Topic: Silver or Chromogenic Mono.....??

[Late Developer]

Having cut my teeth on traditional silver-based B&W film and having tried out some of the C-41 processable chromogenic options, I'm now confused and would welcome some pointers, please.

The lab prints I've had from chromogenic films tend to have a green-ish cast to them. This is probably down to poor calibration of their machinery. However, the negs tend to be fine and, once scanned and tweaked via Lightroom / Photoshop, it's no problem. But it's not proper mono in my opinion.

Tri-X, FP4, HP5, PanF and other such films are the ones I love using and, from what I'm told, produce more stable negatives. However, it costs a fortune (relatively speaking) to buy the film and to have them processed.

No-one seems to chemical prints at a reasonable cost anymore. Much as I enjoyed printing my own, I was never the most gifted and always resorted to a professional for anything I wanted doing "properly".

I'm not getting overly-angsty about this as BW400CN and XP2 are generally fine - but what do you guys (who don't process your own) do to get the best results?

[Suzi Livingstone]

I have a good relationship with Peak Imaging http://www.peak-imaging.com/ who I've used for years and they always get it right for me. £3.75 to process B&W and 10 & 15% discounts for bulk orders. They're quick and they have no problem with special instructions. I haven't found anyone to process B&W cheaper either.

I recently dug out my box of home processing equipment so if I can keep my meddling cat out of the bathroom..

[Photo_Utopia]

Hi Late Developer.

Just a few pointers, the Lab prints have a cast because the machine operator just fed them in with the machine on auto. What they should do is put the printer into B&W mode, the same setting they would use if you gave them a plain Vanilla colour film(to print in mono)-this will get rid of the colour cast.

Which brings me to my next point.
 Kodak engineers I've spoken to tell me that if you are printing on a minilab or scanning there is no real advantage to using XP2 and 400CN.
Their reasoning is that modern colour films have the same lattitude as XP2 and often a similar tone curve, so if you scan colour film and desaturate it they will look the same and you'll have the added advantage of being able to record colour should you need it.
If they are correct and the only real advantage of the chromagenics is their lattitude (you can rate XP2 100-800) compared to certain colour films (slide) but most negative films should cope with +3 -2 and give OK results.

Personally I process my own B&W and find that the cheapest way to go also it gives me complete control over contrast and other process perameters, and overall I trust myself more than anyone else to get it right.

Film types and workflow is a very personal thing, what works for me might not for you, my advice is to find what you like and stick with it.
Mark

[Late Developer]

@Suzi.

Thanks for the heads up on Peak Imaging. I've heard nothing but praise about them in the past and I suspect I will be giving them a try with my "traditional" B&W filsm at that price - especially if they offer discounts on the volume I need doing right now....

@ Mark.

Y'know, I've wondered about that. I've used colour print film in the past and done a perfectly acceptable mono conversion from it. As you say, using that technique, I'll have the adedd benefit of being able to use colour if I want to as well. I can also use "Digital Ice" option on my V750 as well. Good thinking...

Overall, I think I'm sufficiently enthusiastic to have a go at souping my own sometime as that has to be the cheapest option and allows more creative control.

Thanks for all your help.

Paul.

[Suzi Livingstone]

@Suzi.

Thanks for the heads up on Peak Imaging. I've heard nothing but praise about them in the past and I suspect I will be giving them a try with my "traditional" B&W filsm at that price - especially if they offer discounts on the volume I need doing right now....

Give them a call first and ask them to send you a bunch of their pre-paid freepost boxes which hold 5 rolls each.

I try to wait until I have 15-20 rolls and send in bulk, I also send them recorded delivery now as one recent batch went missing in the post - not their fault though and luckily was only 5 rolls that time. If you do that you only pay the cost of the recorded delivery amount and not the whole postage as they're freepost. The post office don't volunteer that info!

 

[Late Developer]

Hi Suzi.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share those tips.

I've got 13 rolls of 35mm (9 x E6 and 4 x traditional B&W) + 7 x 120 Acros 100. So, 20 rolls in all. Allowing for mounting the transparencies (which I may or may not do, as I might not want all of them) and allowing their advertised 15% discount, it's coming in at a shade over £80 - which is a result compared to some prices I've been quoted.

Then I'll have to shut myself away for a fortnight to scan them. Still, I like a bit of peace and quiet now and again 

Thanks again.

Paul.