Can anyone recommend a 35mm film that will produce a very grainy high contrast photo. 1940's style?

Question

Can anyone recommend a 35mm film that will produce a very grainy high contrast photo. 1940's style?

Answer 1

Most studio work from the 30s and 40s was not grainy or contrasty. It was actually generally superb. Medium format and large format were normal for the time.



Perhaps you are thinking of war shots and candid celebrity shots with 35mm or other miniature format. If that is the case then I would recommend Tri-X very slightly underexposed and somewhat overdeveloped. That may give you the look you are looking for.

Answer 2

Actually, the Hollywood portraits of the 30s and 40s weren't really that grainy at all. They were generally shot on medium or large format cameras, and the film speed certainly wouldn't have been anything faster than 400.



The look you're looking for is created mostly through very contrasty lighting. Think undiffused, direct and strongly directional light sources, utilizing snoots, barndoors, and other such light modifiers to sculpt the light. Lot of those images have the "spotlight" effect to them and to recreate it, you basically have to mimic the lighting qualities of a spotlight.



Now, with that out of the way, if you still want high grain film, I would recommend Kodak Tri-X (400ISO) and Kodak P3200. If the grain from the Tri-X isn't enough for you, there are ways of emphasizing it. You can always push process the film. Try pushing it two stops. If you don't know what pushing is, you basically purposely underexpose film and then make up for the underexposure by keeping it in the developing chemicals longer (or using a higher developer temp.)



So, if you're shooting Tri-X, normally you want to expose at around 400ISO. If you're going to push process, pretend the film in the camera is 1600ISO, and expose it as if you were exposing for 1600ISO film. Of course, if you develop this normally, you will be 2 stops underexposed. So, you have to process it longer. How much longer? The developer you use (D76, T-Max, whatever) should come with a chart telling you how long to compensate for one or two stops push. If you bring the film to a professional lab, they'll be able to push process it for you, but most consumer labs will not.



I suspect, though, that what you're looking for is more an effect of lighting than the film base. I would start with Tri-X or Ilford HP 5 and work from there. I've included a couple sites below, one on Hollywood lighting, another on film.



Mere_Mortal: A lot of classic Hollywood portraiture is contrasty. (Look up "classic hollywood lighting" in google for many examples.) Anyhow, the poster is looking for those film-noir-type portraits, given the description.



This is the sort of stuff I think of when I think of classic 40s Hollywood lighting, and this is what I assume the OP is going for:



http://flickr.com/photos/creativecampus/1256383091/



http://maryjane.journalspace.com/new/photos/view.php?889641&i=255588&u=106329&p=1

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Grainy Black And White Film

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

two techniques comes to mind. You use high ISO film or shoot with old expired film.

Answer 7

Tri-X film is still available, and if you rate it at ISO 800, and process it in straight D-76, you can achieve a very nice grain structure and contrast range reminiscent of the 30s-40s era photographs.

Answer 8

It's been a long time since I was in a darkroom, but I seem to recall a warmer developing solution will bring out grain

Answer 9

The old Kodak Tri-X Pan had lovely grain, that you could accentuate with appropriate (or inappropriate, depending on what you were after) development. My recollection is that D76 gave a nice, moderate grain, and push-processing gave a bit more. I haven't shot the newer stuff, so I can't say how it works now.

Answer 10

use a 800 or 1600 or 3200 iso and see what you prefer,



maybe start with a 1600, i like Illford grain and would use Delta3200 to really get gritty, fuji and kodak have good ones also



EDIT: the modern 400's are so smooth now they dont show grain as well as the 800 and higher,



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Answer 11

Yikes...I usually try to avoid getting too much grain. But what you probably want then is a 400 ISO or above film. Also, this depends, do you want a color film or black and white? I didn't like Kodak T-MAX BECAUSE it has extremely high contrast and is very unforgiving with the exposure. But in your case, it might be what you're looking for. It's a black and white film. But I would think that any film above 400 ISO might get the look you want.



Like I said, I don't know whether you're looking for color film or black and white. Ilford Hp5 plus is another black and white film that is a little grainy. It's 400 ISO. But the contrast is more normal. For my case, where I want landscape photos with very warm tones, I don't like too much contrast. So I don't know if it will be what you're looking for.



Anyway, those would be my suggestions. Definitely Kodak T-MAX will probably give you the look you want. I think it comes in 100 ISO and 400 ISO. The 400 speed film should give you grain, and high contrast. But like I said, it's very unforgiving with the exposure. You really have to nail it just right. That film is just plain mean to beginners!

Answer 12

"It depends" - yes, and that is the whole point. If you are going to blow a frame up to 30' x 20' to be viewed in a huge hall from a distance, the grain will be the size of dried peas, but it doesn't matter. The viewer will be far enough away for him to see the picture, not the grain. If you want to view the thing up close, it still depends; on the graininess the style of the pic. will accept. A dramatic high-contrast pic. can be grainy to advantage, while a pictorial or portrait shot might need high definition. The size of grain will of course vary with the film stock and the developing technique. All said and done, as a starting-point, with a good camera, decent film and careful developing, you should get a 3' x 2' print with acceptable definition. Larger than that, and it's down to your taste and the way you expect the print to be viewed. Hope this helps.

Answer 13

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