On Sunday, March 05, 2000 12:13 PM, John Hudson [SMTP:jahudson@xxxxxxxxx]
wrote:
> Anyhow, to get to the point! I am looking for sources of information and
> comments on the characteristics of available black and white films
[Kodak,
> Ilford, Agfa, etc] and which brand might be appropriate for differing
> circumstances; eg: portraits, landscapes, low light, town, country,
> mountains, flora and fauna, etc, etc.
>
> Any information from the list will be appreciated.
John,
Here we go.
Portraits: used to be Tri-X, but I switched a couple of years ago to
Ilford's HP5. I generally shoot it with an orange filter (G?) and, while
losing a stop due to the filter, I find it makes flesh tones almost
luminous. It's a wonderful combination. I generally process it in good
ol' D-76 at a 1:1 dilution. You'll get more grain with this ISO 400 film
and developer combination than you will with a slower speed and fine grain
developer, but once you've tried it... I've tried other slower, finer
grained films in order to get bigger enlargements, but while I could blow
'em up to 11x14, the tonality just isn't the same.
Landscapes/town/country/mountains: A pretty mixed bag here. Agfa's APX 25
is great for daylight landscapes where nothing is moving -- very, very good
detail and at the same time a bit flat on the contrast. Ilford's FP4
provides moderate speed (ISO 125 but I shoot it at 100), moderate grain,
and great tonality. I've got a couple of rolls of Ilford's PAN-F (ISO 50)
to process sometime soon, so the verdict is out on that one. I'll
generally process these in HC110.
FWIW, I've never had much success with Ilford's Delta series, nor with
Kodak's T-grain B&W films. In fairness to them, however, I haven't used
them much. Additionally, I sorely miss Kodak's Panatomic-X.
HTH,
Dave
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