The master Plus-x thread

[fschifano]

Count me in as another happy Plus X user up until now in 35mm only and it looks great processed in D76 1+1 at box speed. I do have say with a propack recently purchased, I can't wait to try out Plus X in 120 in my borrowed Rolleiflex Automat.

You will like it.

 

[Rlibersky]

Well, thank you for using my name so eloquently...

Plus-X is great film. I am inclined to believe that my past problems was due to contaminated or aged developer. With that taken care of I processed quite a few rolls of Plus-X in Rodinal. I used an unconventional 1+200 dilution and processed for half an hour or so, agitating every 5 minutes.
The results were really nice, actually, and I printed some of those negs yesterday. Very smooth but with excellent sharpness and bite at the same time.
I have since switched to Tmax 400, but sometimes miss shooting Plus-X. I might use it again some day, just for portraits. Wonderful tonality and great sharpness and bite. The grain is quite beautiful. If you ever want to experiment with D23, Plus-X is probably the optimal partner for it.
I have seen Randy Libersky's prints from those negatives and they are stunning.

- Thomas

Thanks Thomas. That is my favorite portrait combination for 120 on up.

 

[kompressor]

For all off you who wants to try Plus-x Pan in sheets: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140342626349&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

Its the same source i both 100 sheets from. I recomend this seller. He shipped ultra fast and packed the films very safe before the trans atlantic trip with US POstal.

 

[wogster]

After searching APUG for discussions on the subject: Plus-X from Kodak i found only some words from Thomas Bertilson on a few rolls he fucked up in pyro.

Today this film is sold in 135 and 120. Its branded 125PX on the flm rebate. This has changed from earlier emulsions. Yesterday i bought 4 boxes of Plus-X Pan in 4x5" (PXP) dated 1999. I attached a picture of what one off my test sheets looked like.

I hope other people also like this great film from Kodak, and maybe have som "trivia" on it to share.

I last used a roll of Plus-X around 1981, moved entirely to Ilford around 1981, when I converted the darkroom to metric, a huge leap at the time for a guy trained in school in Imperial Measure. Never was able to make sense of US Measure. At that time, you could only buy D76 as 1 US Quart or 1 US Gallon, or Ilford ID11 as 1L and 5L, and the Ilford was cheaper here in Canada, even though you got slightly more. I found that FP4 and HP5 worked well enough for me, so switched to them. Besides HP5 had less grain then Tri-X at the time, I found FP4 and Plus-X close enough to the same for me at the time.

Now considering trying some TMY so, Kodak is back in the running, currently souping in D76 (now sold in 1L and 1 US Gallon sizes), the prices have reversed, so now Kodak is cheaper..... I need to get to the photo shop and pick up a roll of TMY and Delta 400.....

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

In the last two days I have made 28 prints from Plus-X medium format negatives, processed in Rodinal. I don't use Rodinal anymore, but these were done at 1+200 dilution with 2.5ml concentrate per roll. Half an hour with agitation every 5 minutes.
The negatives are so easy to print, have a creamy yet sharp quality to them... Currently I'm only using Tmax film (100 and, mostly, 400). This has me thinking, as those prints just fell into place one after another. I'm very happy with how it went.

Plus-X is really great film.

- Thomas

 

[Jedidiah Smith]

Plus-X was my favorite film when I was dabbling in the garage-dark room for several years in Alaska. Tried so many different films (in 35mm), but always kept coming back to it as my favorite for some reason. I think some earlier posters were correct - it is the way this film handles the highlights and gives "beautiful grain" not "ugly grain" like some other films, when enlarged beyond 10x if that makes sense. For 35mm shooting, this is somewhat important to me.
Always developed in D76 stock or 1:1. Maybe I'll have to give it a try in Xtol as well sometime? Great thread anyway; we need Kodak to know we love this film!

JT

 

[Jim Chinn]

I had not shot any Plus X for many years, perfering Delta 100/400 in 35mm and Delta 100 and Tri X in 120. But when Freestyle begin to market it repackaged as Arista Premium I tried it again. Very nice. I develop in Xtol 1-2 and did a few rolls in D-76 which were also very nice. i think I am going to play around with a few rolls in Rodinal as others in the thread are doing. Can't beat the price at $2.09 for 36 exp.

Just wish Freestyle had Arista Premium in 120.

 

[naugastyle]

I have only ever tried a few b/w films I didn't like (HP5 was dropped quickly, although I gave Delta 400 a fair shake for a while). But Plus-X edges them all out for now. Love it. Very versatile (can be pushed beautifully when needed), great grain, great highlights. I've recently been shooting some APX100 and while I love the tonality, it can't handle bright sun as well as Plus-X in my opinion. Plus-X seems to look good at pretty much any time of day. I feel essentially the same about Tri-X but for travel photography, 125 seems more useful than 400 in most cases. I'm pretty sure I've only ever devved in D76 1:1, but I don't doubt it would handle anything. Amazing film.