Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/09/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> I'd like to try using my M6 in extremely low light conditions. From what I > understand, black-and-white film is the way to go for maximum sensitivity in low > light. Can anyone recommend B&W negative film? I haven't done anything in B&W > since I was little. It looks like Kodak and Ilford are the ones who lead here. > Is T-MAX P3200 any good? What about Delta 3200? Anthony -- I have found the 3200 films good and bad. Good in the sense that you can get very fine grain with the right developer (TMAX dev is great), bad in the sense that (as I recently discovered through extensive testing -- and then reading the datasheet) they are 'push' films and their real (ISO) speed is actually around 1200 ASA. This means that if you expose at 3200, much of the shadow detail you might expect will simply disappear. In fact, my view is that they only offer about one and a half stop's true speed increase over good old Tri-X or TMY. I would suggest that, unless you need to be able to shoot handheld, you will get better results by going with a tripod and a longer exposure on TMY or TX, and pushing the film a stop or two. The reason I say this is that I looked hard at the acutance of D3200, exposed and processed at 3200 in D76 and D23, as compared with TX pushed to 1600, and TX very definitely had the edge. Some small writing on signs was clearly readable on the TX negative and illegible on the D3200 neg, whose general edge contrast was very much lower. Grain size was similar, but more sharply defined in TX. FWIW, I have also found that TMY pushed to 3200 in TMAX dev is very, very good. It's a very versatile film, and may be the only one you need. My only complaints, and the reason I stick with TX, is that (1) the emulsion is too thin to use a two-bath developer and (2) it is very nasty when underexposed, due to the shape of the curve at the toe of the film, which is not as flattering as TX. In the end, TX is the swiss army knife of films. It always comes out well in head-to-head tests with other B/W emulsions, it is incredibly versatile, you can develop it in *anything*, you can get almost invisible grain with stock D23 in a two-bath process, or huge grain with dilute Rodinal, and it is utterly consistent from batch to batch. It also, FWIW, has in the opinion of some a 'richness' which modern emulsions may lack. I don't know if this is true, but emotionally I feel it is, much as I feel that Leica lenses have 'something' about them that even Erwin's tests cannot measure. My experience, that's all. I know others on this list have different opinions. As ever, run some tests and decide for yourself. - -- Johnny Deadman "The secret of playwriting can be given in two maxims: stick to the point and whenever you can, cut".