monobath wrote:Hey Dave, how about Fomapan? Maybe the SuperMag can spearhead the return of black and white as the Super 8 medium of choice. It's a lovely film, and I suspect you could get a much better price from Foma than from Kodak.
What about it? I'm basically shooting all Plus-X and Tri-X now and all future projects sketched out in my idea book are being planned around B&W film exclusively.
Are others moving in a similar direction? Super 8 might be the place where we can reinvigorate the art of black and white cinematography. Or is this just played out for everyone except ME?
I did a "film noir"-look-a-like-movie in b&w some years ago (approx. 35min at 24fps). The Plus-X was fine, but the Tri-X was too grainy IMHO. And unfortunately the film was too expensive since the price without processing was nearly as high as the K40 with processing Hence having the fomapan as Super8 would help alot.
etimh wrote:
What about it? I'm basically shooting all Plus-X and Tri-X now and all future projects sketched out in my idea book are being planned around B&W film exclusively.
Get a lomo and start hand processing. You'll love the "shoot it, then see it" feeling. No reason not to hand develop if you're shooting all b/w...
ccortez wrote:Get a lomo and start hand processing. You'll love the "shoot it, then see it" feeling. No reason not to hand develop if you're shooting all b/w...
My thoughts exactly. I've been seriously considering hand processing. Seems like the logical path.
Plus-X is too grainy for S8? I have 5 carts sitting in my fridge. What the hell, I like grain. I was actually going to use Tri-X for my current 16mm project but Kodak doesn't have it in 2R. I went with Plus-X - I'm afraid it might be *too* clean.
I think super8 looks very good in bw, don't care that much about graininess and foma ds8 is really cheap too. This is based on the clips I saw on this site, I haven't tried plusx trix yet (well, I shot some actually, but haven't developed it yet. but I tried foma and I'm impressed with the results)
I think I liked the old ASA50 Plus-X better than the new stuff, but the last roll I tried came out fine. And the new Tri-X is definately finer grain than the old stock. Kodak B&W reversal has its place.
audadvnc wrote:I think I liked the old ASA50 Plus-X better than the new stuff, but the last roll I tried came out fine. And the new Tri-X is definately finer grain than the old stock. Kodak B&W reversal has its place.
You believe you can still process the new film in the old chemistry and have the same grain. And yes, I agree.
Evan Kubota wrote:Plus-X is too grainy for S8? I have 5 carts sitting in my fridge. What the hell, I like grain. I was actually going to use Tri-X for my current 16mm project but Kodak doesn't have it in 2R. I went with Plus-X - I'm afraid it might be *too* clean.
I would place very little stock in that lad's opinions, based on what I have seen. He did not even know enough to examine his camera's gate before placing a cartridge of film in, to see that there was damned wire sticking out of it to scratch all his film right down the middle! Cart after cart! Bloody amazing.
I say, Plus-X is superb and no more grainy than the late Kodachrome 40. As fine as one can expect in Super 8 provided one exposes it correctly. You are planning on exposing it correctly, are you not?
ccortez wrote:No reason not to hand develop if you're shooting all b/w...
OK, maybe reasons, but not GOOD ones. ;)
Kodak wrote:You should process black-and-white motion-picture film only in continuous travel processing machines. ..... We do not recommend processing black-and-white motion-picture film in equipment other than the type described. Severe non-uniformity or physical damage can occur with reel-and-trough or rack-and-tank equipment.
So how much does a continuous-travel processing machine cost?
Plus-X isn't grainy when properly exposed and developed, and the tonality is pleasing. The old 7276 and the new 7265 Plus-X yield equivalent results when processed in the older D-94 / R-9 / D-95 process. I haven't tried the faster speed D-94A / R-10 / D-95 process.
Plus-X and Fomapan are both lovely films. I seldom shoot Tri-X, and I wasn't as happy with the grain or the contrast the few times I've used it. I won't rule out user error though. I've seen some very nice Tri-X footage posted on this site. I think it was Taliesin who posted a couple of Tri-X clips of his son playing with a yo-yo. They didn't seem grainy.
My earliest attempts at processing black and white film yielded washed out looking images caused by overdevelopment in the first developer. I was accurate on the tiime, but I was running my process at 72 to 74 degrees instead of 68, and it was enough to overdevelop the film.
As for health, don't breathe any powdered chemicals when mixing up the solutions, and wear nitrile gloves when processing. Keep a good flow of air to exhaust vapors away from you while processing.
Hence having the fomapan as Super8 would help alot.
