The Arista film did not give me quite the contrast and tonal range that I expect from Tri-X or TMAX on this occasion, but I think it is still pretty good, and the price is right. I think that a little experimentation with developers and dilutions would produce results very close to the higher priced films.
The Sekor f3.5/7.5cm lens gives quite nice results. The viewfinder is a little dim compared to my contemporary Kodak Reflex II. It is an interesting example of early post-war Japanese technology which preceded a big leap into Mamiya's revolutionary C-line of twin lens reflex cameras.
4 comments:
I like the sliver of sun on the leaves in the last shot. I am paying close attention to your black and white work this year as I make an effort to improve my skills in this area.
I went through a period recently of difficulties with my b&w processing. It can be difficult to sort out the many variables at times. I found it helpful to use stand processing as a way to eliminate temperature variables as time and temp is not critical in that technique. I have changed my developers and my thermometers, but still need to fine tune the processing. Fortunately there are still a lot of choices in chemicals and films. It is also possible to construct your own developer and there is a lot of good information available on line, particularly for caffenol processing.
I found this post to be particularly interesting. For the past two weeks I've been trying to answer the same question. It is time to replenish my stock of 400 speed film. I like to buy it in bulk and load my own cassettes. I also like the results I get with Tri-X and D-76 developer. But before I shell out $80 for a 100' roll of Tri-X, I wonder if I couldn't get the same results with Kentmere 400 or Ultrafine? So far I've shot a roll of Tri-X and a roll of Kentmere with the same camera and lens and developed both with D-76 1+1. Next test will be a roll of Kentmere developed in Caffenol CL. I've gotten some nice results with Caffenol in the past but haven't really tested it with faster emulsions. So far the edge still goes to Tri-X but it is close!
I have shot a lot of Kentmere. I got started with it because of my admiration for the work of Rick Drawbridge who goes by the name of Radspix on Flickr. He rates the film a stop slower and processes in PMK Pyro with really amazing results. I like it in PMK too, but the slow speed is a little limiting. I have gotten pretty good results with HC-110 and now LegacyPro L110. That is mostly referencing 35mm. For medium format I have mostly used Tri-X and TMAX 400, usually in HC0110 also. I used to like Acros a lot, but I'm not going to being paying $12 per roll for the new stuff, so am pushed in the direction of looking for some alternatives.
Post a Comment