New user and new camera

wathrog · Nov 8, 2009

Hello everybody! I'm new here, I have always shoot 35mm film with the collection of my father (all nikons F-series, the newest a Nikon F3HP) all manual cameras when I was young. Then for a (long) while I didn't practiced at all this passion because of time&money issues (student....). Now I have decided to go back to it and I bought myself a piece of equipment: A Mamiya RZ67 ProII with the AE Eye-level finder and the 110mm lens. It is a wonderful (but heavy) piece of equipment. Now I want to start to develop my own film (I shot b&w 99% of the time) and get a good scanner to digitalize it.
I would like to know which is the best film, in your opinion, to start with and which is the best development process for it. I mainly shot landscapes (urban or countryside) and I would like to start investigating other kind of photography (like portraits and macro). Any idea is appreciated!
Thank you!

Regards,
Francesco

Chazzy · Nov 8, 2009

It's hard to recommend a film for landscapes, since everyone has individual preferences. Could you at least tell us whether you are looking for color film or black and white film?

Chazzy · Nov 8, 2009

By the way, welcome to APUG.

wathrog · Nov 8, 2009

Chazzy said:
It's hard to recommend a film for landscapes, since everyone has individual preferences. Could you at least tell us whether you are looking for color film or black and white film?

Thank you for the answer, I will shot black and white 99% of the time, I don't know how to and I don't have the equipment do develop color film, probably I will use some instant film for color...

I know that everybody has personal preference but I would like to know some film - development process pairs that are worth to be tried!

Thank you again!

Regards,
Francesco

papagene · Nov 8, 2009

For what it's worth, I use Ilford FP4+ and HP5+ developed in PMK Pyro. I have also found that Tri-X and Plus X also work well with PMK. In the past I have had good results with all four films developed in D76.
I am not sure if PMK is available in your area.
I like the look of the prints I get with PMK so it is my standard developer. You will get almost as many film-developer combinations as there are APUGers.
Good luck with your search, and welcome to APUG.

gene

Leighgion · Nov 8, 2009

Welcome aboard!

"Best" is a loaded word when it comes to films and developers. Long as they actually work, which is better is completely subjective. What I'd do is see how much choice of stock you can easily lay your hands on first, then work from there. Often the best films and developers are the ones that you can buy without too much trouble. Doesn't matter how amazing some people think a certain film is if you need to hack your way through a jungle to get any.

Pumal · Nov 8, 2009

I like HP5+ for B&W and is available just about everywhere.

Mark Fisher · Nov 8, 2009

Name the film and you will find people who do great things with it. I personally settled on Fuji Acros in Rodinal, but I previously used Ilford FP4 in HC110 which worked well too. I tend to use developers that can be mixed as needed and have long shelf life since I don't go through a lot of film consistantly.

polyglot · Nov 8, 2009

There is no one best, there are merely different ones, some of which will appeal more to you than others. And other people will make different choices.

What do you want from your film? High resolution? Fine grain? Coarse grain? Smooth grain? Speed? Lack of reciprocity failure? Traditional or straight characteristic curve? Ease of push/pull processing? Distinct shoulder or completely lacking one? High or low contrast? Infrared sensitivity? If we knew more about what you want the film to do, then we could perhaps answer your question.

(I'm partial to Fuji Acros, myself)

david_mizen · Nov 9, 2009

ive used ilford films with ID 11 developer and like the results try a few brands and see what you like they are all a little bit different.

johnnywalker · Nov 9, 2009

HP5+ in ID-11 or D76 1+1 and spread your wings from there.

Fireguy2002 · Nov 9, 2009

I can't say anything about the wing spreading, as I'm still on HP5+ and ID11. Looks decent enough for me. All the shots in my gallery use that combo.

macaroniitfc · Nov 9, 2009

nice topic! as we have some serious users on here may i jump in with my question (it's related). i am also new. i mainly shoot a hassy 503cw with a preference for ilford film. i shoot between 50 and 3200 (yes i know...) with 50 for daylight stuff (non street( and 400-3200 for street work). i like high contrast, yet fine grained images (where possible). any suggestions? dont care about developing time by the way, and i shoot a lot!

jeffreyg · Nov 9, 2009

I have used Ilford Delta 400 for 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 with ID11 and HP5 with ID11 and PMK Pyro for 4x5 with excellent results. Most of the time on a tripod (examples in my portfolio). My advice for what it is worth is to select a film/developer combination that provides the properties you desire and become familiar with how they work in your hands and once you are confident with your choice experiment with others if that is what you like to do. I use the ID11 1:1 @ 68F and vary the development time according to the contrast wanted but start with Ilford's chart.

stradibarrius · Nov 10, 2009

Trying to recommend a "Best" B&W is like trying to recommend the "Best" flavor of ice cream. One way to start narrowing down your starting point is to tell us if you like that "Grainy look" or do you like the no grain? If no grain, like me then Fuji neopan 400, Delta 400 and kodak Tmax 400 are all very smooth fine grained films. D-76 is a great developer and so is XTOL.
If you like a more grainy look then some one else will have to recommend a film for that.
another way is to look in the Gallery and see which shots have the tonal ranges that you are drawn to. even if you do not necessarily like to subject matter try to look at the way the film catches the scene. then look to see what film it is. that may help...or not.

Doc W · Nov 10, 2009

wathrog, I use the non-electronic model, the RB67, and love it (I also shoot large format). Your question is a little like asking who is the most beautiful woman or man. The answer depends on a lot of things and everyone has their favourites.

If I were you, I would start with some standard, tried-and-true combinations and stick with them for a while. For film, good choices are Ilford FP4 and HP5 (I use both), Kodak Plus-X and Tri-X (I use both). If you are shooting mainly outdoors, you can get away with the lower speed of FP4 or Plus-X. For developers, Kodak D-76 and HC-110, and Ilford ID-11. Any one of these combinations will work fine. My personal favourite is FP4 in HC-110. If you are just starting out, however, a simpler developer like D76 or ID11 might be the way to go.

elekm · Nov 12, 2009

Stradibarrius and DocW, I agree fully. It's a subjective thing.

elekm · Nov 12, 2009

I'll add that I happen to like the older Agfa emulsions (100 and 400), the new Kodak TMax 400 (good combination of speed and low grain) and Ilford Pan F and FP4.

I'm not a fan of the Fuji b/w or Ilford HP5.

fotch · Nov 12, 2009

Hello Francesco, good place to start is with is Plus-x or equal, and D-76. Get it down pat and then try Tri-X or equal. When you can be consistent with these, then experiment if you want to.

Welcome to APUG, from SE WI.

Good Luck

fschifano · Nov 12, 2009

I'm partial to Kodak B&W films myself and I use them all. For starters, I'd say go with Plus-X for when you have plenty of light to play with, and Tri-X for when you don't. Both films perform beautifully in either D-76 or XTOL and are hard to beat. TMX and TMY-2 are absolutely gorgeous to my eye and respond well in both developers mentioned. They do demand more precision in exposure and development, and may not be ideal for a newcomer. After a little practice though, give them a try and you won't be disappointed.

wathrog · Nov 12, 2009

So, first of all, thank you everybody for the answers!

A friend of mine kindly gave me a couple of rolls of AGFA APX 100 and I found a 5 pack of Neopan 400 at a reasonable price. My friend suggested Rodinal (1+50) for both, of course I expect marked grain in the Neopan at full speed with this developer, but I would like to test the effect of it.

After experimenting with rodinal, probably I would go for TMAX Developer (I want to try the TMAX film/dev combo in the future).

So two more questions then:
First of all, I have a AE Prism II on my Mamiya, is it precise? Does it needs particular care or adjustment? Does it works well in Auto mode (that should automatically switch from point metering to average metering)?

Then, do you think that, with Rodinal, I need a stopping bath or can I just try to stop the process with water?

Thank you again!

Cheers,
Francesco

Anscojohn · Nov 12, 2009

Welcome, from near Washington, DC.

New user and new camera

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