neopan 400 vs FP4+

[tcboucher]

Ok, so i am a complete darkroom noob! I used to do a lot of darkroom work, aprox 2 rols/day. But that was about 3 years ago and im a little lost.

So i just got a holga wpc pinhole panoramic, First 3 rolls i put through it turned out not too bad, a little over exposed. These shots were aprox 6-8 second exposures during mid day bright sun.
test 1
Test 2
Test 3

Now im lookin to throw some Neopan 400 in there and i really dont want to waste it. Im developing in stock perceptol.

Also wondering what everyones thoughts are on pulling FP4+ to 50 ISO?

 

[Robert Kerwin]

I use PanF, partly because I was able to get a bunch of rolls cheaply. To my eyes it's got a distinctive smooth tonality that complements the "dreamy" feel of pinhole photos. If you're doing a lot of exposures in bright sunlight, you really don't want a fast film since the shorter exposures are harder to control, but this may not be an issue on the Holga pinhole camera. I don't have the WPC, so I'm not sure how easy it is to control short exposures. Furthermore, you may actually want long exposures to show the passage of time (motion blur), so a slow film may be just what you need.

On the other hand, if you're trying to do pinhole exposures in full shade or inside a building and don't want your exposure times to exceed a few minutes, then a faster film might be the way to go. I even bought a few rolls of Delta 3200 to experiment with low-light pinhole photography, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

For lens photography, FP4+ is my go-to film--I love the tonality and the way it seems to render blue sky a bit darker than other films I've tried. BTW, I normally expose FP4+ at 64 and pull the development.

With pinhole photography, it's hard to go too far wrong. Experiment and have fun!

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I have struggled with choosing film for pinhole photography for a while. I have used a lot of Kodak Plus-X, which is remarkably similar to Ilford FP4+. The cool thing is that its reciprocity problems start at about 1/2s. So at 1/2s metered at f/138 (my camera aperture, what's yours?) I shot at 1s, and at 1s metered I shot at 2-3s. This way I got exposures long enough to control with the manual shutter mechanism.
But then it gets dark, and a 15s metered exposure all of a sudden requires several minutes of exposure, and as it gets darker it gets worse.
So, I ended up debating how to solve this, and I have decided on Kodak Tmax 100. It's a film of the same speed as FP4/Plus-X in daylight, yet its reciprocity characteristics are pretty stable down to about 2 minutes, meaning I don't have to compensate much until it's really dark out, in which case I'd dig out a different camera with a larger aperture. That gives me the greatest lighting flexibility.
If it's really dark and I'm not in mid roll, I can also use Tmax 400, which will allow me roughly the same reciprocity characteristics but with two stops added speed. ISO 400 does not work for me during daytime, though, as I require a 1/4s exposure for that and I can't do that accurately.

So, Tmax 100. Fuji Acros would be another excellent choice as its reciprocity characteristics is (unbelievably) perhaps even better than that of Tmax 100.

I don't know what the reciprocity characteristics of Neopan 400 is. You'll have to test it.

 

[rst]

I use mainly Fuji Neopan Acros for pinhole photography. Not having to deal with reciprocity up to 120 seconds is just comfortable. For long exposure times I think Acros is one of the fastest films around.

Cheers
Ruediger

 

[tcboucher]

thanks for all the input everyone. What about developers? right now im using stock mixture perceptol? i wanna try some alternative process but im still new to it all...

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Keep using what you're using. It's best to keep things simple. Don't fart around with developers until you learn what changing what you do with one of them can accomplish. Seriously.
There isn't a film / developer combination out there that you couldn't make work one way or another. It's all about understanding limitations and boundaries. If you change your variables too much, you'll end up confused. Pick a film. Pick a developer. Do different things with it, over and over again, until you learn it instinctively. The differences you can achieve by changing how you use your materials account for a lot more than what materials you use, and the power of knowing what to expect and where the limitations lie helps you be creative.

- Thomas

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

Perceptol stock is great with just about anything, but a little pricey for one-shot development. That's my only gripe with it. I guess you could mix from scratch, if you really fall in love with it.

 

[2F/2F]

I usually use Efke or APHS graphic arts film, because they are cheap and available in every sheet size under the sun. I also like to pick up expired transparency film whenever I can. Tungsten varieties are nice. T64 and Provia combat reciprocity loss like nobody's business (and are available from 35mm up to 8x10 size), but they are pricey. I also have some old Ilford Panchromatic Bromide 11 inch wide roll paper that is very good for pinholes! (See my old post in which I asked some questions about it: (there was a url link here which no longer exists).)