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Neopan 400 alternative

fschifano

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I'm telling you, just like I replied to this same query on photo.net. TMY-2 is the way to go. It's extremely flexible because of its long straight line curve, and it has the finest grain in its speed class. Nothing else comes close. I've tried them all, and this is the one. And who was it said that you can't get good blacks? Nonsense, that's a function of printing.
 

Mark Antony

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Neopan was my personal fave too so far I've been testing out emulsions my opinion (for what it's worth)
Tri-x is a little more grainy than Neopan and also in 120 seems to have slightly different tonality.
Hp5 has more grain too, closer tonally in the lower tones.
Delta 400 is less grainy with a smoother 'thicker' look
TMax 400 is close but again less grain.

So as you'd expect lots of these emulsions are similar but unique.

I think I'm going to settle for TMax pushed a little, seems to be as close as I can get.

Couple of things though I don't think Neopan 400 was a tabular film as suggested I'm sure it's cubic (or a mixture of sigma and cubed) and Neopan 400 C41 is the same as XP2 and is made by Ilford for Fuji.
Mark
 

tokengirl

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I think the only way you're going to know for sure which is right for you is to test them all out. But I would try not to get too hung up on replacing Neopan 400, rather focus on picking a new favorite ISO 400 film (and possibly a new developer). Otherwise they might all disappoint you.
 

JayGannon

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If I was that attached to a film I'd just buy a few hundred/thousand rolls and freeze them... enough to last at least 5/10 years.
 

Tom Stanworth

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Why is there a need to get 'the exact same look' as Neopan 400? Hey, I loved it too, but I have fantastic images off so many films as to realise that while you might get used to a look, its not a biggie to adjust to something a little different.

After the Ilford wobble some years back I decided to test and become confident with at least three films in each speed (for 400): D400, HP5+, TriX (TXT) and Neopan 400. Once I had exposure and development sorted out, I went to India for a significant trip and shot twenty rolls each of the first three. All produced images that made the final cut and although some seemed to excel for certain subjects, I realised I could shoot any without too much bother. I took these three as an experiment and to prove this point, but since have shot Neopan 400 as my staple. I also realised that you cant take four films and tailor them to the scenes they excel at and there is no point. Nobody looks at a great shot and wonders how it would be a fraction 'better' on another film i.e. our appreciation of a print is not usually a relative thing - there is no comparison and so you dont know what you are missing.

PS Most of the images we admire so greatly were almost certainly NOT shot on Neopan 400, but TriX, HP5+, FP4+, and dozens of oldie emulsions, so it cant be that bad to face using some of these classics instead!
 
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advinhifi

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The reason for wanting to replicate this film is I'm halfway through a series of images for an exhibition/book and worried/concerned about the continuity when changing halfway through the project for a different film.
I have 8 rolls of Neopan left but ideally need 50 to complete this project, at least. So I'm going to try and change films but get an end result that is not to different from my neopan images that I've posted above...

I can work some magic in the darkroom so am just trying to get something similar at the negative stage...
 

JayGannon

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Again I ask, why not buy 50 rolls of Neopan 400?

Sometimes I think people make life harder for themselves just for the sake of it.
 

hpulley

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Wow, Lumiere still has Neopan 1600 as well! Shipping to Canada might be a bit much, hmm...

Very strange, unless I'm blind Canada isn't on the country list, bizarre.
 

Dirk-san

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IloveTLRs said:
Perhaps Japan Exposures ships overseas?
They stock Super Presto 1600 (it's not discontinued in Japan.)
Click to expand...

It is, but at retailers while stocks last
 
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Laurent

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AmsterdamMartin said:
vote for HP5+. By pushing (D76) you could come close to a negative from which you can print like neopan 400.
But I keep a lot of 120 neopan 400 in the freezer too.
In 35 mm I have never been a fan of neopan 400.

Beautiful photo's btw.
Click to expand...

It took me some time to realize how nice Neopan 400 looks, mostly because I was not able to print when I used this film, simply develop and scan. I'm now amazed at the 'feeling' of this film, and annoyed I can't buy it anymore.

However, I settled on Ilford (Mostly HP5+, some Pan-F when I want less grain, and Delta 3200 when light isn't there) and I'm regularly very happy of the look of HP5+ negatives (souped in X-Tol 1+1 in my case). So that's another vote for HP5 !

I still have to try pushing it with D76... will see!

Finally, I agree on the fact that the OP's pictures look just great !
 

Laurent

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advinhifi said:
I just want to say how wonderful and lovely APUG member perkeleellinen has been...
He had some Neopan 400 left over and has sold me them privately to help me finish my project.
Click to expand...

I think this tells us how good a place is APUG ! I'll be happy to see progresses of your project !
 
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advinhifi

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If you want to see the project develop then go to the following website

http://a-serenade-to-the-ghost.tumblr.com

The project is a mixture of poetry and photography but very much works/words in progress. I'm collaborating with a model in Oslo on this project so hoping to get more images in the New Year and complete by middle/late 2011
 

36cm2

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Nice gesture, Perk. That's very cool.
 

Thomas Bertilsson

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Mark Antony said:
I think I'm going to settle for TMax pushed a little, seems to be as close as I can get.
Click to expand...

This sits well with the Fuji and Kodak data sheets as well. If you look at Fuji's tone curve, it has a more abrupt toe and a long shoulder. The abrupt toe means less shadow detail and would explain how some would feel that they get richer blacks.
The shoulder means that the highlights compress a bit, which could be interpreted as highlight 'intensity' and glow.
TMax 400 curve is straight as a nail for the most part, which is why Mark's comment about pushing it makes sense.

My suggestion: Shoot the film at EI 800 (to emphasize the toe and to get those blacks), and develop it longer, but slow down agitation to every two minutes. With a developer like Kodak Xtol 1:1 you would retain the shadow detail, and you might be able to bend TMY-2 to exhibit a bit of a shoulder.

The grain will always be finer with TMY-2, though, but tonally you should be able to get pretty close by doing the above.

- Thomas
 

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mouren

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I was under the impression that Neopan 100 Acros is of the modern T-grain emulsion, while Neopan 400 and 1600 are of the older emulsion, like Tri-X.
 

Thomas Bertilsson

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mouren said:
I was under the impression that Neopan 100 Acros is of the modern T-grain emulsion, while Neopan 400 and 1600 are of the older emulsion, like Tri-X.
Click to expand...

I have to ask this question, and I'm not trying to be facetious:

Even though that is information that might be interesting to those interested in the technology of photography, how does this matter in the resulting pictures what type of grain the film has?
 
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