Black and White Film

'Daniel' · Aug 11, 2005

I only just learned my mum still had her 35mm slr from the 80s. I was wondering what is good black and white film to get. I've seen Ilford on the internet. I want to get a few rolls 5 maybe try out.

Are any of these good on this site:

http://www.mx2.co.uk/prodpage.asp?type=prod&sub=CMFILF

It's a Ricoh KR-10

That but not the super version.

LittleMan · Aug 11, 2005

I use Ilford Super XP2 400 iso I like it a lot.
If you want something with a bit less grain then you can get 100 iso.

ShutteredEye · Aug 11, 2005

I just got 2 rolls of Ilford 100 iso 35mm and 2 rolls of 120 in the mail today.

Unimaxium · Aug 11, 2005

I recently got some rolls of Fuji Neopan 400 back from the lab, and the results I got from that film were really good (normally I develop my own, but the only darkroom I have access to is at school and it's summer vacation right now). In fact I think Neopan is now my new favorite film. It has really great blacks and nice clean highlights. Also, Kodak Tri-X 400 is a good film, and that's what I use most of the time. Although if I keep getting the same kinds of results that I got from Neopan, I think I'll be using that most of the time now.

Wade D · Aug 12, 2005

I use Kodak T-Max400 and Ilford HP5 for 35mm. The grain is quite good in both for 400 speed film. For medium and large format I use good old Tri-X.

Don Simon · Aug 12, 2005

If you haven't used black and white before I'd recommend Ilford Pan 100 or Pan 400, though it's difficult to find, even on the internet.

ferny · Aug 12, 2005

You only want to try it out? As in, try out what 35mm is like or the camera? If you're just testing how about you pop along to your local shop and ask for some cheap film? They could have some which is almost out of date or perhaps just gone. If you're going to use it straight away that's not any big deal.

Damn, I'm cheap aren't I?

'Daniel' · Aug 12, 2005

Yeah, i've nevr used an SLR film camera before, only a point and shoot when I was younger. I have found a place I can order Ilford Super XP2 400 for £2.99 a film and free delivery. i'm gonna get 3 films and try it out, I might use thins camera for a while whilst i save up for my next digital a Sony DSC-H1.

AlmightyWa · Aug 12, 2005

If you want to try it out and don't have your own darkroom don't use B&W film as it'll cost loads to process. Get some crappy colour film first and give that a go.

Mx2 are quite good, also try www.photoglossy.co.uk. Not much difference between them really.

terri · Aug 12, 2005

Only problem with trying crappy color film is that you end up with crappy color results, which makes digital look good.... :lol:

that's all digital is good for, anyway - beautiful color shots. It doesn't do anything else particularly well. Very limiting.

It's very cheap to develop at home, if you try some of this B&W film that's been suggested here and love the look. Ilford HP5 and Kodak TMax 400 are both nice high speed films. Love Tri-X for MF. You can hardly go wrong with these films. :thumbup:

A lot of folks enjoy shooting B&W and developing at home - once the film's in the tank you can do it at the kitchen sink, dry them in a closet and you're done. You can then pick and choose what negs you want to make prints of, it's cheap and fun to do it that way.

Good luck, and have fun with it!

'Daniel' · Aug 12, 2005

You need a dark room for that thouh really don't you? I don't have anywhere I can use really is the problem. i would like to develop my self. Its a lot cheaper. The developing costs are what sway me away from film. digital has infinite film rolls practiclly).

I have ordered the 3 rolls anyway, I'll see how I do. I might look into devloping myself.

Axel · Aug 12, 2005

Ilford is excellent! I also like Kodak 400TX.

Axel · Aug 12, 2005

If you are hnot used to B&W avoid the 1600's and 3200's! A PITA for newbies but I'm sure they work well with pros. I made the mistake to buy two 1600's and one 3200 some time ago and the 1600's turned out horrible (my fault obviously) and the 3200 I haven't even tried yet...

Unimaxium · Aug 12, 2005

BTW, Ilford XP2 is different from most B&W films as it is actually meant to be developed like it's color film instead of like most B&W film. This can make it convenient to process if you're taking it to a lab to be done (as opposed to doing it yourself), since many labs these days can't process traditional B&W film. Thus XP2 would probably be a good bet for you since any lab you take it to will be able to develop it.

terri · Aug 12, 2005

Daniel said:
You need a dark room for that thouh really don't you? I don't have anywhere I can use really is the problem. i would like to develop my self. Its a lot cheaper. The developing costs are what sway me away from film. digital has infinite film rolls practiclly).

I have ordered the 3 rolls anyway, I'll see how I do. I might look into devloping myself.

The only thing you need to go "lights out" for is getting the film out of your camera and loaded onto the developing reels. Just crawl into a bedroom closet and stuff a couple pillows to hide the light leaks (or crawl into the closet at night, virtually no light leaks anyway). Then you put the loaded reel into the tank and screw on the top and then - time to head to the kitchen sink! The actual developing process is sooooo easy.

You can practice loading the film onto the reels with old or expired film - once you do it a few times you can do it in the dark.

A darkroom is for making prints from the negs. But if you have a scanner and PS, you can view your "prints" onscreen before you decide what to do with them. Piece of cake!