What is the grainiest bw film and developer?

npl

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We agree actually but it was poorly worded on my side. I meant that like you said, it should not be underexposed/overdeveloped

I also happen to rate fomapan 400 at EI 250 in XTOL/XT-3/fomadon excel, EI 125 in rodinal but only tried that once or twice.
Edit : Post in thread 'Fomapan 400 in rodinal 1:50 EI (35mm)' https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/fomapan-400-in-rodinal-1-50-ei-35mm.198140/post-2666361
 
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albireo

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Great work. Yes it works surprisingly well in Rodinal 1:50, too, I personally rate it at 160 in it, so our experiences broadly match!
 

lightray

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Wow, that grain paints the picture.
 

albireo

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Fomapan 400 in caffenol.

Fomapan 400 is really not that grainy. That is, unless it's severely underexposed or overdeveloped or negative-scanned improperly. This happens a lot I think, based on what we see on social media: the film is cheap which encourages people to use it to 'experiment' (which often involves exposing it, developing it, and scanning it without a lot of care).

Here's an example in 35mm. Rodinal 1:50, exposed with the internal reflective meter of a Canon Eos 3. 40mm f/2.8 pancake. Exposure compensation set to +1.3 EV (so 'exposed at 160EI'). Negative scan.



1:1 detail from the original negative scan at 5000 dpi

 
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cerber0s

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That looks really nice! I still think Fomapan 400 is pretty grainy when shot at box speed though. Don’t get me wrong, I love the look of it, especially enlarged on paper.

This is Fomapan 400 auto exposed in a Konica C35, semi stand developed in Rodinal 1:100.

 

albireo

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That looks really nice! I still think Fomapan 400 is pretty grainy when shot at box speed though.

That's because shooting it at box speed it's underexposing it. Foma 400 just about reaches 320 ei at pretty high gamma (~.65 or so) in specialised developers such as Fomadon LQN or Microphen.

Yes it looks great wet printed, even less grainy than when scanned.
 
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Love it in medium format. Sadly I've never been able to try it in 35mm. Do you know anyone who still sells it?

Sorry, no.
It seems Retropan isn't being produced anymore in 35mm...
Strange thing is: on the Foma website it's still listed in 35mm...
 
OP
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OK, over the summer, I did try a foma 400 and hp5 in 1:25 Rodinal, I just don't know when I'll share some results yet. but... for the sake of comparison, I also did another washi f bracket test, but this time used d76 1:1. this is a trio of uncorrected scans, iso 400-100
 
OP
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Tried HP5 in Rodinal 1:25- you can definitely see the grain when you zoom in on the uncompressed files
(note, I did use a Vivitar PN 2011 [aka a plastic point and shoot])
 

Pieter12

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How much of a crop/zoom in the examples? I regularly process HP5+ in Rodinal, it never looks that grainy. The grain is crisper, though. I rate it at 160, not box speed. Are these prints or negative scans?
 
OP
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How much of a crop/zoom in the examples? I regularly process HP5+ in Rodinal, it never looks that grainy. The grain is crisper, though. I rate it at 160, not box speed. Are these prints or negative scan
these are scans, here's 100% zoom in photoshop, though there is going to be significant detail loss compressing these for upload
 

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Sanug

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Grainy films are Orwo N74 and N74+, but with good sharpness and good anti halation layer. They are sold as Bergger Pancro and Lomo Kino Berlin. Developed in Adox XT-3, the results are still grainy. I you choose Rodinal instead, the grain will become worse (not tried, I don´t use Rodinal).


Canon 7s, Jupiter-9, Bergger Pancro 400, Adox XT-3 stock. 10 Min.




Rollei 35 T, Lomo Berlin Kino, Adox XT-3 stock, 1+10
 
OP
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it'll be a little while before the Berlin's ready, but here's the 1:25 Foma 400 I tried this summer: it's grainy, but not as intense as the hp5 (also, this was shot on my Yunon yn500, easily the worst camera I own)
 

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