C41 Black and White?

[lomo]

I used to love shooting in black and white till it became too expensive to process (and I really dont have the time or resources to process myself). Does anyone have any experience using black and white film that can be processed using c41 processing? Does it come out the same as normal B&W film? Are any brands better/worse etc?

(ps i dont want to spend a fortune being a student and all)

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[Rob]

I've had very good results with Kodak TMAX 400 C41.

Rob

 

[LittleMan]

I love Ilford B&W 400 C41

It has a really great quality to it.

 

[saulmr]

Where do you get the TMAX 400 C41?

 

[Rob]

Where do you get the TMAX 400 C41?

Down the shop!

(Jessops)

Rob

 

[markc]

I loved Kodak T400CN when I was using film. It's discontinued now though. There's BW400CN, which I think is a replacement for a Porta B&W I think they used to have. I don't see TMAX 400 C41 on the Kodak site. Maybe it's a UK rebranding, but I didn't think they did that.

I don't think you'd go wrong with either the Kodak or the Ilford. Just remember that at least the Kodak is made to print on color paper, so if you are printing on b&w paper yourself you usually need longer print times and a higher contrast filter in the enlarger. I'm guessing the Ilford would be similar.

-- edit
Kodak UK site doesn't show it either. Maybe it's been discontinued?

 

[PlasticSpanner]

When they do the prints, do they still try to do the colour adjustments! :shock:

I can imagine B&W prints looking like they do out of my printer! :er:

 

[markc]

Getting prints from a lab is a pain. Since it's on color paper, it's very easy to get either a magenta or cyan color cast to the whole image. I took me forever to find someone who could print them right as a nice nuetral. On the plus side, if you find someone who's good and knows how to run the machine, you can get a sepia look to them if you prefer. This is why I went to all grey inks in my printer instread of colors: black, dark grey, medium grey, and light grey. Of course I can't make color prints now, but I don't take them much.

 

[saulmr]

There's BW400CN, which I think is a replacement for a Porta B&W I think they used to have. I don't see TMAX 400 C41 on the Kodak site.
-- edit
Kodak UK site doesn't show it either. Maybe it's been discontinued?

It appears so, the kodak site says it's a direct replacement for Porta and TMAX CN. I've been trying to find it but no luck. I've using the BW400CN and I'm pleased with the results. Sometimes when I take them to the minilab the prints come back with a greenish or sepia cast, but it's pleasing to the eye and it's something Photoshop can fix.

 

[lomo]

Thanks for the replies, though i am kinda confused. So can i get black and white c41 printed at any normal photo lab on "colour photo" paper. :S

 

[saulmr]

So can i get black and white c41 printed at any normal photo lab on "colour photo" paper. :S

That's what this film is meant for, but like markc said, it's difficult to get true B/W prints from the minilabs, unless the person running the machine really knows what is doing. So far, the results I've gotten have been pleasing enough for me and the people I've shot.

 

[montresor]

You can always scan the vaguely tinted prints in on 8-bit grayscale and then reprint from your computer. One thing to think about in C41 B&W is that unlike true B&W, overexposure as much as 2 stops actually results in a finer grain, because the image is produced by dyes, not silver salt granules. So it's a very forgiving chemistry. It's just hard to process C41 at home in the kitchen cupboard, like you might do with true B&W.

 

[markc]

I don't know about the new stuff, but the T400CN was very versatile as far as what you rated it. I've used it as 100 ISO and 1600 ISO with good results. When processed as 400, I usually told the camera it was 320, which worked well.

 

[thebeginning]

whoa TMAX C41!! I never knew they made that...

 

[darin3200]

Ilford XP-2