Pen '59 and 400 Speed B&W

When you want less than 24mm x 36mm.
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minoly
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Pen '59 and 400 Speed B&W

Post by minoly »

When half-frame 35mm photography became popular in the 1960's it was common to recommend the use of slower speed films so that the small negative would make a good enlargement. I pretty much followed that tip, using Plux-X or APX 100 most of the time or APX 25 for a special need. One writer in Popular Photography, some years later, argued that HF users should just "get the picture" and, if that required faster film, use it. So once in a while I did that and had the best luck with T-Max 400. When I finished my second-to-last bulk roll of APX 100 this Fall, I decided to put Arista Premium 400 in the bulk loader and give it a try. The results were better than I expected and the AP was a lot easier to work with than T-Max 400. Some of this could be due to developing with D76 stock rather than 1:1 as I've done before; but, changes to Tri-X probably contributed, too. A recent set of photos that I made under unfavorable conditions-- snow on the ground , lots of blackness in the subjects, the sun high in the sky, and no meter in my pocket-- tell me that Tri-X (Arista Premium to be exact in this case) works just fine with HF. Following are a few photos from Bandana Square (former Northern Pacific shops) to illustrate.

This wheel is part of a big set-up between two shop buildings. I don't know how it works but I like its simple design
Release-Apply-WheelWEB.jpg
The Arista Premium presents detail from an old locomotive pretty well.
Locomotive-DetailWEB.jpg
The old locomotive was recently re-painted. It had been two-tone before (black and white); all black seems to make it look stronger
Locomotive-Heavy-Metal-WEB.jpg
Even the squirrels are leaving this picnic table alone.
Table-in-SnowWEB.jpg
(All of these photos were made at Bandana Square in St. Paul with the '59 Olympus Pen on Arista Premium 400 developed in D76 stock and scanned at home.)
Bill Delehanty


Julio1fer
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Re: Pen '59 and 400 Speed B&W

Post by Julio1fer »

Nice B&W, Bill!

You have found a good combination of film and developer. There is shadow detail, and grain is excellent for half-frame and a traditional ISO 400 film. I also tend to use low ISO films in half frame, but I am taking careful note of your experiment.
minoly
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Re: Pen '59 and 400 Speed B&W

Post by minoly »

Thanks for your comments, Julio. I'm looking forward to what I can do with the rest of the Premium 400 that I have.
Bill D.
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