The beauty of XP2. Ive covered 3 of 5 ASA 400 films I use. HP5 for pictorial use, the best all round general film, and the best in medium format, period. Tri-X gets the nod for contrast and sharpness, and Fomapan 400 for impact and punch. But for faces, I want XP2. Its the only ASA400 film that has truly fine grain that can compete with the ASA 100 group. Its a C41 film, in other words, it uses dyes like color neg film, hence can be developed in a 1 hour photo shop. It enlarges beautifully, has the best tonal range of ASA 400 films, and it seems almost perfect. But there is a catch. Three, in fact. XP2 is not archival because its not silver based, its flat looking at ASA 400, and shadow areas block up at this speed, getting truly ugly in grain effect in shadows. Its by far best shot at ASA 200. Therefore, its not the general purpose film you might want to have. You must know how to use this film. When I shoot faces with 35mm cameras, though, this is the film that wins the kewpie doll. But only at ASA 200. For this purpose at this speed, it has no equal. And because it can be developed and printed in a 1 hour Photo, you dont need to have a darkroom. All pictures i this essay are scanned 4x6 machine prints. Comments under each individual picture.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 09:35:27 +0000
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