Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/05/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]To add my two cents to what others have said: I tried XP2, didn't like it. Grainy. Muddy shadows and high contrast at 400. In fact, doesn't seem to really be a 400 film. Haven't used it since. I love T400CN. Here's what I love most about it: - - Almost grainless. ISO 100 quality in an ISO 400 film. - - Scans beautifully, even at 2700 dpi. ISO 400 silver film has grain aliasing problems at 2700 dpi, it's smoother at 4000 dpi. - - A great tonal range. You can capture the whole range in a "flat" scan and then tweak the curve to get really fine, smoothly-graded inkjet prints. - - Doesn't block up highlights with moderate overexposure. - - You can shoot it outdoors at ISO 200 or 250 and get detail in everything from the not-quite blackest shadows to bright highlights. - - Infrared dust and scratch removal (ICE, FARE) works with it, unlike silver film. - - I don't have to develop it myself, just take it to any reliable C41 lab. They run off 4x6 prints instead of squinty contact sheets. Here's what I *don't* like about T400CN: - - It isn't the world's best available light film. When you have deep shadows, you need to shoot it at 200 to have a prayer of getting shadow detail, otherwise they are grainy mud. Or to put it another way, you will get detail several stops above your exposure, but anything more than one stop under is going to look lousy. Tri-X is much better here. - - It's lower contrast than silver film. On dull days, things look even duller than they are, and you have to work harder in the image editor to compensate. - - If you even *look* at it harshly, it scratches. - - Silver chauvanists have me filled with existential doubt that one day, the images will just fade away. Here's T400CN in bright desert light, shot at ISO 250: http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/california2003/JoshTree35.htm And here's one in a concert hall with so-so lighting: http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/currentpics/quartet.htm In the latter picture, the original scan has more detail in the background wood paneling and better separation between the performer's jacket and the piano. But bringing out that detail brought out speckly mud, so I "printed it down." I once tried Portra 400 and got similar results to T400CN. The latter has become a universal B&W film for me. But when I know I'm going to do hard-core available darkness, it's back to silver. Neopan 1600, Neopan 400 or good ol' Tri-X. With Xtol, the ISO 400 silver films are not *that* grainy, especially when scanned at 4000 dpi. Grain is just a silver molecule's way of letting you know it's working hard for you. - --Peter Klein Seattle. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html