I am starting to get back into B&W Photography after a long layoff and I need some advice as to what film to use?

-- Larry Lowy (), September 28, 1997

Answers

Both are fine films. Ilford is just a touch newer in formulation & pushes well to 3200 and is very similar to Tri-x with a bit finer grain(for my system at least). I use the Ilford a lot for sports work, low light and general shooting & don't find any reason to go to the newer generation films for that stuff at all. I like the look it gives me and the forgiving nature under varied conditions. I process in ID11 at 1:3 dilution for normal work and in Microphen for pushes to 3200.

-- Dan Smith (shooter@brigham.net), September 28, 1997.

HP5 or TRI-X (or maybe something else) ?

My very personal advice is: consider the opportunity of being son of yor age !

HP 5 and Tri-x are undoubtedly fine films, but the market offers today other materials that - in my opinion - should be considered.

Specifically, give a check to some T-Grain film (Ilford Delta 100 and Delta 400, Kodak T-MAX 100 and T-MAX-400).

You will obtain VERY different results if compared to those you were used to obtain with "classical" films: the negatives will show less grain and the tonal range will be increased.

It's up to you to judge whether the results satisfy your photographic needs or not, but give a chance to the newest technologies: it's worth the effort.

Regards

Carlo

-- Carlo Rogialli (carlo.rogialli@recsando.mi.it), September 30, 1997.

If you want classic look in your photographs, then you cant beat HP5Plus or TRI-X. Do also consider Agfa APX 100 film which has a wonderful tonality.

-- Hasan Ali (hasan2@msn.com), October 03, 1997.

hp5 or tri x

I have found that either one of the two work beautifully. However, even with using a hardening fixer, hp5 seems to suffer scratches easier than Kodak's TriX (or Tmax films for that matter).

-- gary (gklein@excel.net), October 09, 1997.

Ilford HP5 is an older film that isn't made any more. I think you are referring to HP5+, which is a modern film. Although it is not a so-called "T Grain" film like T Max or Delta, it is a more modern formulation than Tri-X and will give you substantially less grain (in my experience at least) than Tri X. I use HP5+ for general photography and like it a lot. I rate it at 200 based on my tests so it gives me about a stop and a half more than T Max rated at 64.

-- Brian Ellis (bellis@fowlerwhite.com), December 02, 1997.

I never use the tri-x. But the HP5+ is my favorite film. (my favorite grain and it produces a wonderful contrast) the tri-x produces grey grey grey photos. It's the reason why I never tried it.

-- Hubert Noreau-S (chiefman21@hotmail.com), July 17, 2001.