Two New (to Me) Film Stocks

When I initially posted my set of mini film stock reviews, I declared that Kentmere Pan 400 to be my favorite 400-speed black and white film. At the time, I felt like I had tried enough film stocks to be able to settle on what seemed to work best for me. But during a recent visit to San Francisco, I ended up getting one roll of three film stocks I had never tried before.

Through this route came Kodak Tri-X 400, a classic that has been in production since the 1940s. When I shoot with my Nikon F, I typically find myself going for film stocks that were on the market at the time that that camera model was itself on the market. I had been shooting with Ilford FP4 Plus for quite some time, but for some reason—probably because I’m not quite a fan of faster film speeds—I never tried Tri-X.

In a nutshell, I liked the results I got out of my first roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 so much that I may very well switch to it as my primary film stock for those occasions that call for a faster film speed. Like Ilford FP4 Plus, the contrast and range of tonality is just right for my tastes. It has that classic look that I am a total sucker for.

It doesn’t hurt that Kodak reduced the price for Tri-X earlier this year. Maybe I’m a cheapskate, but I always feel like I can shoot a little freer when I know each frame doesn’t cost a ton.

Although I was really impressed with its incredibly fine grain, I was left overall with a less than positive feeling about Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100 II, the second of three film stocks I tried out for the first time recently. I was hoping for a bit better shadow brightness when I expose for highlights, something I expect to see more with slower film speeds.

I’ve updated my collection of mini film stock reviews to include both Kodak Tri-X 400 and Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100 II. My third new film stock, a roll of Ferrania P33, is fully exposed and is waiting to be sent to the developer for processing.

All of this was a little reminder to me that, although it’s good to stick with a handful of film types and learn their strengths and weaknesses, it’s also good to shake things up every now and again and try something new.