I'm going to Las Vegas and planning to take the Leica and Ilford HP5+ film. Don't really have the time for any extensive testing but would like to know what ISO to set camera at. Some have suggested 320, others 200. Images will be scanned into computer and most likely printed using Piezography BW system and Photoshop. Scanner Minolta using vuescan software. Thanks for any help and suggestions. Don

-- Don M (Maldos@home.com), November 06, 2001

Answers

Why not just expose it at the recommended 400 ASA, process it as normal and then decide for yourself whether the next time you use it you should change the speed rating and/or processing to better suit your desires?

Godfrey

-- Godfrey (ramarren@bayarea.net), November 06, 2001.

Hi,

I use an M6 "classic" amd Ilford HP5+ film quite a bit. No real right answer for you as black and white film speed is related to your meter and your developer along with influences from your devveloping technique, your enlarger and your preferences. I usually do a formal test of film speed and developer times when I change something (film, developer, etc) then just fine tune by taking pictures.

Personally I use Xtol 1:1 in a Jobo and get good shadow detail using an ASA of 400. I don't like an excessively contrasty negative so use a deveoping time to keep highlights from being too dense. HP5+ pushes nicely (with soem loss of shadow detail) but for me it would be too dense if I used ASA 200 on the M6 internal meter.

You mentioned that you would be scanning these negatives. Most folks have developing times worked out for printing with an enlarger. Those negatives will scan well but I was amazed at some scans I recently did for my son on a Canon 4000 film scanner and some B&W negatives that were so thin that I did not think that had much of an image on them (haunted house pictures where the flash failed to fire). The scanned images had an impressive amount of information (they would still be flat , not-pretty pictures).

I have scanned color negatives and just converted them to grey scale and have obtained nice pictures (on screen). The scanning software appears to favor color slides/negatives as far as dust /defect removal tricks go.

Another thought would be to use the chromogenic B&W film that can be processed by c-41 one hour labs. The c-41 process would be easy to obtain and constant and your could easily work out an ASA setting for your camera with a few test shots. I have never scanned this type of film but I suspect it is doable plus you would have monochrome negatives if you ever wanted to print B&W the "old fasion" way. If I was not going to ever print these in a "wet" darkroom I would probably just use color negative film.

Good luck and I hope this helps

Robert

-- Robert (rardinger@kc.rr.com), November 06, 2001.

Don, you might want to take some color film to shoot the extravagent electric signs on the casinos on Freemont Street, and the hotels. I lived there for seven years, and passed my spare time building a slide show of the night life, in color. I shot High Speed Ektachrome, ASA 160, which was what we had back then, and I got good renditions of most signs around 1/60 at f/2.8. Today I might try Fuji Provia F 400 at maybe 1/60 at 5.6 and 1/2 or so, or even f/8, for signs as bright as the Golden Nugget.

Just thought I'd throw that in . . .

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), November 06, 2001.

Oops, I should have said, 1/60 at 4 1/2, or up to 5.6 for the brightest ones. Open up some to get the people on the sidewalks under the signs. Been a long day.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), November 06, 2001.

Developed in Xtol 1+1 you can shoot it at 400. If you use PMK, I would use EI 200.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), November 07, 2001.

On a slight tangent; can someone explain on a normally lit day, why would anyone want to 'pull' ie. say for example set iso rating at 200 for a 400 film. now i can understand when someone wants to 'push' their film to say 1600 or 3200 to get a contrastier/granier effect. but wouldn't pulling give you a muddy result? why would anyone want a muddy neg? on a really bright day, like say out in a desert, i have been told that it is best to pull ie to 'pull' back the tonal range to get some shadow latitude, that i can understand, given that you dont have slower film on hand. also i have heard that 400 film is sometimes best rated at 320 as that is its true rating. not whats printed on the roll by the manufacturer. why? dont ask me, maybe '400' is a nicer rounder figure.

-- sparkie (sparkie@mailcity.com), November 07, 2001.

Setting an exposure index with B&W films is a matter of manipulating the grayscale curve by adjusting exposure and development to suit. "Pushing" a film, rating it at a higher sensitivity and extending development, steepens the contrast at the expense of mid and low level tonal gradation. "Pulling" a film and adjusting development to suit has exactly the opposite effect ... lower overall contrast with more separable tones between the max and min densities.

-- Godfrey (ramarren@bayarea.net), November 07, 2001.