Need help picking film

[Xia_Ke]

For those that shoot film, what's a good high contrast black and white, medium speed film? Also, how iffy is it using expired film? I've thought about purchasing one of the bulk lots of expired film on Ebay to save some change but, if there's a good chance it's will be no good, I'd rather just buy fresh film. Thanks in advance for the help

[another view]

Do you develop the film yourself? You can change the chemistry and process to increase or decrease the contrast but I never got that deep into it. Higher ISO films will have more contrast, and something like Kodak Tmax will have more contrast than a more traditional film like Tri-X. They're both normal silver halide B&W films; none of the C41 color process stuff. Try Ilford Delta 3200 as well, and you don't have to shoot it at 3200 - I usually used it at 1600 but have it developed accordingly.

Expired film? Fine, especially for B&W but only if it's been stored properly. Doesn't need to necessarily be in the fridge but it does need to stay away from heat. I'd trust a camera store's sale on expired film but sometimes you don't know what you're getting with ebay.

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks av I will be processing my own film, or I should say learning to as part of a class in a few weeks (GULP). I ended up getting a Nikkormat EL. Now the max shutter speed is 1/1000th. Will I be able to stop down far enough to use that high of speed film in daylight?

[another view]

I didn't get into the whole film processing thing until I had already discovered digital, and don't have a good place to set up a darkroom for printing. The amount of time available to devote to it to really become good at it is another problem. I really wish I had the time/space because there is still something special about a silver print that just isn't there with a digital print...

Good luck with the class. Some film/developer combinations are fairly tolerant of inconsistencies and Tri-X in D-76 is a great place to start. Classic look, too. All of the possibilities with this film and developer would take a long time to really learn.

ISO1600 will be tough to use in daylight with 1/1000. Think about the Sunny 16 rule; in bright sun at f/16, the shutter speed is the inverse of the film ISO speed. For example, ISO100 film would use a 1/100 (or 1/125) shutter speed. So - in bright sun with ISO1600, you'd be around 1/2000 shutter speed at f/16 (can't do that with this camera) or 1/1000 at f22. Pretty limiting, but possible. There's already a lot of contrast with bright sunlight and that is a contrasty film. Great stuff for low light but not exactly an every day film. You might want to stick with Tmax 400, but Tri-X has a more "classic" look to it.

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks again av Unfortunately I don't have the space to set up my own darkroom either. We're supposed to have an introduction to print making in the class but, doesn't sound like it will be in depth at all. I'm hoping in the future to process my own film at home, then scan negatives and/or send out for prints to be made. We'll see though. Should be a fun class either way

[reverberation]

I second the t-max suggestion. I had my own b&w darkroom for a number of years. I use photoshop now, but all of the things I learned in the darkroom helped me in photoshop. Print making was really the best part. Get a good tank, many come with thermometers, an accurate thermometer is essential, as is an accurate timer. I lived for years in basement apartments just because they were easier to instal a quickie darkroom in. I simply kept my trays and equipment in a closet and masked off the bathroom when I wanted to make prints. You could always chat up the teacher to see if you can gain access to a darkroom.

[photophorous]

As others have said, the contrast of B&W film can and will be controlled by how you expose and develop it. I suspect you'll learn about that in your class. I took a very short class at the local museum and we used TMAX 100. Before you buy a bunch of film, make sure your instructor doesn't require a specific type.

When it comes to processing your own B&W, I always read that you should find one film and stick with it until you have it completely figured out, and I very much agree with that advice. But, knowing what I know now, I'm surprised that we started with TMAX, because it is one of the hardest films to develop. It's much more picky about times and temperatures (as with all tabular grained films) than the old school B&W films like Tri-X or Plus-X. It also has a different look. It is very fine grained, which makes it good for big prints, but many people don't like it's tonality. From my experience, it can be ugly if you don't get it just right, but it can be very nice when you do. Older films, like Tri-X, are much harder to screw up, but they have much larger grain and don't enlarge as well. These days, I prefer the tonality of Tri-X for most around-the-town shooting, but I still like the fine grain of TMAX for something with more detail, like a landscape. Plus-X is very similar to Tri-X, but it's slower and has finer grain.

Whatever you pick, stick with it until you can get negatives with whatever contrast you want, by adjusting your techniques. This may take a lot of experimentation, but it will help you to really understand B&W processing. Once you get to that point, you will be able to evaluate the differences between different films, without your own processing issues clouding the comparisons.

Good luck, and have fun!

Paul

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks for all the input guys. I haven't purchased any b&w film as of yet. Waiting to talk to the teacher first. I won an auction on Ebay though for 20 rolls of Kodak Max 400 24 exp. film for only $2.99...LOL It expired in 10/2004 but for only $8 after shipping it'll be fun to just fire away with and not have to worry

[freygr]

For those that shoot film, what's a good high contrast black and white, medium speed film? Also, how iffy is it using expired film? I've thought about purchasing one of the bulk lots of expired film on Ebay to save some change but, if there's a good chance it's will be no good, I'd rather just buy fresh film. Thanks in advance for the help

I would not worry it the dated B&W film had been in the freezer or a cool place (correctly stored) I shoot allot of out of date gun camera film in the late sixties. It was contrastity but then it was ASA400 film that was years out of date.