I do love the black and white films that Fuji used to produce. I think most people that ever tried them, agree, that they were unique, special, and loved. I have a small bag of Acros, Neopan 400 and 1600 in my freezer that I take a couple of rolls from now and again.
A 1600 speed film is quite fast, and will not age well, I can already see some base fog and reduced speed in these rolls, but they are still good enough to shoot.
As with most negative black and white films, they tend to look better with a little bit more light, so I shoot them at ISO1000-1250, develop for 1600. During the past month I shot a roll during my trips in Japan, and I think it suits the subject matter really well. It is quite grainy of course, but the grain is not “In your face” like I feel with Tmax3200/Delta3200.
Here is an example of what I mean, Delta3200, D76 1+1.
But it also is actually a faster speed film, so it does not have the look of a pushed film, like HP5 with +2 push. Here is an example shot of that too, developed in Fuji SPD (Super prodol) 1+1, for 15min in 20c.
If you look at the coat of the dog you can see it lacks definition/sharpness. It looks like an evenly gray blob. If you look at the dark car in the upper right corner, you can see that the blacks are quite crushed in the shadows. However, compared to the Delta3200 shot I much prefer pushing HP5 2 stops than shooting Delta.. I think also that SPD is a very good developer for pushing! Too bad we can’t get it over here.
But going back to the main subject, Neopan 1600. Here are some shots from last years trip, developed in SPD 1+1, 6,5min 20c.
A very good combination here too. I shot this roll at 1600 and it would have gained from getting just a little bit more light, half a stop or so..
Here are shots from this years trip, so as I said shot between ISO1000 and 1250, developed in XTOL 1+1, 7,5min, 20c.
The monk in the first picture is a man I met in a small town called Kesennuma. I got a lesson in meditation and then we had a barbecue party. During that same day I visited a site where the big tsunami had caused a lot of destruction, and they had left parts of it as a reminder of the big earthquake and the following disaster. It was gut wrenching for sure.
Both Neopans sure were excellent films, maybe in the future, with help from the current resurgence in film photography, Fuji will consider making a batch or two of the stuff again. Acros is coming back after all.. Remember guys, if you want Fuji to keep on making film, buy Fuji films today!
That’s it for today, as always, please drop a comment and let me know what you think.