up grabbing a couple of rolls of ACROS 100 ... Thinking back to work I've seen here and Flickr, ACROS certainly has a lovely smooth look ... Ralph, hope the hypertention is settling ...
Cheers
 
hey greg,

check out flickr, its hard to see what the results REALLY are, since most people on there use PS, so, the results can be a little off of the actual results received. just search on some types of film and dev combos, say acros d76, etc.. and see if there's anything that catches your fancy.

I'm starting to try out the Efke line of films, the 25 is my most favorite so far, maybe the only one I like at all. generally though, my go-to film is the Tmax 400. its a great film, and I've been getting nice results with HC-110 dilution H(1/2 that of B, x2 the dev. time). I rate it at 250, and use a very simple 'zone system'. very nice results IMO.

look at what results you want, say, from other photographers that you admire, and if you can find out what type of film/dev they use, try that. Some very wise people here have recommended to me that its best to "stick with one film/dev combo, and get to know it like the back of your hand". this lets you get results you're used to, and allows you to tweak, without endless testing...

try a few rolls of the biggies, say ACROS(100 spd), TMAX(100/400), and Ilford (FP4+ 125/HP5+ 400). Efke films are nice for some people. I've really only grasped onto the 25spd version, and it is very nice. Reciprocity times suck though, so its a no-no for long exposures.

-Dan
 
Acros is interesting as well that it has a semi orthopanchromatic nature, a very slight bias towards blue sensitivity I think.

A lovely film to be sure, good luck!
 
Another vote for Acros, its my main film. Mostly because of the reciprocity characteristics...
 
Plus-X, Ektar 100, Tri-X, Tmax 100, Tmax 400. Efke 25 if you're feeling rambunctious. They're all good.
I ran a roll of Efke 25 through the 501/80 last weekend. Tripod in the fog. Handheld in the sun.
 
Plus-X is a really nice film...
 
ACROS is a current favorite, on a number of levels. I am also going back to roots and "discovering" the beautiful look of Tri-X, D-76 1:1, again. I usually shoot 400 ISO in MF. And don't forget ND filters if you want to keep using HP5
 
After two pages, almost every major type of film has been mentioned. Subjectively speaking, nearly all of them "look good."

What type of photography do you shoot? Consider which ISO speed is best for your style, and then pick up any film that fits your desired ISO -- that's also well stocked by your suppliers. Work with that film for a while, and if you don't like it, then move on.
 

The cheapskates are getting to me.
 
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