Filmwasters
Which Board? => Main Forum => : Offertonhatter December 13, 2012, 10:51:59 PM
-
Now that my Bronica is up and running, I now have another question.
I am going to be in the studio over Christmas, and I want to shoot monochrome in addition to colour and digital. So what film is best?
There is a proviso, I will probably be shooting at the "classic" studio set-up, ie 1/125s at F8. So without having to change the lighting from camera to camera, it will be better to keep the film speed at the same ISO, and have the various cameras doing the same. Which means apart from my Pentax K-5 (for Digital) and my Bronica (for MF and Colour) I am thinking of my Praktica with black and white, but using my mighty Taks on the front.
So which film?
Normally I would use Pan-F (being a big Ilford fan) but at ISO50, it is outside my remit.
So the alternatives, to which I have not really used:-
Ilford Delta 100
Kodak T-Max 100
Agfa APX-100
Fujifilm Acros 100.
Thoughts?
-
Good question. I'm guessing you're going to be shooting some portraits.
So the question shouldn't be about guessing which film would be good. I don't think any of us have the same taste in film gradation.
What I'd like to know is more the feeling you're after in your images. Soft and delicate, harsh and rough, highly detailed, grainy and so on.
Even though I'm more of a technical shooter, I always choose film according to some emotional criteria which I want to convey.
-
Good point Francois.
I am aiming for soft a delicate. There will be 4 models, all female, one which will be wearing 40's clothing and hair. So for that I suppose the "Hollywood" golden era style of image would be great.
-
I'm in the Ilford boat.
-
I second that: Delta 100
-
If you are wanting a vintage 40s look, I'd go for a slow traditional emulsion - fp4+ or maybe adox chs 100, and use soft diffuse lighting.
-
Morning Iain.
If you're after a "period" look, I'd go with Leon's suggestion on this one. A bit more grain and lots of directional lighting. If you want inspiration for poses, etc. check out the web for work by Norman Parkinson, Angus McBean and Cecil Beaton.
Glad you got the Bronnie working and look forward to seeing the fruits of your labours.. ;)
-
For a 1940's look the light will be more critical than the film. Look at the portrait work of George Hurrell:
http://georgehurrell.com/ (http://georgehurrell.com/)
Soft yet stark shadows sometimes on the face (nose shadow above the lip was common). The look of the era is easy to reproduce with basic lighting and film choice will be less critical– although personally I'd use Acros just because it can do 'stark' so well.
You'll need to have a play with lighting, traditional tungsten 'hot lights' are easier to work with than flash in my opinion.
Mark Antony
-
I too am with Leon on this one.
It all comes down to the film's structure. Modern films like T-Max and Delta use tabular grain. The structure is very even, something that isn't in traditional films.
Normally, the silver grains are of random sizes, something which gives a softer look to the image.
A traditional film processed in traditional chemistry (like D-76/ID-11) should give you a classic look.
Be aware though that in the old days, there were many developers that gave very different results. Metol Glycin developers used to give images a very nice glow. Sadly many of them are not produced anymore. So the vintage look will be there, but some of the subtle details are completely out of reach.
-
If you are wanting a vintage 40s look, I'd go for a slow traditional emulsion - fp4+ or maybe adox chs 100, and use soft diffuse lighting.
Another agreement on this too.
-
It all comes down to the film's structure. Modern films like T-Max and Delta use tabular grain. The structure is very even, something that isn't in traditional films.
Normally, the silver grains are of random sizes, something which gives a softer look to the image.
You may wish to know that Kodak Tmax films aren't wholly T grain, they are hybrid films with flat grains in the two upper layers and 3D grains (Kodak speak for cubic) in the layers below.
The upper layers of T grain are poly-disperse that is they vary in size and shape while the two lower cubic forms are mono-disperse (same size) in a traditional two layer dual speed configuration.
Iford Delta uses a very different method whilst the grains are flat they are 'epitaxial' that is they are of the same size and shape have 'ears' at each corner which are sensitivity specks.
(http://www.pbase.com/mark_antony/image/106250437.jpg)
Fuji Acros is another hybrid film that uses epitaxial grains and cubic layers in stacks.
All the 'Traditional' films are very different from the films of the 1930's in that they are all mono-disperse cubic forms that have different sized records in layers to give them more latitude.
The last film marketed with 'fat' grains that is many polydisperse layers was Verichrome pan, these types of films were easy to process and gave a wonderful glow.
In my opinion, lighting and possibly something not mentioned yet which is lens rendering are the key factors.
-
So the vintage look will be there, but some of the subtle details are completely out of reach.
One word - pyrocatechin
Just sayin'
-
That too can still be found. Just not from the big brands.
-
it is readily available in proprietary developers though, and is increasingly popular.
Pyrocat HD
Moerch Tannol/ Finol
Precyscol
DiXactol
Exactol
FoldeRol
(I made the last one up)
-
You may wish to know that Kodak Tmax films aren't wholly T grain, they are hybrid films with flat grains in the two upper layers and 3D grains (Kodak speak for cubic) in the layers below.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/18/9uju3uta.jpg)
-
If you really want a period look I'd suggest Lucky SHD. But you'll need a stack of bricks to keep it flat in the scanner...
-
Anyone ever tried to iron it flat ;D
-
it is readily available in proprietary developers though, and is increasingly popular.
Pyrocat HD
Moerch Tannol/ Finol
Precyscol
DiXactol
Exactol
FoldeRol
Leon, any thoughts on which of these last longest in the bottle without losing strength? (Well, apart from the last one, maybe. ;) )
-
I have been blathering on a bit about films like efke and abox, but they seem really nostalgic to me. They seem on the orthochromatic side of things and a bit soft and fine grained. When ever I shoot me kids with them the photos seem old (until you see the phones in their hands). I know that stuff can be hard to get (i think freestyle has some still) as an alternative i would add my name to the fp4+ camp as it is classic and beautiful.
All this talk about developers is beyond me - I am in a hc-110 rut ;) So I will leave that discussion to those that know.
-
Leon, any thoughts on which of these last longest in the bottle without losing strength? (Well, apart from the last one, maybe. ;) )
I don't really know about pyrocatechol but I know Pyrogallol based developers never go bad when stored in separate bottles.
-
Sandeha, home-brew pyrocat bath b will last forever, and in my experience, bath a will last for at least a year if stored with minimal air contact.
I can't comment on the moersch formulae, but the exactol and prescyscol seem to keep well.
Dixactol has died on me before in quite a short time - 3 months.