Portra-Like B&W Film?

JDW22 · Mar 9, 2018

I'm looking for recommendations for a medium format (i.e. 120) black and white film that exhibits the qualities I like in Portra 160. Specifically, the smoother tonalities and contrast that I get when using Portra. The "flat" look with good shadow detail that seems so easy to achieve on the color side with Portra. I've read some comments that pulling Delta 100 1-stop will help to achieve these particular qualities, but I wanted to get some comments from this group before making a decision. While I enjoy experimenting with different films, my humble budget does not allow as much experimentation as I'd like. Thus this inquiry.

Thanks in advance.

ic-racer · Mar 9, 2018

Can you post an example?

Oldwino · Mar 9, 2018

HP5 has always given me a lower contrast look with a lot of exposure latitude.

Colin Corneau · Mar 9, 2018

I'd look to HP5 for that too, especially at box speed or even pulled a stop.

Of course your lighting will matter as much or more, too.

NortheastPhotographic · Mar 9, 2018

Have you tried Acros 100? It has a unique look that is beautiful for portraiture.

Sirius Glass · Mar 9, 2018

Tri-X 400, Ilford HP5+, Ilford FP4+, Delta 100, Delta 400 would work.

Lachlan Young · Mar 9, 2018

Ilford's XP2 would seem like a fairly good place to start. I think that some examples of the 'look' you are after would help with recommendations.

Sirius Glass · Mar 9, 2018

Do you want traditional grain, tabular grain or C-41 processing producing black & white film?

jim appleyard · Mar 10, 2018

FP-4.

Richard Man · Mar 11, 2018

So the answer is... basically, any film? ;-P

locutus · Mar 11, 2018

Richard Man said:
So the answer is... basically, any film? ;-P

This is the problem with such threads, everyone will chip in with their personal favourites...so yes every film will get mentioned

(Okay, maybe not Adox CMS or D3200 ;-) )

Richard Man · Mar 11, 2018

locutus said:
(Okay, maybe not Adox CMS or D3200 ;-) )

I am sure someone has a secret brew (102 hours of semi-standing in Solution D of HC-110) that will tame the contrast of CMS20 to be that of <your favorite low contrast film>

Tor-Einar Jarnbjo · Mar 11, 2018

I am also not 100% sure what exactly you are looking for, but it might be a modification to the printing process and not actually a specific film. One of the major reasons why there are colour films with different contrast and saturation is that the printing process (RA-4) is standardised and does in reality not allow for any other modification than brightness, by adjusting the paper exposure time. In particular, you can't easily adjust contrast or saturation in a fully analogue colour printing process.

Unless you voluntarily restrict yourself to fixed-grade papers and e.g. work with the zone system, there is really no need to choose a black and white film based on its contrast, since you are free to adjust the contrast in the printing process.

Sirius Glass · Mar 11, 2018

locutus said:
This is the problem with such threads, everyone will chip in with their personal favourites...so yes every film will get mentioned

(Okay, maybe not Adox CMS or D3200 ;-) )

And while they are pimping their favorites, they take cheap shots at other peoples' choices.

Paul Manuell · Mar 11, 2018

@JDW22 Can't you just carry on using the Portra 160 as normal then converting any shots you like to b&w once they're developed and scanned? It's what I get the chap in the shop I have my Portras developed to do for me. Might seem like heresy to the b&w film purists, but the results always look perfectly acceptable to me.

MattKing · Mar 11, 2018

For fine grain and "smoothness" I'd suggest T-Max 100, developed for moderate contrast in X-Tol.
But it is really hard to recommend something unless we see something you don't like.

Tor-Einar Jarnbjo · Mar 11, 2018

Paul Manuell said:
@JDW22 Can't you just carry on using the Portra 160 as normal then converting any shots you like to b&w once they're developed and scanned? It's what I get the chap in the shop I have my Portras developed to do for me. Might seem like heresy to the b&w film purists, but the results always look perfectly acceptable to me.

That is not really a solution, assuming that the OP wants to do traditional black and white prints in the darkroom.

If your goal is a digital b&w image file, why don't you simply shoot digital to start with? Shooting on film, just to scan and continue with a digital workflow is just a tedious, expensive and technically inferior detour.

Kawaiithulhu · Mar 11, 2018

I think that if you go for that "look" with B&W and no color shading, you're going to get a crappy and flat looking B&W print.
You're going to have to show me a B&W print by someone that has the qualities you're looking for, I'm pretty dense sometimes

Maybe just control your lighting setup and shoot high-key and use a fine grain film like Acros 100 or TMAX?

Paul Manuell · Mar 12, 2018

Tor-Einar Jarnbjo said:
That is not really a solution, assuming that the OP wants to do traditional black and white prints in the darkroom.

If your goal is a digital b&w image file, why don't you simply shoot digital to start with? Shooting on film, just to scan and continue with a digital workflow is just a tedious, expensive and technically inferior detour.

Because I've never shot digital and have no interest in ever doing so, I simply offered the OP an alternative viewpoint.

Portra-Like B&W Film?

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