B&W film for still photography

avr

avr

Well-known member
Hi I´m a digital guy but I want to shoot some photos with full manual old 35 mm. camera (Olympus OM2) I want to learn to expose manually and I love the B&W film look.
the question is that I´m looking for a B&W film. I saw Ildford Delta Pro 100 - 400, kodak plus-X, Tri-X ...fuji...

any suggestions?

thanks
 
Also to check out is the AGFA SCALA-200 Slide film! If you have the ability to scan slides, this should yield excellent results.
Don't forget a yellow or red or combination filter, to give you that contrasty look!

Enjoy 35mm....it still rocks!
 
I wouldn't suggest slides for starting out. They've got much less exposure latitude than negative film (about a stop in either direction.)

Ilford is the best black and white film I've found. They're FP4 is a great 125 for starting out. As for faster films I prefer HP5 and Delta 400; and for slower I love they're Pan F.

These are, of course, not chromagenic films. So you can't take them down to the 1 hour photo to have them processed. You have to do it yourself, or you can probably find a photo house that'll do it for around $3 a roll.

Happy shooting!
 
I'm with TC, Ilford rocks. Delta 400 is a pretty amazing film with beautiful tonailty and wide lattitude. Delta 3200 is also the best high speed black and white film--predictably grainy, but with very smooth tonality. I occasionally use Delta 100, but since Delta 400 was reformulated a few years ago, it rivals slower speed films. Be careful with processing though, because the film will look like absolute crap if not exposed and processed correctly. Delta 400 should be exposed at an EI of 320 and Delta 3200 at an EI of 1200-1600. I'd only trust the processing to a pro lab that works with these films. I process myself or else take the negs to a pro lab with a 'dip and dunk" processor where I can specify the development *time*.
 
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