On Sat, 6 Sep 2003 15:24:03 -0700 (PDT), AG Schnozz <agschnozz@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
<snip>
Here's a brief matrix of the C41 films, from my perspective:
Film Paper best for Curve characteristic
-------------- ----------------- -------------------------
Portra 400BW Color Paper Good mids, short shoulder
T400CN Color/BW Paper Long toe, long shoulder
Select BW Color Paper Long shoulder
XP-2 Super BW Papar REALLY LONG shoulder
<snip>
I've printed a few shots from Portra BW in the darkroom
and find that it is on the verge of impossibility. Not a fun
project. Portra prints very nicely in a pro color lab, and is
intended for wedding/portrait work.
am i correct in assuming "wedding/portrait" work means wide latitude, or
the ability to capture shadows and highlights better than consumer based
high contrast films?
<snip>
BW Select is harder to work with in the darkroom than T400CN, if
you can believe it! I've pulled a few hairs out trying to get
satisfactory prints from this film. I have one word for this
film: "Yucky!" The base is too dark and the color throws off
the multigrade paper into being 1 1/2 grades too soft. Along
with T400CN, this film needs to be printed at Grade 4 or
thereabouts. Blacks aren't clean and the tonal seperations just
aren't there. This is a film that should be reserved for
scanning or color printing. I think the "grain" is unsightly
too. Just my opinion, though. I have comparision rolls taken
with four different types of film and compared to HP5 or XP-2,
the Kodak C41 films just didn't look natural or pleasing. They
look more like a desaturated color picture.
looking at kodak's website (pro and consumer), no mention of BW select.
they do however have a BW film on their consumer page called just BW. not
to be found at bhphoto oddly enough. why kodak changes things around all
the time is beyond me.
<snip>
Consider the output. If you are seeking BW prints from a
one-hour lab, I'd give the nod to Kodak's BW Select. If you are
seeking BW prints that need to match color prints from a
wedding/portrait shoot, I'd recommend Portra BW. If you want a
good either/or film, T400CN is a fine choice--just expose it
carefully. If you want a C41 BW film that you intend on
printing on BW paper in a darkroom, Ilford XP-2 is my
recommendation.
My output is web viewing--scanning of film at dev. time, no prints. scans
done on fuji frontier 390s, not me. about 2mp scan
Since I've been running lab work for others, I've printed from
just about everything. My recommendation is to ignore all of
the exposure "rules of thumb" that you've ever heard and reset
your meter back to the film's ISO rating. Only after you've
PROVED through experience (and good quality lab printing) that
your shadows need more exposure do you downrate the film speed.
Especially with C41 based BW films. These films have a longer
toe than traditional BW films so there will be an apparent
increase in shadow detail anyway. The HUGE shoulder of these
films means that ANY overexposure of the film will result in a
loss of tonal seperations. XP-2 being the biggest example of
that.
<snip>
If your intent is to use the One-Hour lab and scan most items
with an eye for the occasional exhibition grade print, I'd
recommend the Ilford XP-2 Super.
I've shot more than a few rolls of the same, and it appears to me that it
will not tolerate underexposure at all--it'll get muddy and plain ugly.
handles overexposure (on the order of a stop or so) fairly well, and so I
err on that side.
If you want the best BW film, well, stick with the Ilford
Deltas.
ah, if i had a darkroom, which i dont. so c41 is the way to go.
One man's opinion.
certainly one with far more experience than yours truly, and therefore one
to listen to with full attention. thanks for taking the time to spell it
out :)
anyway your comments on the following would be appreciated:
http://users2.ev1.net/~wesiddiquis/siddiq/xp2/
shots from a couple rolls of the same. the two "cooler" color i cant
explain, maybe i used bounce flash. two of the head/shoulder profile and
maybe on front 3/4 view is also flashed (fill) with mostly window light.
you can see the drop shadow on the wall. i've resized them to 800, no
rotations, and compressed @ 9 (12 best, 1 worst). exposure wise, comments
would be more than welcome (anyone, not just AG) should be done uploading
by 5pm pacific.
--
/S
aim:iddibhai
icq:104079359
msidd004atstudentdotucrdotedu
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