Black and White Film review

Exerpt from my travel photography workshop book. Click on the jpeg of the book cover to find out more about the book.

Appendix Two
B&W Film Recommendations

There are about 30 B&W films on the market in Australia (more internationally) and the number is growing all the time. It is impossible to try them all. To be able to cope with different situations, you may need more than one film. Become familiar with a small group of films and stick with them. These are the ones I use. I'm not trying to claim they are the best. They're simply those I've chosen to use. There is a short description about each film next to each film type. Use my comments to select some films but make sure you try them out before you go.

Film & Designation ASA Comments

AgfaPan 25 APX25
25 This film is one of the finest grained sharpest films available. It is my favourite film for detailed landscape photography. It is best developed in Rodinal which gives really sharp appearance to the image. You will need to use a tripod for every shot.

Kodak Plus X pan PXP
125 Moderate grained film. Good all rounder. Very forgiving of exposure and processing errors.

Ilford FP4 FP4
125 Moderate grained film. Good all rounder. Very forgiving of exposure and processing errors.

Ilford Delta 100
100 Very sharp T-grain type film. Will tolerate big enlargements provided solid tripod is used. This film is designed to respond to changes in processing so that the photographer can custom develop the film for the lighting conditions. The corollary is that this film needs to be developed very accurately or highlights on the negative may become so dense that they will be quite unprintable.

Kodak TMAX 100 TMX
100 Same comments for Delta 100. This film is more reasonably priced than Delta when purchased in bulk 30m rolls. Delta is probably sharper but I'm used to TMAX and use it as a first preference.

Agfapan 100 APX 100
100 APX 100 developed in Rodinal is a stunning film. It is grainy compared to Delta100 and TMAX 100 but the resulting prints have a special quality that is hard to put into words. Though grainy, APX100 has a sharpness that is missing in prints made with Delta100 or TMX. Delta100 or TMX are too grainless & mushy for some subjects.

Ilford HP5 HP5
400 Beautiful sharp grainy film. Very forgiving in strong sunlight and to errors in processing. This is an excellent all purpose film that enlarges well. I frequently use this film when travelling for street scenes or grab shots from buses and trains.

Kodak TMAX 400 TMY 400 Very fine grained high speed film. Finer grained than HP5 but I prefer the grain and look of an image enlarged with HP5. I sometimes use this for indoor portraiture or in low light conditions when I don't want so much grain.

Kodak TMAX 3200 TMZ 800 When you need film that has a beautiful artistic grain structure, use TMZ. There is a trick. If you read the Kodak data booklet F-32 on TMZ and interpret the characteristic curve, or just take my word for it, it is actually an 800 ASA film. To use it at 3200, you have to push process 2 stops. When you need high speed push it. When you're using it for artistic effect, rate it at 800 ASA and develop it for 6.5minutes at 24C in Kodak TMAX developer. The results are beautiful!

Chromogenic Films

These films are known as a chromogenic films. They are designed to be processed in minilab chemistry. Don't try to use conventional B&W chemistry. It won't work. You can rate this film anywhere from 100-800. You can even rate different frames different speeds on the same film. When rated at 100 ASA the film is grainless. Fantastic for portraits or anywhere where you need continuous tones. At 800 ASA, it is a little more grainy but still very acceptable.

Ilford XP2

XP2
100-800

400 nominal
This film is soft and scratches very easily. The resulting images are flat and often have to be printed at grade 4 or 5. Great for portraits, shooting in sunlight. Most minilabs will return prints that are brown or green though a few have worked out how to give you B&W prints.

Ilford have released a new version of XP2 called super or some other superlative. I haven't tried it yet.

Kodak TMAX 400
Chromogenic
TCN
100-800

400 nominal Same as Ilford XP2 except that it is a little more scratch resistant but still much more fragile than conventional B&W film and has slightly better contrast than XP2. Not as good in strong sunlight but a better all rounder.

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Film & Designation	ASA	Comments
AgfaPan 25 APX25	25	This film is one of the finest grained sharpest films available. It is my favourite film for detailed landscape photography. It is best developed in Rodinal which gives really sharp appearance to the image. You will need to use a tripod for every shot.
Kodak Plus X pan PXP	125	Moderate grained film. Good all rounder. Very forgiving of exposure and processing errors.
Ilford FP4 FP4	125	Moderate grained film. Good all rounder. Very forgiving of exposure and processing errors.
Ilford Delta 100	100	Very sharp T-grain type film. Will tolerate big enlargements provided solid tripod is used. This film is designed to respond to changes in processing so that the photographer can custom develop the film for the lighting conditions. The corollary is that this film needs to be developed very accurately or highlights on the negative may become so dense that they will be quite unprintable.
Kodak TMAX 100 TMX	100	Same comments for Delta 100. This film is more reasonably priced than Delta when purchased in bulk 30m rolls. Delta is probably sharper but I'm used to TMAX and use it as a first preference.
Agfapan 100 APX 100	100	APX 100 developed in Rodinal is a stunning film. It is grainy compared to Delta100 and TMAX 100 but the resulting prints have a special quality that is hard to put into words. Though grainy, APX100 has a sharpness that is missing in prints made with Delta100 or TMX. Delta100 or TMX are too grainless & mushy for some subjects.
Ilford HP5 HP5	400	Beautiful sharp grainy film. Very forgiving in strong sunlight and to errors in processing. This is an excellent all purpose film that enlarges well. I frequently use this film when travelling for street scenes or grab shots from buses and trains.



Kodak TMAX 400 TMY	400	Very fine grained high speed film. Finer grained than HP5 but I prefer the grain and look of an image enlarged with HP5. I sometimes use this for indoor portraiture or in low light conditions when I don't want so much grain.
Kodak TMAX 3200 TMZ	800	When you need film that has a beautiful artistic grain structure, use TMZ. There is a trick. If you read the Kodak data booklet F-32 on TMZ and interpret the characteristic curve, or just take my word for it, it is actually an 800 ASA film. To use it at 3200, you have to push process 2 stops. When you need high speed push it. When you're using it for artistic effect, rate it at 800 ASA and develop it for 6.5minutes at 24C in Kodak TMAX developer. The results are beautiful!