which 400 speed B & W 35mm Film scans the best ?

I have been using TMY and I have not been satisfied with the results, way
too grainy showing some weird specular highlights in the grain. I know T Max
has a fine grain, but perhaps too fine a grain for scanning ? And that after
is on 2 different scanners, a Microtek 120tf @4000ppi and Konica Minolta
Dimage 5400II @5400ppi,

 

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/documents/59/0900688a80300559/EpubBW400CN4036.pdf

BW400CN which is in fact a chromogenic color-negative (CN) material. I haven't
found any real black-&-white films to scan well.

JD - www.puresilver.org

 

Ilford XP-2 and Fujin Neopan 400CN -- both chromogenic films -- have
scanned well for me.

I've had quite good results from the standard Fuji Neopan 400 [the
traditional silver film, not the chromogenic one] too...

Matt

 

I find that my EPSON 1640 with the transparency adapter scans BW silver
films very well, but the Minolta Dimage Multi does a horrible job on BW.

 

I've done a lot of B&W film scanning on my Minolta Scan Dual II.
This is an older film scanner but the same principles apply.
Chromogenic B&W (400CN or whatever Kodak calls theirs now, XP2,
Konica Monochrome, etc.) definitely scans "smoother". Regular B&W
is not bad either. I get good results with HP5 Plus. Delta 400 is
very nice too. My general advice would be to go for the
finest-grain combination you can find. I don't think there's such a
thing as "too fine grain for scanning" here -- avoid coarse films
and "acutance" developers like Rodinal and keep development times
conservative (you can increase the contrast later) to avoid blowing
out highlights. Make sure your scanner software is not applying
some kind of sharpening algorithm.

Jordan

 

In addition to the other suggestions, you might look into changing your
developer rather than (or in addition to) your film. In particular, I've
heard that staining developers often improve the scannability of B&W
negatives. I've not tried this myself, though, so take this with a grain
of salt.

 

Why are you scanning??????? Conventional B&W films are designed for
printing, not scanning!

 

Which developer are you using? I've been developing TMY in XTOL 1:1
and have gotten good results scanning with a Dimage 5400. Another
thing to consider is your scanning software. Also, I've found that I
got better results overall using Vuescan rather than Minolta's driver.

--Phil

 

Wow !!!

This looks like a very active NG here. I never expected so many replies in
so short amount of time.
I develop using T-Max RS and I have also used XTol with the same scanning
results.

But it looks like I will be trying some Kodak 400 CN now.
That is a C41 process isn't it ?
And Phil thanks for the suggestion of using Vuescan over the Minolta
software.

 

Yes, it is. So is Ilford XP2 Super and one or two others that were
mentioned specifically in this thread (Fuji 400CN and one by Konica,
IIRC).

 

Exactly. Process at your local lab. Usually.

JD - www.puresilver.org

 

I gotta say that after working with both XP-2 and Kodak CN, the XP is
still my favorite for tonal range. I'm willing to bet it will scan
like a dream. And yes -- both are C-41 processes. Don't be shocked
when the first set of prints come out a deathly brown (like a really
bad Sepia-toned print). That's normal.

The other combination worth trying is Ilford Delta 400 developed in
Pyro -- ABC or PMK (take your pick).

 

Kodak 400 CN looks beautiful, both grain and tonal range wise, and it
_is_ a C41 process (with the same archival issues about color negative
film), and it is expensive.

Best of luck.

--Phil

 

Just recently, I found that my HP5+ negatives that were done in some
homebrew staining developers have scanned quite nicely. The lack of
grain is balanced by the light edge effects and by scanning in color
it seems my scanner can handle the tonality better in this
combination. I'm admittedly not an expert and quite new to film
scanning but the effects were easily better than I had been getting
with traditional non-staining developers.

Craig Schroeder
craig nospam craigschroeder com