Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/03/29

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Subject: [Leica] three questions: C41 b/w film
From: passaro.vince at gmail.com (Vince Passaro)
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:02:39 -0400
References: <19b6d42d1003272213l512b02f2m2f28f7ddcd82d132@mail.gmail.com> <20100328170006.GE417@selenium.125px.com> <4BB08C0D.1020400@summaventures.com>

In this part of the country anyway CVS carries the BW400CN, although it's $2
more per roll than getting it at B&H.

In my experience B&H and Adorama are very good with online film sales: fill
orders accurately and ship very quickly.


On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 7:16 AM, Peter Dzwig <pdzwig at 
summaventures.com>wrote:

> Vince,
>
> I'd agree with these comments about C-41. I've used both BW400CN for
> something
> more than five years and like it very much. There is little grain to speak
> of,
> tonality and response are very good to excellent and its dynamic range mean
> I'd
> recommend it. Apart from grain it is not too dissimilar to Tri-X although
> other
> might argue with that.It is also very good at rendering polished surfaces.
> About
> 85% of my LUG Gallery is BW400CN.
>
> Ilford XP2 Super is the only real option and its characteristics are pretty
> much
> the same. There was a Fuji film too, but that appears to have gone. AFAIK
> those
> were the only three B&W C-41s produced large scale.
>
> Since I don't print from negs I don't have a problem with bases. Neg
> quality is
> very good though (most problems are down to me or the developing process).
>
> Get to know your local dev shop and see what you can get by way of support,
> some
> local shops are more than happy to talk about unusual requests etc.
>
> Supply: All are becoming more difficult to get hold of other than for
> specialised orders or online. I have found that all my local photo shops
> will
> order C41 for me from Kodak or Ilford but few of them hold it except for
> odd
> ones and twos.
>
> Hope that this helps,
>
> Peter Dzwig
>
> Tim Gray wrote:
> > On Mar 28, 2010 at 01:13 AM -0400, Vince Passaro wrote:
> >> I'm contemplating C41 b and w film. I've used the Kodak and liked it
> >> sometimes and not others (dependong on factors I was too ignorant to
> >> learn
> >> how to control at the time, I suspect). My impression though was that
> >> Koday
> >> was the best of them but I do recollect an Ilford that some people
> >> liked...
> >> perhaps it was that 50 ASA of theirs?
> >>
> >> Anyone using C41 and feel knowledgeable and opinionated enough to
> declare
> >> differences and preferences?
> >
> > Both films are ISO 400, very fine grained (no real grain to speak of),
> > and also do very well if over exposed.
> >
> > The main difference between the two is that the Ilford (XP2 Super) has a
> > gray base, while the Kodak (BW400CN) has an orangish base, like C-41
> > color film.  The Ilford base makes it easier to use in the darkroom with
> > B&W paper because you don't have to print through the orange base, which
> > can also affect the contrast if you are using VC paper.  If you are
> > scanning, I'd say buy whichever one is cheaper or more easily available.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >
>
> --
>
> ===========================================================
> Dr Peter Dzwig
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>


Replies: Reply from taniel.dan at gmail.com (Daniel Tan) ([Leica] three questions: C41 b/w film)
In reply to: Message from passaro.vince at gmail.com (Vince Passaro) ([Leica] three questions: C41 b/w film; Mamiya DM22; why no US version of GF1 w 20mm kit?)
Message from tgray at 125px.com (Tim Gray) ([Leica] three questions: C41 b/w film; Mamiya DM22; why no US version of GF1 w 20mm kit?)
Message from pdzwig at summaventures.com (Peter Dzwig) ([Leica] three questions: C41 b/w film)