What is the grainiest bw film and developer?

Keith Tapscott. · Aug 25, 2025

For a gritty graphic look, take up Bromoil printing.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Aug 31, 2025

final(ish) one for this cycle:
Ultrafine Finesse 400 in 1:25 Rodinal which I'm pretty sure is just N74.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Aug 31, 2025

did just develop a Tmax 3200 in Rodinal 1:25, will show that after I get the scans back.

Next cycle's Rodinal plan:
Rollei Paul and Reinhold
Rollei Retro 400
Foma Ortho 400
FPP Derev 400 (pretty sure it's Svema 400)

later cycles:
Delta 3200
Catlabs 320
Shanghai 400
UN54
Double X

SFX 200
Rollei IR
Film Washi Z

grain elevator · Aug 31, 2025

TheGreatGasMaskMan said:
final(ish) one for this cycle:
Ultrafine Finesse 400 in 1:25 Rodinal which I'm pretty sure is just N74.View attachment 406542 View attachment 406543 View attachment 406544 View attachment 406545 View attachment 406546

N74 hasn't been available for a while. Kentmere again? Or Foma?
I'm quite interested in your results btw, and expect fomapan 400 will be the winner amog the affordable films. I like a really grainy look sometimes and would use a minox or 16mm camera, were it not for the lack of wide angle lenses in these formats and the hassle of it all.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Aug 31, 2025

grain elevator said:
N74 hasn't been available for a while. Kentmere again? Or Foma?
I'm quite interested in your results btw, and expect fomapan 400 will be the winner amog the affordable films. I like a really grainy look sometimes and would use a minox or 16mm camera, were it not for the lack of wide angle lenses in these formats and the hassle of it all.

pretty sure N74's still available, just in repackaged cases.

I also did do Foma 400 last summer- you can see the results in previous pages

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Oct 5, 2025

big shock, but Tmax 3200 in Rodinal 1:25 has been the grainiest result yet...

Part of the reason I didn't want to use this is because using this film in the daylight in the summer is tricky...
I am also working on a Delta 3200, want to get that finished soon

loccdor · Oct 5, 2025

1990 Svema Foto 125, barely an image on it, lost at least 6 stops

Milpool · Oct 5, 2025

POTA would also be worth a try for max grain if you don’t mind making your own developer.

npl · Oct 5, 2025

TheGreatGasMaskMan said:
big shock, but Tmax 3200 in Rodinal 1:25 has been the grainiest result yet...
View attachment 408793
View attachment 408794 View attachment 408795
View attachment 408796
View attachment 408797
Part of the reason I didn't want to use this is because using this film in the daylight in the summer is tricky...
I am also working on a Delta 3200, want to get that finished soon

As expected.
You could use ND filters in the summer

hobbes · Oct 12, 2025

a friend of mine uses Kodak Tmax3200 in Rodinal 1+12 in 16'C on a half-frame.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Oct 12, 2025

that's a future experiment once I determine the grainiest Rodinal films- higher dilutions. could also get ultra cropped frames using a LomoKino

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Oct 18, 2025

decided to try HP5 in 1:25 Rodinal, and big shock, the grain is significantly less noticeable than 35mm

I did just drop off a delta 3200 to be scanned so we'll see how that compares to tmax 3200 in the coming weeks

Alan Johnson · Oct 19, 2025

The long discontinued Kodak 2475 Recording Film with an ISO of 1000 used to be considered a very grainy film. Here is a result from shooting 1982 expiry film at EI=25 and developing in Rodinal 1:25 9min 20C.
It was heavily fogged, storage is unknown.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Oct 19, 2025

Alan Johnson said:
The long discontinued Kodak 2475 Recording Film with an ISO of 1000 used to be considered a very grainy film. Here is a result from shooting 1982 expiry film at EI=25 and developing in Rodinal 1:25 9min 20C.
It was heavily fogged, storage is unknown.

View attachment 409757

now that's good grain

loccdor · Oct 19, 2025

@TheGreatGasMaskMan That first image in particular is wonderful

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Oct 20, 2025

loccdor said:
@TheGreatGasMaskMan That first image in particular is wonderful

thank you. if you're talking the 120 images, that first one was accidentally shot at iso 100, but still turned out. goes to show how hardy the film really is.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Monday at 3:21 PM

Delta 3200 in 1:25 Rodinal:
could be grainier than Tmax, but at the cost of lower contrast

npl · 2025-10-28T08:23:09-0400

They sure look grainy but not that grainy. One factor that really should be considered is the scanning. Theses lab scans are not terrible but don't look that great by 2025 standards regarding sharpness and focus and it does affect how the grain is perceived.

I'd suggest trying to "scan" a few frames with a digital camera, a macro lens or if you don't have one a regular 50mm lens and an extension tube, manually adjust the focus on each shot to be perfect (use the x5 digital zoom), and compare the result. Adding sharpness in post also play a significant part on how the grain look.

TheGreatGasMaskMan · 2025-10-28T14:29:34-0400

npl said:
They sure look grainy but not that grainy. One factor that really should be considered is the scanning. Theses lab scans are not terrible but don't look that great by 2025 standards regarding sharpness and focus and it does affect how the grain is perceived.

I'd suggest trying to "scan" a few frames with a digital camera, a macro lens or if you don't have one a regular 50mm lens and an extension tube, manually adjust the focus on each shot to be perfect (use the x5 digital zoom), and compare the result. Adding sharpness in post also play a significant part on how the grain look.

the raw scans are 6048 x 4011 pixels- part of the issue is I've got to reduce the long edge down to 2000 and have a file size under 2mb for it to upload onto this site.

What is the grainiest bw film and developer?

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