Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/01/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Is XP-2 inherently more grainy than Portra 400 B&W? I just got a roll of XP-2 back from my neighborhood Walgreen's pharmacy's Kodak minilab. It was *very* grainy--more like 3200 film. I checked the film with a 30x pocket microscope, and it is indeed very grainy on the negative--it's not just grain aliasing on the scanner. I'll post a couple of examples in the next few days--there were some good shots, even if they look like Navajo sand paintings. A roll of Portra 400 B&W processed at the same place by the same technician a couple of months ago was beautiful, and not grainy at all. Both films were exposed at ISO 400, and the negs don't look underexposed to me. Can some failure in the C41 processing cause such grain--exhausted solutions, bad temperature control, etc.? I won't be using that minilab again if they can't be consistent. Convenience is nice, but not if it ruins the pictures. I've been collecting bottles, and will get on the Tri-X and Xtol 1:3 bandwagon very soon. - --Peter Klein Seattle, WA - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html