[Leica] was Tri-X , now old vs new b&w emulsions

[Christer Almqvist <christer@almqvist.net>]

<fontfamily><param>New_York</param>The following is my slightly amended
reply to a question in another forum some time ago relating to old vs
new film emulsions. Perhaps it contains something interesting for the
current discussion here. The question posed was: 'Do you prefer older
to new emulsion films?'


Well, yes and no. Also depends on the developer. I have compared Xtol
with Rodinal because the two are radically different. The observations
below relate to 35 mm film, and my standard enlargement size is 10x12"


Agfa APX 25 is a great film either in Xtol 1+1 or Rodinal 1+25 but the
speed is so slow that I do not have much use for this film.  And
remember, fine grain does not equal sharpness. (BTW, I find Technical
Pan greatly overrated; OK no grain, but no real sharpness either.)


Delta 100 shot at 200 and developed in Xtol 1+1 has terrific sharpness,
smooth grain and excellent gradation with full shadow detail. In this
iso range there is no 'older type emulsion' that can beat it, including
FP4 in Perceptol, and then we are down to iso 64. I have not tried
Delta 100 film with Rodinal because this film is so outstanding with
Xtol 1+1. I like this combination for all type of subjects.


Among nominal iso 400 films I prefer HP5+ in Rodinal, but there are
occasions (like female studio portraits) when I  would rather use Delta
400 and then not in Rodinal but in Xtol 1+1. Benefitting from having
two camera bodies I recently tested HP5 and Delta 400 (both exposed at
800 and developed in Rodinal 1+25) shooting inside a subway station and
in that case I clearly preferred the look of HP5.


For pushing HP5 shot in available light up to 800 I prefer Rodinal to
Xtol. However, for pushing HP5 further, and this is easy, I find Xtol
is better than Rodinal. For Delta 400, I think that Xtol 1+1 is
generally better than Rodinal at all isos, but I do not manage well in
pushing it beyond 800.


For Delta 3200 shot at 3200 I use Xtol 1+1 if there are close up faces
in the pictures, but I use Rodinal for night street scenes (hopefully
with car headlights reflected in wet asphalt). Anyway, I seldom use
Delta 3200; I shoot HP5 at 1600 using slower shutter speed and process
in Xtol 1+1. I make a few extra shots if I feel I did not hold the
camera steady. (You can hold a Leica M steady at much longer shutter
times than you can hold a SLR steady with all these mirrors banging
around ;-)      //The last sentence was written because the message was
initially for a non-leica forum.//</fontfamily>