Black & White Film Guide, Shootout, and Comparison - 35mm, 400 ISO

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Which 400 black and white film should I shoot?
Table of contents:
Methodology - 2:38
Film histories and characteristics - 5:34
Blind test - 17:57
My analysis and conclusions - 41:14
Important links:
Film decision template: goo.gl/t26fgJ
My completed film decision template example: goo.gl/audmie
Blind test contact sheets: www.dropbox.com/s/vnxws3x4ztk...
Announcing our online photo workshops! Sign-up while it's in its reduced beta pricing:
Films reviewed:
JCH Streetpan on Amazon ➡ geni.us/RcocqR
Bergger Pancro on Amazon ➡ geni.us/B3g1CI
Ilford HP5+ on Amazon ➡ geni.us/b99UOTS
Ilford Delta 400 on Amazon ➡ geni.us/eEmj8H
Ilford XP2 Super on Amazon ➡ geni.us/ETbzP
Rollei RPX 400 on Amazon ➡ geni.us/4G9a
Rollei Retro 400s on Amazon ➡ geni.us/qjuAGz8
Kodak Tri-X on Amazon ➡ geni.us/ksxyp
Kodak T-Max on Amazon ➡ geni.us/iLWkq6u
Fomapan 400 on Amazon ➡ geni.us/zcUB9
Kentmere on Amazon ➡ geni.us/DlOts
Ultrafine Xtreme on Amazon ➡ geni.us/jFiL
^ As an Amazon Associate I earn commission from qualifying purchases
Music:
“let linger”, frontusis”, "unrythm", "you were" by Birocratic (www.birocratic.com)
The songs used in this video were licensed via Birocratic License
v05.2016. For info on how you can use this music in your project,
check out www.birocratic.com/license-app.
To download Birocratic’s 60+ song discography, visit
birocratic.bandcamp.com.
"Open Road" by Panthurr
/ panthurr ^ As an Amazon Associate I earn commission from qualifying purchases
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[@1nsertExpletive]

Great video! My only critique... quit doubting yourself & offering apologies. You know what you're talking about, are providing valuable info, and did the work to substantiate it. Thanks!

[@DiscoDanify]

There are so many ignorant hatters out there, you kind of have to cut them off with a few disclaimers...

[@gabriel1812]

I don’t think he was overly-apologetic or self-doubting. I just think he’s very earnest, which is not a bad quality at all

[@Mettyunuabona_]

Do this again with more Niche B&W films then colour because NO ONE has done this other than yourself! Bravo on such a great video!

[@arthur-doylemcmannon2910]

would love to watch a colour version for iso 160/200, and 400 and then 800/1600. amazing video, brand new subscriber. And the 120 episode you seem to be working on will be great!

[@Raychristofer]

My man this is the best film review comparison on KZbin. You say you're an amateur and that the big boys might talk smack but anyone who criticizes your knowledge in this video needs a smack cross the mouth. If Wikipedia had a page on black and white film this should be the definitive video for them to link to. Respect

[@TedInATL]

Wow, you put a LOT of work into this. Thank you so much. You've done a great service for your fellow B&W film lovers.

[@billkaroly]

In 1980 I was a US soldier stationed in Germany and I had heard about this new Ilford film, XP. It came in a demo kit with some rolls of film and the chemicals to develop it. It was fantastic. I guess the true test is to dig out my negatives and scan them. Because that was the biggest argument among HP5 users like me, that the film would fade over time like color film.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Very interesting! Would love to hear what you discover.

[@chesslover8829]

Excellent video and test results! I went with Ilford HP5+ for the following reasons in no particular order: 1. Popularity 2. Film quality 3. Good test results 4. Good sharpness, grain, tonality, highlights, shadow detail, and latitude 5. Non-digital look 6. Readily available; decent price 7. Easy development 8. Pushable (looks good at ISO 800) For film development, I will be using Patrick Gainer's FX 55 and 510-pyro, both of which can be mixed at home. The downside of Ilford HP5+ is that it's a low contrast film. Post processing and darkroom manipulations (dogging, burning, or filtration when variable contrast paper is used) are required to boost overall contrast. Grain can be an issue when making big prints. For me, that's prints larger than 5x7 inches from a 35mm negative.

[@bthemedia]

Great review 👍 Shortcut tips: @2:38 - Methodology @5:34 - Film histories & characteristics @17:57 - Blind test @41:14 - Final analysis & conclusions

[@jamesanonymous2343]

Andrew, you are highly regarded for your work on this guide, & deservedly so. Thanks

[@airi6591]

This is one of the best and most comprehensive videos i have seen. Thank you so much and a great job!

[@ColinBloodworth]

I watched this video before buying my first roll of film a year ago, almost to the week. I came back to it today as I branch out into developing my own films. What a ridiculously useful piece of content, Andrew. Thanks so much for making it.

[@EddieInzauto]

This is one of my favorite videos on KZbin....ever. Thank you.

[@MikeJovani]

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this. Very much appreciated dude. :)

[@khosrovahabi7834]

Apart from how informative it was, I really adore your attitude man. Excellent!

[@stuartbaines2843]

Best widest test i have seen on b+w films, Thanks for taking the time to put it together :)

[@justinweier4099]

Man, between this and the color film video; you've hit it out of the park. It's an incredible amount of effort I'm sure and the results speak for themselves. This was amazing. Thanks again for all your hard work!

[@VariTimo]

I’ve talked to Rollei and they confirmed that RPX 100 and 400 are new emulsions based on the original Agfa Leverkusen APX formulas. They are produced by Harman for Rollei.

[@christopherschmidtke4752]

DUDE! What an amazing video!! Thanks for all the hard work! I was actually surprised about my favourite film and I will try out some new favourites..

[@garypentecost833]

For somebody getting back into film photography thank you for a great vlog ,I’m placing this one in my saved folder for future reference 👍

[@nelsonm.5044]

Most certainly the best film comparison I have seen on KZbin and I have seen many .... thank you for that short movie, I am sure a lot of work went in this

[@HoggetBlanker]

I know it's been close to a year since this video was posted, but thank you so much for doing this and posting it! I just finished shooting my first two rolls of color film and have been curious about black and white. There's a surprising amount of options available and your video has been a great help to narrow down what I'd like to start with. Many many thanks!

[@Kononiukjacob]

This was amazing! As someone who has been shooting film for over 3 years now, this is the first time I have actually challenged myself to find out what the differences in film are. You are definitely the only person that has done such a detailed comparison. Without seeing the images side by side as we have with here, it is virtually impossible to pick up on the nuances. This helped me so much, and I am equally surprised to see Kentmere rank highest for me, followed by ultrafine and delta. I am very excited to try these out and experiment with other films that didn't rank as high but were nonetheless very interesting - such as StreetPan due to its high contrast. Thank you for your time and effort, it goes a long way, even years later!

[@myurgil]

Thank you so much for making this. Admittedly, it probably took me over 2 hours to get through, pausing the video and such, but I could have spent many more hours reading about films, making bad comparisons, and hemming and hawing. This was awesome!

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

UPDATE TO MY UPDATE: Hey everyone on this thread. I'm updating the update I made in regards to Ultrafine Extreme Pro. Awhile back I heard from a source I trusted that Extreme Pro was just a rebadge of other film stocks through the years and I believed that source. However, I just had a great conversation with Jeff over at Photo Warehouse regarding Ultrafine Extreme Pro. He assured me that Extreme Pro is NOT rebadged and that it has been sourced from the same supplier since it was improved over regular Ultrafine eight or so years ago. The emulsion is also not available in any other name anywhere else. This is very encouraging to me and I've never been more glad to be wrong, as I really love this film.

[@toddmacon670]

Yikes. I’ve had good results with the UFEX. So now I’m confused. Any idea about which stocks they draw from?

[@toddmacon670]

Addendum to my last comment: I’m shooting 120. Same repacking?

[@toddmacon670]

Addendum to my last comment: I’m shooting 120. Same repacking?

[@Irontalyn]

Do you know if this is the case for the 400 as well as the 100? I have had very consistent results with the film although I've only shot 200 feet of it.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Hey everyone on this thread. I'm updating the update I made in regards to Ultrafine Extreme Pro. Awhile back I heard from a source I trusted that Extreme Pro was just a rebadge of other film stocks through the years and I believed that source. However, I just had a great conversation with Jeff over at Photo Warehouse regarding Ultrafine Extreme Pro. He assured me that Extreme Pro is NOT rebadged and that it has been sourced from the same supplier since it was improved over regular Ultrafine eight or so years ago. The emulsion is also not available in any other name anywhere else. This is very encouraging to me and I've never been more glad to be wrong, as I really love this film.

[@gvidotto]

Great video!! Really helped me a lot. Appreciate your presentation style. Keep it going man!

[@martintomes2296]

I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE TIME AND EFFORT THAT CAME INTO PRODUCTION OF THIS VIDEO !!!!

[@lowercasedee]

Woah! So much appreciation for this. I don’t know if people know how much work this is. Thanks so much for this comparison!

[@johnbiboudis4339]

You're a legend! Thank you so much for an informative and well thought out video.

[@markredankite]

Awsome vid. Thanks for all the work you have put into it ! great content

[@toddgillelandphoto]

I'm six years late to the party, but this is one of the best comparison videos I've seen about any topic / product. You've inspired me to buy some FOMA and Kentmere.

[@pumrel]

Thanks Andrew for such a thorough guide.

[@nikedelman]

Wow, what a great video! Thank you so much for putting it together.

[@stephenroberts6140]

Thank you for this. it looks like a lot of work and it is greatly appreciated

[@brett1354]

Loved it, especially how you made your images available for review. Which I did, and changed my film order to FP4 based on what I saw, looking at grain, sharpness, overall contrast, highlight & shadow detail. Thanks.

[@kyrahoops]

Thanks for making this video~ I really appreciate all of the information in one video. :) Great job.

[@yazzmatazz86]

Nice guide! I spent a few hours of my weekend watching, taking notes, and figuring out what I liked. I especially loved the historical aspect of your study. For many people, shooting film is not just about the aesthetics but the historical aspect of the process. In that regard, knowing more about each film makes the process more interesting for me. I learned a lot about films that I would have never thought twice about in the past. Except for two (streetpan and pancro), all the film you used is available at my favourite camera store here. Like you, Ultrafine Xtreme, AGFA APX, and Kentmere ranked in my top 4, along with my old favourite, the TriX400. The results of my blind test have convinced me to look into the Xtreme 400, as it is the cheapest film at my store.

[@collinyingling2643]

Very comprehensive comparison presented in an enjoyable and informative manner. Thanks for taking the time and and making the effort to cover all these different great emulsions, and ecstatic to see Ultrafine Xtreme so highly regarded!

[@DanielLopez-up6os]

Thank you so much for this video, youre the only the only ive seen to do it.

[@samcoleman8275]

Great video - the blind test confirmed the films that I prefer. Thanks for the test, it really helped a lot

[@dbdotdot]

SUPERSUPERSUPER!!!! Thanks! Totally did this blind and it was clearly HP5+ for me.

[@biancajimenez2023]

Thank you so so much for this. These videos help me soooo much

[@MrZosh]

What an awesome comparison!!! Thank you for your great work :)

[@PFW308]

Thanks Andrew, really appreciate the time and effort you have put into this. “Roll” on the 120 comparison!

[@TL-vt8uk]

That was a giant piece of work ....wow, good job and thanks for sharing!

[@JPKVan17]

Thank you for sharing your work and methodology.

[@RJ-fi9zo]

This is such a wonderful review! Thank you very much for this! Subscribed

[@sonnetspring]

I know I'm late to the game... but what an awesome video! Thanks for the hard work, and now I can confidently shoot new films, some I've never even heard of. Subscribed!!

[@matthewfrench5539]

This is EPIC! Thanks for all the work you put into this. There's a book called FLAVR that breaks down all the B&W films, but I found your blind tests really helped me look at things more objectively. Great stuff.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Thanks Matthew. I've not heard of that book. Definitely going to check it out.

[@hoorayforpentax3801]

Don't bother. I've read it and didn't think much of it. It doesn't go into anywhere near enough technical detail even for an amateur/enthusiast like me. Spend your money on film and chemicals, or buy your best-behaved kid for the week a large ice-cream. ;)

[@JimSollows]

Thanks for the excellent video. I watched it from start to finish and it helped me make some decisions about which films I want to try.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Nice. Very glad you found it helpful

[@darylljann]

Thanks for all your work!

[@grahams5871]

Bravo! What a lot of work this must have been. Thank-you! Foma 400 is my favourite.

[@eesuuorundide3967]

Thank you for such a thorough test. Good sample photos, good system. Appreciate your work. I found it very helpful to consider before I buy a bulk roll to load myself.

[@DonHalli]

Excellent video. I am just moving into film photography and processing and this is very helpful. Thank you.

[@seabass_ian]

Thank you for doing this. It was incredibly helpfull and I know it took a lot of time, but it was well worth the effort. Thank you.

[@navarclaudio]

Thank you so much for the video, I really enjoyed !!

[@kyshark1]

Probably the most comprehensive test out there and massively helps a novice like me! Also love your thorough and (data based) approach of scoring! Cannot thank you enough 🙏. Like some other comments have mentioned...don't apologise as you are really thorough and knowledgeable, and there will always be "self-proclaimed experts" who may always disagree...but I consider any critical comment as peer reviewing 😀. Thanks once again for your stellar effort!

[@simonwilliams2109]

Hi Andrew, thanks so much for your efforts. Being new to film I this is fantastic. Thanks again.

[@pixiedixie3682]

Most appreciated for this video! Kudos! Forme ilfords and my favourite T-Max, of this film is gorgeous.

[@zoetrandoan7305]

thank you is not enough for your dedication

[@melaninxhalide1165]

First, kudos to all of the work and time you put into this. Thank you so much for the dedication to see it through until the end. Second, I too was suprised by Arista EDU. I have only used it in 100 speed, but it is really good! I guess I'm gonna have to give Arista 400 a shot now. Also, super excited to see what you do with that Bronica. That's the camera I chose when I jumped into Medium Format.

[@MrMauriziomazzoni]

Thank you so much! Some indications you provided may be subjective, imagewise, but others like scanability are objectively important to know about 👏👏👏

[@80hertz]

Sooooperb video, learnt loads! Great evaluative appraoch to remove bias - thanks!

[@robertsantmann8580]

Awesome video man. Thanks so much.

[@legotastic]

Don't often comment on YT but definitely felt compelled to say that this video is brilliantly put together and must have taken an insane amount of work. I've been shooting film on and off for almost 10 years now and my top 5 were surprisingly similar to the stock I shoot regularly, although I had an upset for #1 which came out to be Tri-X. I remember shooting it years ago and not being particularly impressed with the results but I'm definitely going to have to get some and try it again off the back of this. I've always been a HP5/Delta 400 shooter personally so this was a surprise! Cheers for this!

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Thanks Chris!

[@davidgarciag.4945]

How men that is the most dedicated and extensive test I've seen, thanks a lot for this effort and well the coments of a lot of people (some) complement the answers of my curiosity, any way ia have to finish of procesing all your information and compare my results....pff there is a lot of talking about.....awesome...greetings.

[@SonAlister]

SO MUCH WORK! THANKS!!!

[@DANVIIL]

I appreciate all the effort. I just bought 100 ft of the Ultrafine 400.

[@leoforcam]

Thank you, very nice video, very informative, very good work.

[@julsitos2]

wonderful and thorough review!! :) very helpful. Hope you make an updated video to include more films like those from Astrum/Svema

[@the92project]

this video is gold, thank you.

[@barbarannie]

this video helped me quite a bit , thank you

[@mirandaremington6751]

I'm really glad you did this because I'm someone who hasn't touched b&w film in over 15 years and back then I was a TMAX diehard. I used ILFORD occasionally, but I was never a technically skilled photographer and I never developed my own film. I did develop large sheet film at a printing plate making company, so I at least had a basic understanding of developing challenges. What I never thought about was scan-ability (I used to send that out to be done back in the stone ages), how fragile the emulsion was from film to film and I honestly had no idea so many films existed, ergo the range in grain, tone and even the IR element. I thought I was going to fall in love the Rollie Retro film, too! Was surprised by the outcome. I learned a lot that will help me pic film for a vintage first generation Kodak Pony 135 camera I just inherited that I want to play around with. This was VERY helpful! Thank you!

[@AnalogWolf]

Yikes! This is very in-depth. I appreciate all the hard work here. It may not be super technical and I'm a technical guy, but I really like your approach here. When I shoot a film I am more concerned about the aesthetics rather than tech specs for the most part, save for pushing. You just gave me a very concise way to evaluate one film over another. Thanks.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Thanks :) Yeah not the most scientific review, but I'm glad you found it helpful.

[@bradleyrieger1517]

I appreciate the effort you put into these videos. I also watched the color film blind comparison. They are very informative. What I learned: My preferences lean toward the more expensive films. Damn.

[@RedPillMode]

Great stuff, thank you very much!

[@drtvcheng]

Really appreciate the efforts that went into this comparison. And it was a good idea to put the disclaimer first so that the haters could just keep quiet and watch. I look forward to seeing one on B&W 100 film.

[@ReggieWingnutz]

Thank you for this. Immensely helpful!!

[@markmanning8933]

Thank you. Great review & assessment

[@SammySantiagoIrizarry]

Great Job Andrew! Your video and review is excellent!!! In my opinion better than any other review from the unhappy perfectionist experts.

[@mingbot]

This video is insane! Thanks!!!!!!

[@laithstevens]

great tool and great video mate well done and thanks for the effort

[@martinandreasson5504]

Very nice comparison made by you :) Just watched it before going out shooting today and it actually made me change a few thoughts on what type of film to go in the situations im going to be in today. Also the scanning part was very useful for someone just getting back into scanning film again, a huge part of course to make the final image better in the end and something that would take a lot of trial and error finding out otherwise. So cheers! You made a new subscriber today:) /Martin.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Thanks Martin! Glad you found it helpful

[@michaelbuckley8986]

Astonishing presentation indeed

[@stinkyron9172]

Great effort, thank you!

[@harkerb1977]

thanks for doing all this work.

[@randallstewart175]

Thank you for your investment of time and money to produce these comparisons. So many of this type of comparison videos suffer from defective technique, that it is wonderful to find one which explains its procedures and qualifies any short-comings. Congratulations on a fine effort. I'm subscribing now and look forward to exploring your other videos in the near future.[I have used HP-5+ for a number of years, and I felt a pull to explore one or two of the high-score films. Then, I remembered how much time and effort I invested to set processing standards for HP-5 in my preferred developer and how reliable the results have been. I think I'll just make some more prints and let others explore what is left of the brave new world of film photography.

[@fergusson6098]

Your video is very interessant thanks a lot ! I begin Analog Photography and I was looking for a film chat match the type of photo I want to do and I learned a lot ! Thanks you again for your work and for sharing it.

[@budokarate6212]

Excellent educational video. Thank you, sir

[@hansformat]

Fabulous video thank you

[@robbiemer8178]

Interesting and informative, thank you! I learned on TriX in the 70s and shot almost nothing else for quite a while. Later, I didn't have the space or time (or want to, really) to process my own, I started using BW400CN and used that as long as it was available. When Kodak discontinued that film, I needed to settle on another BW film. I didn't approach my choice quite as methodically as you have...but I did buy some of every available BW film I could and shot (I think) 3 rolls of each. And, ended up back with TriX as my primary 35mm BW film. That choice was made in large part because the lab I use returned consistent results that I've learned and so have a better chance of getting the results I want. But, I have just started processing some of my own film again: 4x5 sheet film using the Stearmann daylight tank. For that use, I settled on HP5 and HC-110. I am shortly going to be moving to a new house and will have the space and, now, desire to process 35mm as well. So, I will need to revisit my choices for 35mm film. Thank you again for this info and methodology, they will be very useful! I tend to stick with one film for BW and one film for color. This lets me remove that variable, as it were, and helps me get what I intend on the frames. Nice work!

[@jeffmalm9708]

Great effort here, much appreciated. I grew up in a home with a darkroom, which I used every day, as a child.

[@rikardpersson9493]

GREAT TEST! You've put in soo much work! Thanks! I've been shooting T-Max for at least ten years up until now, but after this blindingly excellent blind test I think I will go back to Ilford Delta again!

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

After this, I definitely feel like Delta might be my top pick for when I need the most reliable film and price is less of an issue.

[@TheJimsmart]

Thank you so much for adding the criteria of "curling." Had many challenges with Tri-X, as you noted. And learned from you video about Kenmere. Have tried it, and you are right. Perfectly flat when dry. Now scanning, but things look good. Jim

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Pleased you found it helpful Jim. Happy shooting!

[@marypauline2354]

Great work! I enjoyed watching all 52 minutes (+39s) of this video, and using your "black and white film decision tool". Certainly helped me decide! Thanks for sharing this informative content with us.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Awesome! What film did you decide?

[@marypauline2354]

Denae & Andrew Kentmere 400. I really liked how the images turned out and it's readily available where I'm from. I think cost per frame is around 7 cents. Thanks again!

Great job, thanks!

[@Arturo.H.M]

Un gran test con una buena metodología. Realmente práctico y de gran ayuda para decidir qué opción elegir. Ya no solo para elegir la mejor (por uno mismo), también para elegir en función del resultado que se busque para cada trabajo/proyecto. No siempre “la mejor” es la más apropiada para según que uso. Muchas gracias.

[@Kazeoku]

Thank you for putting in all that work! I took the test and I too was surprised: hurray for blind testing. I bounced off of Tri-X originally but it scored really well, I will be giving it another go.

[@zhentianqian5086]

thank you very much for this video.

[@Socrates...]

Brilliant review, please make more

[@CristianGeelen]

Thanks for the guide Andrew! Although I am shooting film for a while now I have to say I truly enjoyed it. And also, it made me buy Rollei Retro 400s. Never tried that one! :)

[@AtazuM]

Genius video..truly. Thank you a ton, just got into film photography and was trying to figure out how to replicate my taste into this new formfactor, you easily helped me find the visual style I enjoy. For my taste the winners were Kodak T-Max and Ilford XP2 Super, love the slighly gentle and lifted blacks, without the in-your-face punch to it, find it works best for how I like to shoot portraits.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Glad to hear it!