Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hello Nathan I am by nature an experimenter with some experience with the films you = have asked about. If grain is your main consideration then Tech Pan is = your film. There is no finer grain film available, however it is very = unforgiving in both exposure and development. Although I am careful, I = have not been able to obtain completely consistent results with Tech Pan = using small tanks with manual agitation and Technidol. The film tends to = high contrast and because vigorous agitation is required with Technidol, = it is prone to develop faint surge marks along the sproket holes. You can= learn how to properly control the film however it will take careful work= and a few ruined rolls. Good results with Leica lenses are nothing less = than spectacular. I have settled on APX25 as my fine grained film simply because there is = more latitude in its use in my hands. I use XTOL as a developer, however = there is no practical difference between XTOL and Rodinal that I can see = either with a grain focuser or in the prints. I believe I saw a post rece= ntly from a fellow Lugger eXTOLing this combination. There is a warning = however if you use XTOL with APX25 and that is to use the developer full = strength and not diluted. The film has a beautiful range of tones and its= grain is very fine. Ilford Delta 100 is a beautiful film but the grain is not as fine as APX2= 5. I have not used Ilfosol-S with it but I have used Rodinal with very = good results. Everything is a compromise, and of course the extra speed = with this film is a great advantage. I doubt that the grain structure dif= ferences between these two films would really show up in a scan but I wil= l take your word for it that it may be important. I would encourage you = to experiment and please let us know any of your results. Good luck. Greg Achenbach > Dear Luggers, > > I am looking for the ultimate fine-grain combination for my B&W work > with the M6. As I am scanning the negatives for subsequent manipulation > in Photoshop, fine grain is extremely important, as the scanning proces= s > exaggerates any grain. ...snip > So far, I am considering the following combinations: > > 1) Agfapan APX25 developed in Rodinal > 2) Agfapan APX25 developed in Rodinal Special > 3) Ilford 100 Delta Pro developed in Ilfosol-S > 4) Ilford 100 Delta Pro developed in Rodinal > 5) Technical Pan developed in Technidol developer, rated at 25 > ...snip > Nathan Wajsman > Overijse, Belgium