Low-ISO, High-Grain B&W Film?

[gtownby]

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I like to shoot Tri-X because of the nice grain that it provides.

However, with my 1000/sec limit on my MP (and 500/sec on the Hasselblad), I find Tri-X's ISO 400 to be limiting when I'm trying to open up the lens. Yes, I could buy ND filters, but I'm wondering if there is a ISO 100 alternative to Tri-X with comparable grain and contrast.

Thanks so much!

 

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[250swb]

A 100 iso film is going to have much finer grain than Tri-X so the only thing you can do to increase the grain is with the exposure and developer and generally mess it up. So an ND filter seems like a cheaper solution with far fewer variables and what if’s involved.

[TomB_tx]

After all the years spent before digital trying to minimize grain...

[Anbaric]

4 hours ago, gtownby said:

I like to shoot Tri-X because of the nice grain that it provides.

However, with my 1000/sec limit on my MP (and 500/sec on the Hasselblad), I find Tri-X's ISO 400 to be limiting when I'm trying to open up the lens. Yes, I could buy ND filters, but I'm wondering if there is a ISO 100 alternative to Tri-X with comparable grain and contrast.

Thanks so much!

Shoot Tri-X at 100. Some people rate it at 200 anyway, so there's some tolerance to overexposure. You can pull-process it by a stop or two, or a good lab will do this for you.

[frame-it]

4 hours ago, gtownby said:

I like to shoot Tri-X because of the nice grain that it provides.

However, with my 1000/sec limit on my MP (and 500/sec on the Hasselblad), I find Tri-X's ISO 400 to be limiting when I'm trying to open up the lens. Yes, I could buy ND filters, but I'm wondering if there is a ISO 100 alternative to Tri-X with comparable grain and contrast.

Thanks so much!

 

try Arista EDU Ultra 100

[gtownby]

Thanks for the help, all. If not the ND filters, I'll try that Arista EDU Ultra 100. That's exactly what I was looking for.

(Unfortunately, I'm just a box-speed shooter since the mid-1970s.)

[PCPix]

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I know you mentioned you didn’t want to use ND filters, but what about a deep yellow or red filter, which will lose you a stop or two and also bump up your contrast… Although that might not be what you’re looking for! 

[gtownby]

Yes PCPix, I use the yellow filter a lot and need to get yellow and red to fit my new Voigtlander 50mm Nokton. But with the Nokton especially, a six-stop ND is probably the best solution. But also, that Arista Ultra 100 might help across the lenses that I have spread out over the 25mm and 120 platforms. I was just over at Freestyle in Hollywood and was amazed at all the film selections there.

[mark_s90]

just a curiousity here, have I been misenterpreting all the film data since 1950 saying that lower iso value on a film DECREASES the grain, or at least the apparent grain when properly developed?

Any film can get grainy if developed the right way.  Ilford may be the best bet on that out of the box option. But its all dependent upon personal taste. 

 

 

 

[Einst_Stein]

Shoot any film, develop with rigorous agitation. Try Rodinal.

Or, rate tri-x at ISO 50, develop in d76, 1+1, 7min. 

Edited November 19 by Einst_Stein

[mark_s90]

In retrospection, I am trying to figure out the actual issue here.. 

 

With my own cameras, and sekonic light meter, my NORMAL issue is that I increase my personal exposure index in order to keep from having to use shutter speeds under 1/60th of a second. Sure even with my nifty voightlander lens, its very common for the light meter to tell me i need to use a 1/4 or even 1 second shutter speed with 400 iso film. Inside.  So to save shots ive learned to deal with 800 and even 1000 iso EI to keep at least a 1/30th second shutter speed. 

Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical II MC Lens  set at 1.5