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Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 23rd 05, 07:25 PM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

I want to try out this 50 iso B&W film and need a developer suggestion that
gives good tonal gradations.Grain & sharpnes don't matter that much. I want
to go after good tonal latitude because that seems to be the sweet spot that
rivals the synthetic look of T-grain films from Kodak. It would look nice
for portraits & some closeups and detail shots to see how a print looks
blown up 20" x 30" or bigger. The price is low at B&H so I think I'll order
10 rolls to test out.

Jimbo


  #2  
Old December 23rd 05, 09:09 PM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:25:24 -0500, "Jimmy Martin"
wrote:

I want to try out this 50 iso B&W film and need a developer suggestion that
gives good tonal gradations.


It's always a subjective matter, but for what it's worth, I was
pleased with the results I got using Ilford's own ID-11 and DD-X
developers with this film. I don't think I'd try and develop it in
anything like Rodinal.
  #3  
Old December 23rd 05, 11:06 PM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

I'm interested in seeing others' experiences on this, too. I've got a
ton of PanF in the freezer in both 35mm and 120 from stumbling into
deals here and there. Over the years, I've started the project of
testing developers on some PanF and each time, I end up not carrying
through as my initial results leave me a bit "lukewarm" about the
results. Traditional developers (D-76, FG7, etc) seem to leave a soft
edge look to things on this film and my instinct is to use slow films
when I'm trying to gain resolution for a situation. I've been getting
great results with PyroCat HD and similar formulas with semi-stand and
limited agitation routines in adding nice edge effects.

In almost all tests with PanF+, I've found a true speed closer to 25
or 32 to get reasonable shadow detail. PyroCat HD is giving me that
sort of general speed behavior on faster films (1/2 box speed or so)
and if it gave 25 or 32 with PanF+ and also gives some edge effects to
help with accutance, it might be a good "go-to" soup for PanF
applications for me. Discussing this has got me thinking about this
again and I'll post results of things that I find and will try to get
at it a bit as soon as I can.

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:25:24 -0500, "Jimmy Martin"
wrote:

I want to try out this 50 iso B&W film and need a developer suggestion that
gives good tonal gradations.Grain & sharpnes don't matter that much. I want
to go after good tonal latitude because that seems to be the sweet spot that
rivals the synthetic look of T-grain films from Kodak. It would look nice
for portraits & some closeups and detail shots to see how a print looks
blown up 20" x 30" or bigger. The price is low at B&H so I think I'll order
10 rolls to test out.

Jimbo


Craig Schroeder
craig nospam craigschroeder com
  #4  
Old December 25th 05, 05:49 AM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 21:09:56 +0100, Andrew Price
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:25:24 -0500, "Jimmy Martin"
wrote:

I want to try out this 50 iso B&W film and need a developer suggestion that
gives good tonal gradations.


It's always a subjective matter, but for what it's worth, I was
pleased with the results I got using Ilford's own ID-11 and DD-X
developers with this film. I don't think I'd try and develop it in
anything like Rodinal.


Why? (honest question, not a troll).

Vater Kodak

  #5  
Old December 27th 05, 08:15 PM
Keith Tapscott. Keith Tapscott. is offline
Senior Member
 
First recorded activity by PhotoBanter: Feb 2005
Posts: 112
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy Martin
I want to try out this 50 iso B&W film and need a developer suggestion that
gives good tonal gradations.Grain & sharpnes don't matter that much. I want
to go after good tonal latitude because that seems to be the sweet spot that
rivals the synthetic look of T-grain films from Kodak. It would look nice
for portraits & some closeups and detail shots to see how a print looks
blown up 20" x 30" or bigger. The price is low at B&H so I think I'll order
10 rolls to test out.

Jimbo
Which camera format format are you using?
What subject matter will you be photographing?
Are you aware that 20x24 inch photographic papers are usually the largest size readily available? Papers start to become more cumbersome to handle when the sheets are on the large side.
Are you aware that because of the slow speed of the film that you will need to use a good tripod and probably a shutter release cable to ensure optimum sharpness , so not the best choice for low light subjects unless they are still subjects. (Deliberate blurring of motion being an exception.) You also need to be meticulous at the photographing stage with composition, focusing, exposure etc using a high quality lens preferably close to it`s optimum working aperture.
The developer you use can have a significant effect too, a standard fine grain developer like D-76 and ID11 are formulated keep grain as fine as practicable without loss of speed yield. Developers like Acutol and Neofin are designed to enhance the appearance of sharpness but can make the grain a little more prominent and extra fine grain developers like Microdol-X and Perceptol keep the grain as fine as practicable provided you don`t mind some loss of film speed. Pan F Plus is a very capable film if used right, but not really a general purpose one. I don`t quite understand what you mean by tonal latitude.
You mention portraiture, slow ultra fine grain films aren`t usually the best choice for female portraits, if the lady has a skin imperfection then films of this type will reveal every blemish, pore and wrinkle. Fine though for maximum resolution.
  #6  
Old January 1st 06, 09:32 PM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

Jimmy Martin wrote:
I want to try out this 50 iso B&W film and need a developer suggestion that
gives good tonal gradations.Grain & sharpnes don't matter that much. I want
to go after good tonal latitude because that seems to be the sweet spot that
rivals the synthetic look of T-grain films from Kodak. It would look nice
for portraits & some closeups and detail shots to see how a print looks
blown up 20" x 30" or bigger. The price is low at B&H so I think I'll order
10 rolls to test out.

Jimbo



I get good results using Ilfotex DD-X. You can also use the same
developer for when you want to try ISO 25. Since you are getting 10
rolls, you might want to try a few at ISO 25, though ISO 50 gives very
nice results:

http://www.allgstudio.com/gallery/automotive/MercTwo540_01.jpg shot at
ISO 50

It also scans very nicely. Sometimes, depending upon scanner and
software, it works better to scan as a colour transparency, then invert
the results in PhotoShop.

You might be able to get good 20" by 30" prints from Pan F. I am not so
certain about using it for portraits, since the tones for fair skinned
people are not so favourable, though that might just be my opinion. I
prefer AGFA APX100 for portraits, though tough to tell how much longer
that will be available.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
http://www.allgstudio.com

  #7  
Old January 18th 06, 07:27 PM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

Try Acutol 1+19 for 7 minutes @20C/68F.

Jimmy Martin wrote:
I want to try out this 50 iso B&W film and need a developer suggestion that
gives good tonal gradations.Grain & sharpnes don't matter that much. I want
to go after good tonal latitude because that seems to be the sweet spot that
rivals the synthetic look of T-grain films from Kodak. It would look nice
for portraits & some closeups and detail shots to see how a print looks
blown up 20" x 30" or bigger. The price is low at B&H so I think I'll order
10 rolls to test out.

Jimbo


  #8  
Old January 25th 06, 06:13 AM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

Jimmy Martin wrote:
I want to try out this 50 iso B&W film and need a developer suggestion that
gives good tonal gradations.Grain & sharpnes don't matter that much. I want
to go after good tonal latitude because that seems to be the sweet spot that
rivals the synthetic look of T-grain films from Kodak. It would look nice
for portraits & some closeups and detail shots to see how a print looks
blown up 20" x 30" or bigger. The price is low at B&H so I think I'll order
10 rolls to test out.

Jimbo


Try souping it in Diafine, Pan F is closer to iso 25 thus it works well
in Diafine if shot at 50
  #9  
Old January 25th 06, 04:27 PM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

i've had good results with EI 50 then rodinal -- very high contrast,
nearly no grain
and EI 80 then diafine -- tames the contrast nicely, bigger grain

  #10  
Old January 26th 06, 04:50 AM posted to rec.photo.film+labs
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Default Ilford Pan F plus and good developer needed.

sunbears wrote:
i've had good results with EI 50 then rodinal -- very high contrast,
nearly no grain
and EI 80 then diafine -- tames the contrast nicely, bigger grain

I have shot Panf at 80 but that will depend more on the given light at
the time. I prefer to shoot it at 50 most of the time. One of the nice
things about using Diafine is I can change the iso while shooting and
not have to worry about it during developing.
 




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