For those of you lamenting over B&W film processing, I would
suggest that you give "Ilford XP-2 Super" a serious try. This
film is the best of breed when it comes to C41 processed
monochrome films.
My first choice in conventional BW film remains Ilford Delta
400, but for C41, XP-2 is extremely good. Unlike the Kodak
films, the base is purplish (when washed long enough, pink needs
more washing) and much clearer than the Kodak films.
Spectral (color) sensitivity is similar to TriX/HP5.
Standard speed rating is ISO 400.
You may shoot it at ISO 200 as this will protect the shadow
detail without losing too much tonal seperation in Zones V+ and
it will tighten grain, somewhat.
Compared to "Kodak T400CN" and "BW 400", the Ilford is slightly
grainier, but has a much better Zone 0-III. The Kodak films
just get muddy without giving a solid Zone 0-I. The Kodak films
usually require an additional 2-3 stops under the enlarger,
whereas the Ilford is closer to just one stop from metered
reading. (I'm talking darkroom stuff, here, not anything you'd
be concerned with while taking the picture--meter as usual)
Kodak T400CN has a long toe and an even longer shoulder with
very little straight-line section. The XP-2 has a very
traditional toe (short, with good tonal separations), but the
shoulder starts immediately. There is NO straight-line section.
The compression starts at Zone II and progressively deepens all
of the way up. This is why you can't "overexpose" the film.
Because of this, you will want to keep your film rating between
200 and 400 otherwise the lack of tonal seperations will get
you.
In layman's terms: Give this film JUST ENOUGH exposure to
protect the desired shadow detail and no more. Otherwise,
everything from mid-tone on up will look pasty. Skin tones will
flatten horrendously, like the person slathered three kilos of
pancake makup on their face. Two stops over (ISO 100) is the
absolute upper limit on usability from what I've seen. The toe
gives you another usable 1/2 stop of shadow detail, so there
really is little need to over-expose the film.
Like most dye-based films, XP-2 is a challenge to use in the
darkroom because of the density curves and non-existent grain.
The grain-magnifier is worthless for focusing with. Is the film
sharper than conventional silver-based BW films? Yes and no.
It is an extremely sharp film. Eyelashes hold up tremendously
well. However, the film lacks some acutance as compared to a
traditional film.
Would I convert over to XP-2? If I didn't have my own active BW
lab already, I sure would! This film is far superior to the
Kodak C41 BW films. The results aren't as "creamy" as Kodak's,
but the "grain" as revealed in the final prints does a fine job
of mimicking traditional BW films.
The film scans well. Not quite as good as Ilford Delta 100/400,
but as good as any other BW film.
From what I've seen and when comparing specifications, it looks
like XP-2 Super is pretty much an N-2 film. To equalize the
contrast curves closer to a traditional film/development I would
recommend that judicial use of filters be in order. (I'd
probably park a yellow on the lens full-time).
To give an idea of the extreme latitude of the film, I printed a
roll of pictures of a little girl in a white dress on a Florida
beach in mid-day sun. The film was two-stops over exposed (ISO
100) and fill-in flash was used. This would normally be a
nearly impossible picture to print without lots of whacky tricks
like paper-flashing and split-contrast printing. I'll admit, I
used a handful of test strips, but settled in with a normal
Grade 2 filtration and just enough exposure to give detail to
the dress while keeping the skin looking normal. The dress'
embroidering came out perfectly and you can see the individual
THREADS in the cotton dress! This, of course, was possible
because of the nearly horizontal shoulder.
If you are a person who knows and loves Tri-X, I'll warn you.
It isn't Tri-X. Tri-X has much better tonal seperations.
However, if you don't over-expose the film (try to keep it as
close to ISO 400 as possible) and use filters to slightly
exaggerate the contrast (to push the high-values up as far as
possible), this film will be worthy of all, but the very
pickiest situations.
Best of all... Almost No Grain!
AG-Schnozz
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|