Neopan 400

[Mike Kennedy]

Do folks rate this film at another ISO or stick with the box speed ? Results?

Thank You

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I've been rating Neopan 400 @ 400, developed in ILFOTEC HC (could use Kodak HC-110) 1+63, and get good results. Take a look in my APUG gallery.

Tom.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

Nice work Tom.
I have plenty of HC-110 0n hand.

Thanks.

 

[P C Headland]

For me, it depends on developer - for Rodinal I rate it at 250, for PC-TEA 400 and for Diafine 640. It works really nicely in Diafine.

 

[coriana6jp]

I have been recently playing with Neopan and Perceptol 1:3 at an EI400. Virtually no grain and very very sharp. The only downside is the developing time is about 25 min. or so.

Pyrocat-HD is also very nice, as is semistand in Rodinal 1:150.

Hope it helps.

Gary

 

[jim appleyard]

D-76 1+1, 9.5 min. works well for me. I use a spot meter when I can and rate it at an EI of 400. If I'm using the TTL meter, I go for an EI of 250.

 

[ElrodCod]

Do a film speed test & then you'll know for sure what works for you & your gear.

 

[mcgrattan]

I use it at 400 and usually develop it in Adox ADX A + B (their 2 part developer).

It also looks good in Ilford DD-X and, in fact, most developers I've tried. Adox ADX is the most convenient for me, though.

 

[lawrenceimpey]

Agree with Jim -- D76 1:1 9.5min @ 20C works beautifully, just as the instructions suggest.

 

[mikeg]

My favourite film. I use it at 400 in DD-X or for a more gritty look then in Rodinal.

 

[wclavey]

I have been using it at 400 and developing it in Microdol-X or at 640 in Diafine (as someone else reported above).

 

[Peter Corrigan]

With Mytol and my gear, 500 in medium format and 400 in 35mm.

 

[John Bragg]

Just rated a roll at Ei 200, and developed it in HC-110 Dilution H for 9 mins. Not had a chance to print yet, but the negs look good, and much like Tri-X developed in the same way.

 

[Maine-iac]

Does anyone know if Neopan 400 is a "traditional" film or is it a tabular grain film like T-Max or Delta or Acros?

I'm getting nice results from it developing at 70 degrees for 7'30" in my homebrew PCM (Phenidone, Vitamin C, and Metaborate.

Larry

 

[RoBBo]

How about pushing it?
Can it handle anything like Tri-X can?

 

[spark]

My experience is that its a bit contrastier than HP5+ or Tri-x, shoots nice at 400 and developed in Xtol 1:1.

 

[mcgrattan]

It has pretty fine grain, for me, too, when developed in Adox ADX. Not as fine as Acros, obviously, but pretty nice.

Great tonality too.

 

[Mick Fagan]

Neopan 400 is as far as I know a traditional film. Basically it's a direct competitor to Ilford HP5+.

I find it has smoother grain than HP5+ with a speed in my system of 320 ASA in D76 1+1.

I have tried it at 200/250/320/400/500/640/800 ASA and found it was very good between 250 to 500 ASA. All of these were done in D76 1+1 except the 800 which was neat.

I tried it in D76 neat and 1+3 but found 1+1 to be to my liking.

I have only bought this in bulk rolls and as Fuji have now discontinued bulk 35mm film I will go back to HP5+ when what I have is used up.

Mick.

 

[Black Dog]

Neopan 400 pushes well in XTOL to 1600 and 3200 isn't bad either.Also good with Barry Thornton's 2B formula or Rodinal (gritty but nice tones).

 

[PHOTOTONE]

In my opinion, Neopan 400 is the best 400 speed film available in 35mm. Absolutely beautiful tones and grain when developed in D-76 1+1. I rate at box speed.

 

[Black Dog]

It also responds well to both PMK and PCAT.

 

[craigclu]

This runs counter to some others' comments but.... I run through tons of HP5+ and only a half dozen rolls of Neopan 400 to compare the two about a year back. I found the Neopan to exhibit more speed than the HP5+ (about 1/3 to 1/2 stop). The Neopan showed slightly more grain but in a pleasant manner that had an "edgieness" to it. The developers used during this time were Pyrocat-HD and DS-10. If I were suddenly only able to purchase Neopan, I believe it would take very little fiddling to get it to do exactly as wished. My limited testing was done on medium format, by the way.

I really think that choosing Tri-X, HP5+ or Neopan 400 and getting tuned to any of the three would give any competent darkroom worker the look that they are after. To get back to the original question, I found 200 for HP5+ in PyroCat-HD to be my true working speed and Neopan 400 seemed to function well at 320.

 

[Scandium]

I rate it at EI 400 in DD-X or D-23 1+3. D-23 provides my favorite look.

 

[momonga]

To make an obvious point, EI and gamma are related, and gamma in turn is related to developing time. For example, here are some results for Neopan 400 developed in Fujidol-E 1+1 (a PC developer) from the Japanese magazine 'shashin kogyo', September '98 (time/gamma/EI):

4"/0.45/160

5"30'/0.55/400

7"/0.66/800

10"/0.88/1250-1600


The usual recommendation for a condenser enlarger is a gamma of about 0.45, for a diffused light enlarger a gamma of about 0.55. But of course in practice there are many individual factors that enter in to determining a personal EI and developing time: camera/enlarger/lens flare, developer, agitation technique, etc.