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Archive 2016 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?

  
 
billsamuels
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


The title nails it - What would be the best film for a 120mm camera? I just bought a mint Yashica 12 and I'd like to take B&W photos. I like higher contrast B&W and the photos I've seen from Kodak Tri-X Professional 400 seems to be along those lines, but perhaps there is other film out there that I'm missing
Thanks.



Feb 02, 2016 at 04:25 PM
OregonSun
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


Unfortunately there is no one best black and white film for 120. What do you shoot? Do you use a tripod? Are you going to develop your own film? Will you be bringing the images into a digital workflow? And finally, which film do you like the look of?

If I were you I would shoot a few different brands, all at the ISO you are interested in (e.g.Tri-X, Delta 400, Tmax 400, HP5+) and see what the differences are. The T-grain films (Delta, Tmax) are less forgiving of exposure, but are generally finer grained. If you are going to work on scans from the negatives, you will have broad latitude for contrast adjustment in whatever photo editing software you use. If you are going to develop your own film, you will be able to control contrast and grain at that step as well.

I highly recommend looking into black and white filters, they will allow you to control the contrast between different colored objects in your shots. Here is a decent overview of how they work: http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/using-coloured-filters-in-black-and-white-photography

Enjoy your new camera, shooting black and white film is so much fun.

Heron



Feb 03, 2016 at 02:59 PM
billsamuels
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


OregonSun wrote:
Enjoy your new camera, shooting black and white film is so much fun.

Heron


Hi Heron,

I agree, B&W film is a heck of a lot of fun. I nearly got into an argument w/ someone who came for dinner last weekend because they didn't understand why I would buy a "film" camera when we have digital. I explained that some people like film and digital and one isn't mutually exclusive! Also, I took photography in college and worked with B&W, both as a subject and in the darkroom. I'm not going back into the darkroom again, but if I can find a professional developer that has it down, then I'll just have them scan it and send me the CD and that will let me do all the easy work!

I used to always use a RED filter with a circular polarizer because it really enhanced the sky and the clouds. I think I'll order another one because I haven't seen my red filter in years, and even if I did, that was for an Olympus 28mm lens and they were very small compared to today's large Canon wide angles.

Thanks for the ideas on B&W film. I forgot the effects that filters play on film cameras and they may be more influential than the film in some cases.
Cheers.



Feb 04, 2016 at 03:56 PM
tuantran
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


A good book to read about B&W is "The Negative" from Ansel Adams.

The film plays a small part in the entire process. Some ways to create more contrast or create better looking photos includes:

1. Under expose the film and over develop.
2. You can use different types of developers with different types of films. The film recommends using their developers but that doesn't mean the two would create the best result that you are looking for.
3. Photo paper makes a difference and also how you develop it too.
4. Burn/dodge when enlarging
5. Using various contrast filters for printing
6. Using various filters during your picture taking like your Red filter that you mention which is #25 or #23 depending on how dark. Other filters that you might want to look at are #15, #12, #8.


But since you were in the darkroom, you probably know all this stuff but for people who don't...

BTW, B&W filters like #25, #23, etc are also good for digital world. It's because when you don't use them and do the b&w post process, you sometimes clip the color faster. With the filter on, then you have a wider range.




Feb 04, 2016 at 04:24 PM
OregonSun
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


billsamuels wrote:
... if I can find a professional developer that has it down, then I'll just have them scan it and send me the CD and that will let me do all the easy work!



I have found scans from the labs I've tried pretty underwhelming. I now just have the film developed at the local lab and use a macro lens to digitize them. I use
this technique except I use a copy stand to hold the camera and sandwich the film between two pieces of glass to keep it flat. I stitch 6 shots for each 6x7 negative and invert in Photoshop. The resulting files are detailed enough to show the film grain and are much more malleable than the jpeg scans you will get from a lab.

Heron



Feb 04, 2016 at 06:55 PM
dmacmillan
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


I'd suggest TMAX 400 in TMAX developer. It's the easiest method right now. You could also shoot Tri-X and develop in HC-110.

I prefer TMAX unless you want obvious grain.

There are some labs that will develop B&W. I'd find one that has good reviews and contact them about what they recommend. If they do dip and dunk, they are using generic developing chemicals and time.



Feb 05, 2016 at 10:59 AM
dmacmillan
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


tuantran wrote:
A good book to read about B&W is "The Negative" from Ansel Adams.

I don't know how much they have revised that book for modern films and chemistry. My copy from the early '70's extols Super-XX because it was a thick emulsion film that responded well to Zone System techniques.

BTW, I graduated from Art Center College of Design. Long before I attended, Ansel Adams taught there. I had a friend who took classes from him. It was at Art Center that Ansel and Fred Archer codified the shooting and developing methodology we know as the Zone System. Needless to say, we did extensive work with Zone System techniques while I was there.

I once had a professional job that required Zone System. I was shooting 4x5 and I think I was stopped down to f11. I needed to shoot -2. Normal exposure would have been 8 seconds. After doing the math for Zone, factoring in reciprocity, my final exposure time was 4 minutes! Nowadays I could achieve as good or better results with multiple exposures and HDR software.



Feb 05, 2016 at 11:08 AM
JohnBrose
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


It really depends what you can find now days. I used to shoot Tmax 400 which was nice. If you are having a lab process it, I would think you'd be better off with a bw c-41 film like Kodak's portra 400bw unless it's a pro lab that specializes in bw processing/printing. I also would suggest getting a good quality scanner and handling that yourself.


Feb 05, 2016 at 11:49 AM
dmacmillan
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


JohnBrose wrote:
I would think you'd be better off with a bw c-41 film like Kodak's portra 400bw...

Huh? I don't think there was ever such and animal. You must be thinking of BW400CN, a film I loved. It was great for scanning. Anyway, Kodak no longer makes chromogenic film.

http://petapixel.com/2014/08/21/kodak-announces-discontinuation-c-41-process-bw-film-bw400cn/

You can still get Ilford XP2. The big advantage when scanning chromogenic negatives is the ability to use software dust removal, which you can't use with silver halide negatives.

It's getting harder to find anyone who still runs C41. There's nobody within 85 miles of where I live that does it. I tried one of the few labs I could find in Atlanta and they were expensive and my negs came back dirty.



Feb 05, 2016 at 12:22 PM
JohnBrose
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Best B&W Film for 120 Camera?


yes, chromogenic b&w film. I still have a couple pro packs so haven't tried to buy any recently.


Feb 05, 2016 at 10:53 PM





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