Fujifilm Acros II

[@m00dawg]

49!? I can only imagine how much work that was! I practiced some H&D curves last weekend with the help of your videos, just with one film (FP4) and it wasn't a small mount of work. It was fun though! Anyways thanks for putting these together! Wow!

[@708photog]

Thanks for continuing these film comparisons. Very interesting ... and helpful! I've always loved Acros, and have been wondering about Acros II (whether or not it retains the qualities and characteristics of the original). Still have a freezer full of the original, from when Fuji announced it would be discontinued. I only wish they still made it in sheet film sizes! Anyway, thanks again for the high-quality content!

[@jonstars6799]

This is is going to be a great series! Can't wait to see the rest.

[@paolociccone]

Thank you very mcuh for doing all these tests. This must have been an herculean effort. I'm particularly impressed by the exact positioning of yourself and the reproduction of the same expression and pose. That takes discipline but the result is one of the best film tests that I ever seen. We are lucky to have a resource like this. Thank you again!

[@stacker62]

Great video! I remember when the original Acros came out and how much it reminded me of TXP when printing, but lower grain. Both were 120 versions probably in D-76 or X-tol stock.

[@abelsilvan]

Looking forward for the other comparison videos!!! Thank you very much. This is very informative.

[@flavioserci6046]

Definitive results of your many test... For my eyes and sense TRI-X is the best film on the market. Thank you very much for sharing it.

[@oldgittarist]

Many thanks for this really valuable resource!

[@yf987]

This series is going to be very interesting. Thank you so much for your huge time investment to get this information out there into the community, much appreciated!!

[@stealthvanlife6867]

I would love to see you explore 400 speed 35mm films and look at grain characteristics in different developers.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

Another series for another day

[@mrgregpappas]

Was thinking the same. I’d love to see developers compared.

[@thomaspopple2291]

During the grain part you claimed acros was 400 speed. Thanks for the videos. Have learned a lot watching you.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

Cool, thanks. That video is 4 years old

[@EdGripology]

@@TheNakedPhotographer That part confused me too - it sounds like 4-years-ago you was also confused.

[@U0ykcuf]

Thanks for this great work (and your other great videos)! I’m looking forward to the comparisons with the Kentmere films.

[@wh0thisis]

Where can I find the spreadsheet your wife prepared of all the results? Thanks for all the work you out in!

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

It’s not publicly available

[@tonyzhao5373]

Really helpful comparisons

[@oldfilmguy9413]

Great video - very good control methodology which will make this whole series very useful. Cheers!

[@alasdairdougall7868]

Thanks for doing these wonderful videos. I loved Acros and beginning to get into Acros II for portraits.

[@Walkercolt1]

I may have shot a couple of dozen test rolls of Fuji Acros II in 120 as it's a little hard to get. I'm not sure it's a "real" T-grain film, but for an ISO 400-640 emulsion it is very fine-grained and exceptionally high acutance- much more like most medium speed films. I've used developers from the classic Kodak D-23 1:1 to Ilford Phenindione with excellent results, while classic Rodinal isn't a great match, Kodak HC-110 at high dilutions (1:48 or more, continuous agitation) could be worth exploration. While Tri-X is very "safe" and "predictable', the tonality and sharpness gains of T-Max 400, Delta 400 and Fuji Acros II are such learning these films characteristics is more than worthwhile, even if you don't use them ALL the time. I'll toss the Rollei films in there too. Tri-X or HP5+ may be our "usual', but the usual isn't what we want all the time is it???

[@Luudite]

oo, well that's interesting to learn. Thanks for the comparison and info NP 🙂

[@jonnoMoto]

I hope Fuji don't discontinue this film, although judging by the price ATM and Fuji's track record, I can see it happening in the not too distant future.

[@jrlmanut]

Excellent work! I've learned a lot from your channel. I didn't get if you exposed your Acros II @400 ISO or the box ISO. Thanks!

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

At box speed of 100. I bracketed my exposures for every type of film to insure I have at least one good negative and printed the one that matched the Tri-X exposure (which was at 400 ISO). Most films had the correct exposure at box speed, some did not. This one did, so it is 100 ISO.

[@vinyljunkie07]

Would love to see one of these videos with Fomapan 100 or 400

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

They are coming

[@vinyljunkie07]

@@TheNakedPhotographer Super, thank you very much! Loving the videos, keep up the great work! 400 is a interesting film especially with a red filter thanks to it's extended red sensitivity albeit also very grainy and 100 is generally a favourite of mine for most subjects. Can't say I have done much testing though so would be cool to see on a deeper level

[@ZommBleed]

ACROS2 & KENTMERE worked hand been a good side by side comparison.

[@arty2917]

I just found your channel. Outstanding content - thanks for the hard work!

[@bwc1976]

Looks great, like it responds to colors more like our own eyes do!

[@lucacoccioli9244]

It'd be really cool if you made a video/series of videos explaining the basics of film technology. I've been curious to learn more about what's going on inside the film but I don't know where to start. What's reciprocity? What makes Fuji Superia X-tra different from, say, Kodak Gold? How does slide film work! Love your videos btw :+)

[@cweeks5211]

Really well done! Thanks!

[@Mike-anic]

I believe Acros is a T Grain. Just like TMax and other T grain films (and "Delta" grain) it is brutal on fixer..

[@AGL93311]

Isnt Acros II an ISO 100 film?

[@kevinhoelscher8234]

Did you take the images for all of these test roll comparisons on the same day? They appear to be so similar it's hard to imagine that you did the different film stocks in different shoots. If so, how did you manage to take a few bracketed test shots for dozens of rolls with only one (or a few) cameras? Did you rewind the rolls and save the rest of them for later? I'm also curious what camera you used. Thanks! Super informative series. I doubt anything this scientific has been done outside of a film manufacturer's lab for decades.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I did all of these in one day. I shot one day, processed them all the following two days, then printed them the last three days. Since we were at the beginning of the pandemic quarantine period I had plenty of time. I used a Minolta 9 camera with 85mm f/1.4 lens and a Profoto D1 500w light with a 40x40 inch softbox.

[@kevinhoelscher8234]

@@TheNakedPhotographer That's awesome! Were you able to save the rest of the rolls, after the test shots, for the future somehow? Or did you decide to just develop a whole roll for the test? Just curious of the technique, in case I want to do something similar.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I exposed the first few frames to a step tablet on my sensitometer then loaded the film into the camera and shot 1/3 stop brackets starting with 2/3 stop faster than box speed then up to 2 stops slower. If I had frames left over I repeated the bracket. I bracketed with the power if the strobe so all my camera exposures were the same aperture and shutter speed. The Profoto D1 has very accurate power settings in 1/10 stops

[@Sticktube878]

Would there be a way to get the color of the trix with less grain? Or is that just the way it would have to be? Cause that skin tone was amazing. But I'm not a huge fan or grain.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

A light yellow filter, like a Wratten #3 may do it

[@robertocarmeli3289]

@The Naked Photographer is any Foma film review coming anytime soon? I use Ilford HP5+ (4x5) and I'd like to switch to Fomapan 400 because of the costs... :)

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I shot Foma 100, 200, 400, and Retropan 320

[@robertocarmeli3289]

@@TheNakedPhotographer cool! I really would love to see foma film compared "your way" to Ilford one. Would you mind also sharing your development recipes and times?

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I just used D76 at whatever time the film maker printed on their box or website.

[@robertocarmeli3289]

@@TheNakedPhotographer Thanks!

[@NGC6144]

Foma 400 is super grainy, almost like a 3200 film.

[@armenianzombie]

ACROS, like the original one, was T-Grain. It was at the time, the lowest RMS film on the market.

[@MD-en3zm]

Acros is also a T-grain film.

[@AmiPurple]

Lovely videos as usual, thank you for keeping it fun and informative. Lots of effort put in, appreciate all the work you do to make these videos. Do you have a PayPal address that I can make a small donation to as a way of saying thanks?

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I am very close to 5000 subscribers. Once I reach that in the next few days I will start a Patreon.

[@stefan_becker]

Unfortunately Acros II is very expensive (at least in Europe).

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

It is here too.

[@joeltunnah]

The Tri-X was much sharper.

[@rlfsoso]

might be apparent sharpness due to edge effects on the larger grain. Still all the same: TX is sharper, harder, rougher… documentary style photography equals TX.

[@vinyljunkie07]

@@rlfsoso I noticed the difference in sharpness although I thought it could of just been from a difference\possible error in focusing

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I’m a one man operation, so I had to rely on f/11 and autofocus. I didn’t do a closeup of other areas, but the collar of my shirt and my beard hairs looked equally sharp in both prints.