8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Light, film, exposure..
L2obin
Posts: 116
Joined: 18 Oct 2012, 00:56

8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby L2obin » 17 Jul 2017, 22:58

I have just ordered some 8x10 acros from Japan based on my 4x5 experience with acros. (Low curl, fine grain, no reciprocity correction up to 2min, excellent experience when scanning)

However I would like to get your opinion on films you use and why?

Further, what is your recommendation on purchasing source?

Lachlan717
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Joined: 03 Aug 2012, 16:49

Re: 8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby Lachlan717 » 18 Jul 2017, 06:34

I really don't like Acros much; horrible with filters.

IMO, its way too close to being Orthochromatic for my use.

Way too hard to get good sky separation, even with #22 or #25 filters.

Reciprocity isn't a difficult thing to deal with when using sheet film. Very different from using roll film where you have myriad different scene constraints in each processing.

I'm more than happy shooting Ilford, even in places like The Otways and Tasmania.

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Barry Kirsten
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Joined: 27 Feb 2015, 11:13
Location: Brookfield, Vic.

Re: 8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby Barry Kirsten » 18 Jul 2017, 06:46

I mostly used FP4 when I shot 8x10. HP5+ also has a good following and is especially favoured for its long straight-line response; a friend of mine uses nothing else in 8x10. Either of those would be my choice. There are other films, which I haven't used, but for me Ilford is the only choice and I would support them also for their ongoing commitment to LF photography.

Acros is a lovely film, although unnecessarily expensive IMO, but is soon to be taken off the market. The official Fuji announcement (in Japanese) is here: http://ffis.fujifilm.co.jp/information/ ... _0066.html

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Maris
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Location: Noosa

Re: 8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby Maris » 18 Jul 2017, 07:18

I've got a few hundred sheets of 8x10 Arista.EDU.Ultra 100 coming from Freestyle in California. Given some luck with the A$ exchange rate I might land this film at just under $4 a sheet. It's an unremarkable but reliable panchromatic film that I rate at EI 50. As for grain, tonality, and sharpness those parameters are not a worry in the huge 8x10 format.

L2obin
Posts: 116
Joined: 18 Oct 2012, 00:56

8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby L2obin » 18 Jul 2017, 20:40

What is the Arista EDU like for curl and blacks? I have shot a fair amount of fomapan in 4x5 and the curl as well as the low shadow detail were some noticeable characteristics...


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Maris
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Location: Noosa

Re: 8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby Maris » 19 Jul 2017, 09:04

I've used a lot of Arista.EDU.Ultra 100, 200, and 400 in the 4x5 and 8x10 formats and the film lies dead flat after processing in trays. The A.E.U 100 builds contrast faster than most films so it needs an individually calibrated development. Blacks and dark tones are not a problem because the 4x5 negatives go into an enlarger and the 8x10 negatives go into a contact frame. The blacks/dark tones are a function of how the photographic paper is used and are not rigidly locked to negative densities.

Mick Fagan
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Location: Melbourne

Re: 8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby Mick Fagan » 19 Jul 2017, 17:59

I had a bit of a hmm moment when I read about Fomapan 4x5" film curling.

I am on my third 4x5" box of Fomapan 400 with 50 sheets to a box, so I've processed at least 100 sheets.

The first box and about 75% of the second box were processed in my Jobo using 2509 reels and rotary processing, meaning they were curved/bent during processing. I have just checked my negatives, they are all flat as a tack. I don't remember ever having any curling issue using these negatives in an un-glassed negative holder in my enlarger.

The rest of the Fomapan 400 negatives have been processed in my SP-445 processing tank. This tank is an inversion type of processing unit, the sheets are held in a flat holder. These negatives are also flat as a tack.

I cannot remember ever having any curling issues with 4x5" or larger sheet film that I have used. Fomapan sheet film is all on a clear polyester base, which is 0.175mm thick. The Bergger Panchro 400 is also coated onto a 0.175mm thick PET base. Ilford has the thickness of the base of their 400 HP5+ film at 0.180mm. Ilford FP4+ is also coated on 0.180mm stock. These are the current films I have in stock and am currently using.

I found all of those measurements from the respective manufacturer data sheets.

I don't think any sheet film would curl, unless it has been dried at temperatures exceeding about 50ºC and then aggressively dried. We once had a drier fault and the cabinet was blocked. The temperature went quite high, how high we don't know, but everything was too hot to touch. All the roll film, 120/135 curled like crazy, the sheet films didn't fare too well either, we were able to get satisfactory prints from the sheet films, but I seem to remember the 8x10" stuff had a distinct twist and was only enlargeable in a glass carrier.

Mick.

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Maris
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Re: 8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby Maris » 21 Jul 2017, 08:39

That Arista.EDU.Ultra 8x10 film I was waiting for finally arrived. My clever plan for get it into Australia under A$4.00 a sheet failed and it ended up at A$4.47ea, everything paid for. In continuing the tradition of complaining about film prices I have to ponder what I will fail to achieve in photography at $4.47 a sheet that I could have done at $3.99 a sheet?

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Barry Kirsten
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Location: Brookfield, Vic.

Re: 8x10 BW Film Recommendations and where to purchase?

Postby Barry Kirsten » 21 Jul 2017, 16:04

A very wealthy friend of mine recently claimed that 8x10 film was only $40 a box! Judging by his freezer he buys huge quantities at a time (in 25's), and I don' think he has to worry about the cost. I didn't say anything, and when I got home I checked B&H's price for 8x10 FP4+ and HP5+... $!09 for 25 sheets, which even with currency adjustments and freight, beats any Australian price. I have to watch every penny I spend on consumables, and I think most people do. I don't think you'd do better than $4.47 Maris, and it looks like the days of $4 sheets are over -- unless you go to x-ray film.


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