Analogue photography

Really beautiful B&W

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Seen in robertoballerini home page (?)

Slide films are pretty easy to scan, i prefer them.

Hey, if you want a really special B&W film, you could try the Adox CMS 20:
www.ipernity.com/search/doc?w=20649&q=adox

This one is amazingly grainfree. :)

FIlm, I'm loving it again. Haven't tried slide film yet though. I'm a bit cheap and use Fuji consumer grade colour as the Velvia is quite dear.

great black and whites
I use only hp5 for most of my works, but i will try Delta 400 as soon as i can

thx for sharing

I'm looking forward to read about your experience then!

developing BW films is quite a personal thing - one always need to choose your combination of film and developing chemicals -
...
KODAK MICRODOL-X Developer is designed to produce lower graininess than other black-and-white film developers, with very little loss in film speed. For greater sharpness, but with a slight increase in graininess, you can use a 1:3 dilution of this developer.

Proper replenishment of MICRODOL-X Developer will increase the capacity and maintain process consistency without an increase in developer time. See "Replenishment" for intructions on how to replenish this developer.

Agitation

Proper agitation is very important for consistent and uniform results. Agitation helps remove the by-products of development from the surface of the film so that fresh developer can act on the exposed silver halide in the emulsion. Because agitation affects the rate of development, particularly in high-density areas, you can achieve consistent negative quality only if agitation is uniform over the whole surface of the film, and when the degree of agitation is similar for each film or batch of films.

Agitation should always consist of irregular or random movements that will not cause solution currents to flow over the film constantly in any one direction; these currents increase film density along their paths, causing nonuniformity.

Agitating Rolls in a Small Tank

The times given for small-tank processing are based on the following agitation procedure:

Fill the empty tank with developer.
Start the timer. In the dark, smoothly and rapidly lower the loaded reel(s) into the developer solution.
Quickly attach the top to the tank. Firmly tap the bottom of the tank against the work surface from a height of approximately 2.5 cm (1 inch) to dislodge air bubbles from the surface of the film. Air bubbles can interfere with development and produce low-density circles on the film.
Provide initial agitation of 2 to 7 cycles, in 5 to 15 seconds. For KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX Films in invertible tanks, 5 to 7 cycles in 5 seconds are recommended. For an invertible tank, one cycle consists of rotating the tank upside down and then back to the upright position. For a noninvertible tank, one cycle consists of sliding the tank back and forth over a 25.4 cm (10-inch) distance. With tanks that have a handle for turning the reel, rotate the reel back and forth gently through about one-half turn at a rate of one cycle per second during the agitation intervals. Steps 2 through 4 will take approximately 7 to 20 seconds, depending on the type of tank.
End the initial agitation with a sharp tap of the bottom of the tank against the work surface to dislodge air bubbles from the film surface.
Let the tank sit for the remainder of the first 30 seconds.
After the first 30 seconds, agitate for 5 seconds at 30 second intervals. Agitation should consist of 2 to 5 cycles, depending on the contrast you need and the type of tank.

Agitating Short Rolls in a Large Tank

You can process several short rolls (1.5 metres [5 feet] or less) in a large tank. Wind each roll onto a spiral reel. Load the reels on a rack, in a basket, or on a spindle, and place the rack, basket, or spindle in the tank (typically a 3.8-litre [1-gallon] or a 13-litre [3 1/2 -gallon] tank). Many racks can hold up to 30 rolls of 35 mm film or 18 rolls of 120-size film. Use the following agitation procedure:

Start the timer. Lower the rack, basket, or spindle into the developer, and tap it quickly and sharply against the tank to dislodge air bubbles from the surface of the film. Air bubbles can interfere with development and produce low-density circles on the film.
Agitate the film continuously for the first 15 to 30 seconds by raising and lowering the rack, basket, or spindle approximately 1 cm ( 1/2 inch). Be sure to keep the reels in the solution. Do not agitate the rack, basket, or spindle for the remainder of the first minute.
Agitate once each minute (after the first minute) by lifting the rack, basket, or spindle completely out of the developer, tilting it approximately 30 degrees to drain it for 5 to 10 seconds, and reimmersing it. Alternate the direction of tilting the rack, basket, or spindle.

www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/j4027/j4027.jhtml

P.S. for whatever money they charge you, it is simply not feasible to be this meticulous in film developing, unless you do it yourself.

Thank you, I understand what you wanted to say with your post scriptum. For example, I pay 2.5€ per roll developing in the lab.

i used to get along fine with ilford pan 400's, i loved doing my own processing, but found the costs too high after a while.