Black & White TriX or what

[jtcedinburgh]

Hi everyone.

I love the results I get with my G2. I really rate it, though I've never really been completely happy with the results I've had with T-Max or Ilford Delta films.

I'm looking for a film which will compliment the razor sharp lenses of the G2, to really 'pop'. I imagine I'll develop the film myself with Rodinal, or give it to my wife who has access to a Kodak film processor*. I want to print to around 16x12" on RC to begin with, printing on fibre on occasions.

I've never tried Tri-X before - can anyone advise whether it'll give me the accutance I require, without being rendered too difficult to print by the high contrast of the Zeiss lenses?

I'm also keen on a sharp, defined grain rather than the slightly soft grain of T-Max - will Tri-X deliver with Rodinal?

Lastly, what B&W films are people settling on - conventional B&W only, rather than the chromogenic ones.

Thanks,

John

 

[trisnadi]

I stick with Ilford Delta at the moment, since Ilford chemicals and papers are easier to find here in Indonesia. I heard rumours that Kodak chemicals and papers will get here in coming months, but until that Ilford seems the only choice.

Trisnadi

 

[nicolas2]

John,
Personnally I love the Tri X which the new name is 400TX. I used it during years with my Ms and I was wandering what will be the results with my new G2. My firt contact is great. What I love with this film that black is black, deep black very contrasted. (I don't like the Tmax too smooth for me).
Go to the TriX, it's a lovely film,

Nicolas

 

[wbesz]

John,

There must be something wrong with what you are doing. I find Delta 100/400 to be the best film for sharpness! But I use a good optics for with the enlarger, and a good scanner. Amazingly sharp.

Regards, William

 

[jtcedinburgh]

William,

It's not that the Delta isn't sharp =- it's very sharp - it's that it lacks a certain quality which I'm after. I can't really describe it - it's a slightly retro look, grainier but sharp, appearing sharper perhaps, because of its grain structure. I don't know, but Delta, and T-Max in particular, seem to smooth in the grain. I'm looking for a bit of characterful 'grit' without the golfball grain of 3200 speed films.

John

 

[wbesz]

John,

I understand. Then the new Tri-X is what you could try. This new version has less grain (I have tried it), perhaps you can try it at say 800 or 1600.

Regards,
William

 

[macbain]

>[John: Try Tri-X rateed at ASA 200, develop in Kodak Xtol for 5.5 minutes.= You'll like it!]

 

[trisnadi]

You'll get good sharpness and smooth grain with Ilford Delta if you develop it using Ilford DD-X instead of Ilford LC29.

Trisnadi

 

[jgban]

Regarding chromogenic films, there have been some posts on the threads Contax User Forum » Photo-technical questions » Film recomendations, which film should i use and also in the review G2. Allow me to repost my recent post there:
I had also heard very good things about Portra BW. I used it recently and compared it to Ilford XP2 Super (not formal testing, I was just using the G2 with the 21mm for all the pictures during a recent trip to Spain and Portugal). I was curious about chromogenic films. Both films were processed by the same lab in the same batch. Afterwards, I scanned with the Canoscan 4000US using Vuescan.
This may be a significant source of variation, as the films have different colored masks (XP2 looks grey and Portra looks orange).
The scans from XP2 turned out with a wider range of gray (when you check the histograms in Photoshop). Both films are very sharp, and have very fine grain.
Actually, Portra seems to have almost no grain, which (and I never thought I would say this) I actually miss. I like XP2 better (and XP2 is half the price here in the US!).

Juan

 

[dagata]

John, my favorite black and white combination is Tri-X developed in D:76 either 1:1 or not diluted. It gives it the pop I think you're after. You could also consider HP5, which is Ilford's version of Tri-X essentially, but for that classic look it's Tri-x in either D76 or HC110.