Which black and white film for studio portraiture?

[jim appleyard]

I take a different approach, I use gender to pick my film, well mostly. If doing a male portrait, I like to use a slow, fine-grain to catch every detail in the face. Pan-F or Efke 25 or 50 come to mind; if there is enough light to do this. A 100 speed film would be a good second choice. Rodinal would be a good gev to use as it gives good sharpness. Generally, I'm after a gritty, in-your-face (pun intended!) look.

For women, I would go to a 400 speed film to give a softer look that will help hide facial imperfections. I would then go to something like D-76 1+0 to soften even more. A softening filter may help as well.

Now, suppose I'm doing a portrait of "The Sea Hag" from "Popeye", for this I may switch and go to my slow film in an accutance dev to catch all the ugliness. It's all about what you want to achieve!

I did a portrait of a female friend with Ilford's SFX, 35mm with the IR filter. She loved it, but hates having her portrait taken; she says she's not beautiful, but of course she is! This film is very grainy, but that added to it by giving a soft look.

If possible, shoot 2 or more types of film and see which you like best.

 

[Ian Grant]

Jim in a different but also current thread Mike Seb mentions EFKE/Adox 25. It's quite a different film to Pan-F with it's ortho-panchromatic look.

I used it many years ago for a long photo-shoot, probably shooting about 15 rolls of 35mm, alongside MF FP4 and E6. The skin tones are superb, and as Mike says have that 30's Hollywood look usually associated with a 10x8 and very flattering lighting. The only reason I didn't continue using it was it's speed made it less practical than FP-4.

Ian

 

[jim appleyard]

Jim in a different but also current thread Mike Seb mentions EFKE/Adox 25. It's quite a different film to Pan-F with it's ortho-panchromatic look.

I used it many years ago for a long photo-shoot, probably shooting about 15 rolls of 35mm, alongside MF FP4 and E6. The skin tones are superb, and as Mike says have that 30's Hollywood look usually associated with a 10x8 and very flattering lighting. The only reason I didn't continue using it was it's speed made it less practical than FP-4.

Ian

Oh yes indeed, two different critters. I only used Pan-F with the Efke's as a guide to slow, fine-grained films that could show lots of detail in a face. But as you say, SLOW!

 

[df cardwell]

JIM & IAN

Great stuff guys.