Gast
Hello!
I’ve performed two exposures on two rolls of Fuji Neopan 400: one at ISO 800 and the other at ISO 1600.
Can anyone recommend a developer that renders the shadows well without producing too much grain?
Many thanks!
Best regards, Phil
skydl
Hello,
I can recommend the Amaloco AM74 to you.
Best regards,
Thorsten
PhilippeGrunchec
Both Neopans (400 & 1600), which I like to use, often lack detail in the shadows! Don’t push them too far!
That’s right, LP Supergrain / Amaloco AM74 is very suitable.
A two-bath developer (Emofin, Diafine, MZB) is also highly recommended.
Gast
Microdol in the stock list.
Roman
When it comes to pushing, there’s nothing better than A49 (e.g. available here in the shop) – it brings out the maximum speed from any film whilst maintaining a very fine grain, and it works particularly well with Neopan!
My second choice would be XTOL (though it’s only available in relatively large packs, and has issues with ‘sudden death’ when mixed with tap water).
I would advise against using Microphen for pushing Neopan – it produces brutal grain with very high contrast.
Gast
Thanks a lot for the advice!
I think I’ll give A49 or X-TOL a go. At least with A49, you get really nice results with normally exposed Neopan 400.
Best regards, Philipp
PhilippeGrunchec
What does the grain look like? What often bothers me about the Neopans is the slightly washed-out grain ;)
Roman
Then give Rodinal a go – it produces a really crisp grain, but not too coarse, very similar to TriX (EI 250, 20°C, 9:30 mins, 1-minute agitation).
A49 naturally produces slightly washed-out (but very fine) grain; at the rated speed I’d tend to use it only for portraits, but it’s very fine for pushing, especially in medium format where there’s absolutely no grain to be seen, and with the right subject, when the slightly weaker shadow detail isn’t so noticeable, you hardly notice that it’s been pushed. I quite like using the NP400 at ISO 800, developed in A49 1+1 for 18 mins (20°C, 1-min. agitation), for spontaneous portraits with the Rolleiflex.
PhilippeGrunchec
Do you mean Rodinal 1+50?
Stagirit
When it comes to sharp grain and pushing, I can really only recommend Microdol-X.
I took some shots in a museum and pushed the film from 400 to 800; the result was truly outstanding.
Neopan in Rodinal didn’t impress me; the density was rather mediocre.
I would also advise against using Microphen.
Here’s an
example
Roman
Yes, Rodinal 1+50 – sorry, I’d forgotten that there are other dilutions as well (though I never use them... ;))
Gast
Hello!
I received my long-awaited A49 today. I gave it a quick try straight away – it looks pretty good at first glance. I’ll post an update tomorrow and upload a scanned image here.
Thanks a lot for the replies!
