Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I think this film discussion is pointing out that personal preferences determine the film and materials that photographers use. There is no "best" choice, though some would argue otherwise. There are also compromises that have to be made, regardless of the film chosen. One can chose from a wide palette. Tri-X, as was noted, has exceptional tonality, the ability to be pushed several stops, and the ability to tolerate slight processing errors. It has a unique look that has given it a prominent place among photographers for several decades, and it's still going strong. Nice film. HP5+ can't be pushed as much, but has beautiful, crisp edge effects and different tonal qualities that some prefer. Nice film. T-Max has finer grain and a contrastier look, has much less tolerance for processing errors, and has a more limited range of options for proper development. Nice film as well. I hope that sums up each. So what do I use? All three. If I am fortunate enough to have some idea of what I will be photographing and what the lighting will be like, I choose the film that I think might give the particular effect that I would be trying to get. That may sound crazy, but with B&W films, one has a wide palette of films, developers, toners and printing paper surfaces to work with. I'm still working on this system, trying to establish which film I like best in particular circumstances. TMax gives me 8x10s that appear much sharper, so I use it for group photos that will likely be reprinted and enlarged. For candid "street" shooting I like both TriX and HP5+, since often I have no idea what I'm likely to find, so I can't choose the "look" beforehand. I like HP5+ for landscapes, but often switch to a slower film for that kind of thing. For portraits I haven't settled on which film I like the best; they all give a different look but are suitable with different people. Indoors with flash I like HP5+, especially if the background goes completely black; it gives very strong, sharp separation. If I had to pick one of these three films and abandon the other two what would it be? Well, it would be ... sorry, got to go ;) At 09:04 AM 31/12/99 EST, Ruralmopics@aol.com wrote: >I feel like the lone ranger. Maybe I should do this like an AA meeting . . . > >My name is Bob and I use T-Max . . . > >We made the switch about 10 years ago.[cut] >When I look >back at my Tri-X stuff it just looks "old fashioned" -- the grain is courser >and not as smooth. I don't know what to say . . . I just like T-Max . . . I'm >so ashamed . . . >