Fuji Neopan ACROS 100 is like the James Bond of black-and-white films—smooth, refined, and always reliable. Its fine grain is its standout feature, making it a favorite among photographers who crave detail and clarity. While I personally use ISO 100 films more for shooting wide open than chasing grain perfection, I can’t deny that ACROS 100 delivers a level of smoothness that’s hard to beat in its price range.
That said, let’s be real: if you’re a grain-obsessed perfectionist, you’re probably already shooting 120 film. Let’s face it, 135 can’t compete with the sheer resolution of medium format. But for those of us shooting 35mm or even half-frame cameras, ACROS 100’s fine grain holds up beautifully under enlargement. It’s like the film equivalent of a high-definition TV—crisp, clear, and easy on the eyes.
My friends and I both like the Ilford PAN 400. It is affordable, the speed of iso400 is particularly suitable for daily street photography, and it has comfortable and natural tones. You can develop it yourself at home and use a scanner to get good quality images. And happily, it’s flat and easy to scan.
iso200-1600
You can also get good image quality by exposing -2 or +1 stops. You know, it is used as iso1600. It’s not grainy, but has good clarity and high contrast. The most valuable thing is that it is not afraid of the dark. Dark areas can be expanded with nice detail. Although it is not as clear and sharp as the more advanced Ilford delta, as a cheap daily use roll, it is enough to make me happy.
Popular 35mm film
Ilford PAN 400 is the film I use the most. It’s not that I don’t pursue clear image quality, but street photography requires a lot of shooting, which wastes a lot of film. Economic factors also need to be considered. After all, film photography is a relatively luxurious thing these days. Moreover, choosing 35mm film photography is not just for the pursuit of clarity. If you pursue clarity, you can use 120 film. Or, digital cameras, mobile phones. But what I like is film photography, shooting slowly and not rushing to check the results.
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Ilford pan100 is a cost-effective film. Its contrast and dynamic range are very good, and ordinary people can achieve good results. Compared with films in the same price range, Fujifilm’s arcos 100 has more details, but its dynamic range is not as good as Ilford pan100. The Fomapan100’s dynamic range is good, but it’s a bit noisy.
With yellow filter
The packaging box of Ilford pan100 is black with yellow letters. I think this design is telling you that it will look better with a yellow filter. So when I use the Ilford pan 100, I pair it with a yellow filter, especially if I’m shooting portraits with a yellow filter. I’m actually pretty happy with how it worked.
Cost-effective film
Ilford is a leader in black and white film, with advanced chemistry and a proven production history. For example, Ilford’s delta400 / fp4+ and hp5+ are high-end films and have many loyal fans. Ilford pan100 is a popular film, a mature and stable film. It is said that this film was originally designed for the Asian cheap market, and later became loved by enthusiasts around the world because of its excellent cost performance.
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Any black and white film from Ilford is good, especially high-end film like delta. The image quality is very delicate, and the ISO 400 film can actually produce such small particles. Ilford is indeed very powerful.
Generally speaking, iso400 film is suitable for street photography. Delicate image quality is not a characteristic of this type of film. But delta 400 is an exception, it provides better picture quality and higher speed. The Ilford Delta 400 is a competitor to the Kodak T-Max.
sharpness
There is a triangle on the delta 400 packaging box, which is actually a hint. It tells us that this film is sharp. In fact, ilford delta 400 uses a T-shaped crystal particle, and the image superimposed by this particle will be very sharp. The film image is composed of countless tiny particles, and the shape of the particles has a great impact on the image. This is different from the digital imaging principle.
Grayscale
Perhaps the biggest difference between delta 400 and hp5+ is grayscale. The hp5+ has richer tones from highlights to shadows, and the contrast is not as strong as the delta. This is why hp5+ is more popular than delta. When I use the hp5+ for street photography, I like to add a yellow filter to add some contrast, but with the delta, I don’t need a filter.
Summarize
The delta400 is not cheap, so it is quite luxurious for street photographers. And it has very high requirements on exposure, so you must try to expose it accurately to take advantage of it.
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For those who enjoy shooting with Leica lenses at wide apertures, ISO 100 film remains a popular choice that offers greater convenience than ISO 400, particularly when using large apertures like f/0.95 or f/1.4. Furthermore, ISO 100 film can produce much finer image quality than ISO 400 film. The Rollei RPX film boasts a remarkably flat base, which allows for easy scanning without the need for flattening. This is a feature that I personally love.
However, while ISO 100 film is generally considered to be fine-grained, the grain may still be noticeable to some extent. Established brands such as Kodak, Ilford, and Fuji have invested considerable efforts in fine-grain technology. Nevertheless, the RPX film has several advantages: it is affordable, easy to develop, and has good tolerance. By contrast, many ISO 100 films have poor tolerance, particularly the Fuji Acros 135 and Ilford Pan 100. Rollei RPX, on the other hand, has a level of tolerance that is more commonly associated with ISO 400 films. The contrast of RPX 100 is also medium to high.
So why has Rollei resumed film production, offering various types of film including ISO 25, ISO 50, and ISO 100, all produced in Europe? According to the packaging of MACO PHOTO PRODUCTS, the company is located in Stapelfeld, Germany and is a subsidiary of Hans O. Mahn Gmbh & Co. KG, with a 36-year history of producing film. Interestingly, it comes from the same factory as Ilford and Kentmere in the UK, with only different formulations.
Rollei RPX 100 is a traditional medium-speed black and white film.
This film is suitable for a wide range of photographic and scientific applications.
Particularly portrait and landscape photography, architecture and product photography.
The popularity of this film confirms its high quality.
It is a fine grain film that enables good sharpness and a broad tonal range with good contrast.
Overall, the film base is slightly thinner, with high transparency and is easy to scan. However, one drawback is that the frame numbers on the film edges are marked based on half-frame cameras, which means that Fomapan has over 70 frame markings, whereas the standard 135 format film has only 36. Nevertheless, this film from the Czech Republic performs quite well in actual use.
Grain
Fomapan ISO 100 is not particularly fine-grained, and some even say that it is the roughest among all 100 speed films. However, I don’t completely agree with this. The grains of Fomapan often appear in highlight areas, but if the metering is reduced to darken the image, the grain is not very noticeable.
Mood
Although the tolerance of this film is high, large grains can easily appear in highlights, making it less suitable for shooting fresh and light style photos. If you prefer a bright and delicate feeling, Fuji’s Acros 100 is a better choice.
Cost-effectiveness
Many people consider this film to be good, with high tolerance and sharpness, despite the grains not being particularly fine. It bears some resemblance to Ilford Pan 100, but with higher contrast. Overall, it is slightly inferior to Ilford Pan 100.
Conclusion
Fomapan 100 is an excellent film for street photography, with surprising tolerance and unbeatable cost-effectiveness.
fomapan 100
FOMAPAN 100 Classic is a panchromatically sensitized, black-and-white negative film designed for taking photographs. The film meets high requirements for low granularity, high resolving power and contour sharpness and a wide range of halftones. FOMAPAN 100 Classic has a nominal speed rating of ISO 100/21o, but due to its wide exposure latitude the film gives good results even when overexposed by 1 EV (exposure value) (as ISO 50/18o) or underexposed by 2 EV (as ISO 400/27o) without any change in processing, i.e. without lengthening the development time or increasing the temperature of the developer used.
more info
Shanghai GP3 gained a share of the low-end market mainly due to its affordability. Shanghai GP3 deserves praise for persevering in the film industry during its darkest period. Despite the challenges, the brand continued to produce film, possibly due to its small factory scale and low price point.
Notably, the 120 film produced by the old Shanghai GP3 outperforms the 135 film. As the saying goes, “if the image quality is not good enough, use a bigger negative size to make up for it.” This cheap 120 film easily outperforms 135 film. However, the workmanship of the 135 GP3 film is average and the sticker may have wrinkles.
Shanghai GP3 film is characterized by several features. Firstly, the film sealing position is tightly sealed with lightproof cotton. However, the gray scale may not be as rich as other film brands. Finally, the price is affordable, making it a popular choice among budget-conscious photographers.
This is a film brand that has emerged in recent years. The CHM 100 film, which comes in a beautifully designed package, is actually a replica of the CHM 125 film that was released in Germany in 2004. Meanwhile, the Kentmere 100 film is essentially the same as CHM 100, but with different packaging. However, I have found that CHM 100 is actually an enhanced version of Kentmere 100, especially in terms of dynamic range.
I have also found that CHM 100 is particularly convenient to develop. With my own developing process, I can easily obtain satisfactory results. It is worth noting that many films on the market are manufactured by Ilford in the UK, and CHM 100 is no exception.
In terms of developing, CHM 100 is very user-friendly and similar to other films such as APX 100 NEW, RPX 100, and Kentmere 100. Additionally, the developing time of CHM 100 is also very close to that of Ilford FP4. As a result, many people believe that the formula of CHM 100 is the same as that of Ilford FP4, although there are some differences.
The packaging box of this Fuji film clearly indicates that it is developed using the CN-16 process, and not C-41. In contrast, Fuji’s other universal film, C200, has both processes printed on its packaging.
The CN-16 process offers a 5% higher contrast than C-41, however, this particular Fuji film is typically processed using C-41 at the developing shop, resulting in a decrease in contrast of approximately 5%. This creates an elegant and gentle feeling that many people prefer for capturing fresh-style portraits. For those looking to capture warm and gentle feeling photos, this film is a great option. Its box, which features white and green colors, gives off a healing effect.
Additionally, Fuji’s APS film uses a finer and thinner emulsion layer that can exhibit the delicate texture of a full frame on a half frame. This special coating appears to have also been applied to this film, resulting in the absence of any obvious rough particles. This makes it superior to Fuji’s Superia X-Tra400.
