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 have'nt seen anyone mentioning agfa's scala x as a personal preference. excluding the cost, it seems to be a great film, but I've shot less than a half dozen rolls of it. Any opinions on this film? Happy New Year! Jonathan On Fri, 31 Dec 1999 09:59:18 George Huczek wrote: >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 . . . >> > LYCOShop is now open. On your mark, get set, SHOP!!! http://shop.lycos.com/