Even now in the digital
age, film steadfastly refuses to go away.
And why should it? It is a time
proven medium that is capable of rendering outstanding results, especially if
we are willing to optimize the results by developing (at least) and printing
our own films and negatives.
My favorite black and
white films were the AGFA Agfapan APX 25 and Ilford XP2 Super, with an
occasional roll of Agfapan APX 100 thrown in.
I am often asked why I limited
myself to such a few films. The answer
is quite simple.
Personally I never liked
grain. Subsequently I always tried to
use films that would keep grain to the absolute minimum. Thus my first choice has always been the Agfapan
APX 25.
Scan of the full negative
Leica M3, 50mm Dual Range Summicron 50mm f/2
Agfapan APX 100
Cropped section of the same negative
Further crop of the same negative
Final crop from the same negative
The last two examples show detail that is too small to see in the full image
Reggi Anderson, Artist
Studio shot with studio flash on camera stand
Leica M6, 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit, Agfapan APX 25
Melanie
Studio shot with studio flash, handheld
Leica M6, 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit, Ilford XP-2 Super @ ISO 400
Leica M6, 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit, Agfapan APX 100, Agfa Rodinal 1:100
Obviously, with a limited
speed of ISO 25, there are many lighting conditions where this film was too
slow, where a higher film speed was necessary to obtain good results. That, for me, was the Ilford XP2 and its
replacement, the Ilford XP2 Super.
People have often asked me
why I didn’t use conventional high speed films like Kodak Tri X. The answer is versatility.
While the basic rating for
the XP2 Super is ISO 400, as a chromogenic film, it has the advantage of being
able to be used at ISO speeds from 50 to 800 without the necessity of any development
adjustments.
While that alone is not
much of any advantage, the film does deliver a different grain structure
depending on the exposure. When exposed at slower ISO setting the grain structure is definitely smaller that with conventional ISO 400 films. This has
the tremendous advantage of being able to shoot any single roll at various ISO
setting depending on the lighting conditions and to take advantage of the finer
grain structure when lighting conditions allow doing so.
Unfortunately the film
cannot be push processed. ISO 800 is the
limit, but the increase in grain, while noticeable, is not at all objectionable
However, as a chromogenic
film, it requires to be processed like color negative films in C41 chemistry. While that can be done in a home darkroom,
temperature control is much more critical than with black and white film and I
always found it a lot more convenient and less time consuming to take the film
to a professional lab.
One way to perfect the development
of standard black and white films is to be consistent. That will avoid fluctuations from one roll to
the next. That starts with the
developer. My choice was the AGFA
Rodinal which is still available from ADOX.
Rodinal is a high acutance
developer. That means the individual
grain clumps are very clearly defined at the edges which makes for a sharper
appearing negative and enlargements. On
the other hand, high acutance developers do deliver coarser grain. However, when used with slow films like the
Agfapan APX 25, the grain structure is so small, on account of the slow speed,
that even rather big enlargements will render almost grainless results.
Another important step in
developing black and white films is agitation during development. You can probably talk to 10 individuals and
get 10 different answers as to what the best agitation procedure is.
I settled on continuous
agitation with the help of a Beseler motor base agitator. That offered the advantage of not having to
agitate by hand and watching a timer for the entire development time. The Beseler motor base will reverse the
direction of the rotation approximately every 2 ½ revolutions. In addition, it gently rocks the drum back
and forth. This assures completely
mixing the chemicals while they are used up during the development.
While initially developed for the processing of color enlargements, the Beseler motor base works equally well with film developing tanks. I used both Jobo and Patterson tanks. While the film reels of the Patterson tanks are by far the easiest to load, the Jobo tanks have the advantage of being expandable if a larger capacity is needed. Both the Jobo and Patterson reels can be expanded to allow the use of 35mm as well as 120/220 films.
While initially developed for the processing of color enlargements, the Beseler motor base works equally well with film developing tanks. I used both Jobo and Patterson tanks. While the film reels of the Patterson tanks are by far the easiest to load, the Jobo tanks have the advantage of being expandable if a larger capacity is needed. Both the Jobo and Patterson reels can be expanded to allow the use of 35mm as well as 120/220 films.
Most instructions
recommend Rodinal to be dilutes 1:25 or 1:50.
I found that I was able to obtain even better results by diluting
1:100. To compensate for the more
aggressive development due to the constant agitation, I shortened the
development time to 16 minutes at 68 F.
As I mentioned above, occasionally
I used Agfapan APX 100 when a higher film speed was necessary. It too was developed in Rodinal 1:100, but
for a shorter time.
Unfortunately, AGFA
succumbed to the digital juggernaut and their films have disappeared from the
market. ADOX, one of the largest manufacturers
of black and white films took over many of the AGFA technology and they did
produce the Agfapan APX 25 under the ADOX label. But currently, their website only offers
films from ISO 100 on up.
But there is an
alternative, the ADOX CMS 20 II. They
promote it as “The sharpest, most fine grained and highest resolving image
recording system in the world,’’ claiming a resolution of 550 lines per
millimeter and 1,600 lines per millimeter if developed for high contrast. However, to obtain those results, the film
must be developed in the ADOX Adotech IV developer. With that developer the film has a speed of
ISO 20.
ADOX CMS 20 II full frame image and cropped section
Needless to say, many of
the available black and white films are certainly capable of delivering high
quality results, however with coarser grain due to the increased film speeds.
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