Hi,

Has anybody experience with the new Fuji 100 (ss?) film? I heard some good rumours about it. I was always very happy with their neopan400 & 1600, and as I'm looking now for a sharp and fine grain film for landscapes, I'd like to give it a try. Other comments or suggestions on slow film (Ilford delta100 vs. PanF) are also welcome. I live on an island and rely on very inconvenient mailorder, so it's not easy for me to test all of them. I use Xtol to develop fast film, is it okay to use tXtol for slow film too?

Thanks,

-- Gert Raskin (gert@ster.kuleuven.ac.be), June 07, 2001

Answers

Greetings Gert,

I can't comment on the Fuji films, but I use both Delta 100 and Pan F+. Both of the Ilford films are very good and work well in Xtol. Choice of either of these films will depend on your application and preferences. If you're shooting in 35mm and are concerned with grain, then Pan F+ would be the film of choice. In Xtol it is capable of producing 11x14's that lack grain. Delta 100 is almost as good. Both Delta and Pan F produce a nice tonal scale. If your processing methods are not that consistent, you may find Pan F to be better. Delta will perform, but your processing controls should be tighter.

Regards,

Regards,

-- Pete Caluori (pcaluori@hotmail.com), June 07, 2001.

Fuji's new Acros 100 is a very decent film but imho no better than TMX or Delta 100. I've found it to be about 2/3 stop slower than DMX or D100 for the same CI in D-76.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), June 07, 2001.

Pan F plus is an excellent film. Easy to use, nice contrast, tight grain, blah, blah, blah... I heard the same things about Fuji Acros, it's similar to the T-MAX and Delta 100 films. I think the only really impressive thing I've heard about it is the *supposedly* better reciprocity characteristics of Acros compared to T-MAX 100.

Use large format and don't worry about that silly grain problem.

Cheerio

-- floren (flcpge@yahoo.com), June 07, 2001.

surprisingly, I found Acros 100 to be one-third stop slower than TMX (TMax 100). additionally, though the RMS grain specs are slightly better for the Fuji film, real-world Xtol results showed that TMX was slightly finer grained. TMX, Acros 100, TMY. unremarkable for me, and TMX remains in the camera. Acros 1600 would be a kick however.

-- daniel taylor (lightsmythe@agalis.net), June 07, 2001.

I can't comment on the Fuji film, as I have not yet tried it. On the Delta 100 vs. Pan F Plus, I can fill you in on a few details.

Pan F Plus is slightly finer grained than Delta 100. Delta 100 is considerably sharper than Pan F Plus, and in fact, not counting the new Fuji film (which I don't know about yet), is the sharpest pictorial film on the market. Delta 100 also has greater contrast through the midtones and highlights. This allows greater separation for uses such as landscapes, but the contrast in the highlights makes it less suitable for some high-key subjects. And obviously, Delta 100 gives you another stop of speed.

David Carper ILFORD Technical Service

-- David Carper (david.carper@ilford.com), June 08, 2001.