Last weekend I was asked to take some group shots and then take individual shots of my best friends girl scout troop. Sure no problem I say. I get there and they hand me 4 rolls of Kodak iso 400 35mm c41 process black and white film from wal mart. I cringe inwardly remembering the last time I used it. My vacation to Ottawa Canada for the Bal de Nage, Winter Festival, 5 years ago. How every print came back with this hideous purple tint to them. Anyhow, I get them back and was surprised. No color tints, and very nice tones. But what really got me was when I scanned the negs. At 16x20 they were almost grainless. Below are a couple of the scans. Shrunk way down though.

This is the straight scan, no levels curves or adjustments, cept the frame and cropped in tighter than I shot. Both shots are at f8 1/60 on a canon elanII with a 28-105mm at roughly 100mm.

This second one has been retouched to remove her acne and to get rid of the puffiness of her eyes. She had gotten into something that made them seriously puffy. No other adjustments were made except a tighter crop. Of course I am giving her a copy of the retouched one to boost her spirits. She was really self conscious about her acne and eyes. Thanks for looking. Doug :) might help if I include the image eh

The C41 process B&W films are quite nice. Very wide dynamic range, and very fine grain. Several (10's) years ago, when they first came out, few of the labs really knew how to deal with them. I do remember an ugly purple. By now, they should have gotten it right. I haven't compared these with "real" B&W lately, but I suspect they work pretty well. Your example certainly appears so. Thanks for Sharing.

Haven't tried them....don't really care to....but these images make a fine testimonial... Fantastic tones.... Maybe I shall "break down" and give them a whirl one of these days.

I am, therefore I create.......
--- michelleamarante.com