Mmmmm....Grainy

roachford · Jun 9, 2003

Just got some of my black and white shots back today from the developer's. Some ok stuff on there, but one picture in particular that I was holding high hopes for turned out pretty crappy.

Was a shot of a cornfield with the tramlines running away from me. On the horizon was a huge oak tree.

If it had'nt of been sooo grainy I'm sure the overall effect would have been miles better. I used an Ilford 400 b/w film and an exposure of around 1/60th of sec. it was an average day with plenty enough light.

WHAT DID I DO WRONG !!! ???

Hmmmmmmmmm???

metroshane · Jun 9, 2003

Where did you have it developed? Local photo mart or real photo lab? 400 shouldn't be that grainy. I don't know much about Ilford...I always use Tmax.

roachford · Jun 9, 2003

Didnt get it developed in pro lab. Was in Boot's chain of chemist's in the UK. Reckon that would make a difference?? You think that 400 speed should give fairly high resolution?

voodoocat · Jun 9, 2003

Well 400 is going to be grainy. It is not a fine grained film. Grain also depends on the developer. Rodinal is very grainy. Could be that it wasn't exposed correctly. I would check the negative with a loupe.

Chase · Jun 9, 2003

Have you had much experience with Ilford in the past?

Maybe it is just me, but I have had quite a few photos that turned out much more grainy than I would have imagined. I don't know if it is an issue with the film, or maybe it is more sensitive to temperature during processing, or something else entirely.

In any case, I'm interested to know if you have had this problem before with Ilford, or if anyone else has had these results.