Originally posted by KJon
Gene, see comments on C-41 B&W above. I'm really grateful for BW400CN as it's more readily available than traditional B&W and it goes without saying that it's easier to get it processed (for those of us who don't yet develop our own film). I was thinking it really saved my bacon a week back on a grey day that I thought was too bleak for color. Now after seeing Agnostic's shots, I'm not so sure...
Best to all,
Kevin
I shoot a lot of the BW400CN these days for some of the same reasons. You can buy it and get it processed at a Walgreens--and quickly. Skies are grainless, and skin is rendered in a creamy, almost LF way that is very flattering to those of us who have been around a few years. Also, Digital ICE works beautifully on it. For my 645 shots scanned in a glass carrier, the time spent taking out dust on traditional B&W can seem endless. In the 80s, I would shoot Ilford XP1 in an MX body with a dead meter, and hardly get my Sekonic out of the pocket because XP1 was so easy to expose. I would process XP1 myself, because it did not fare well in 1 hour machines. Kodak's product is tougher.
However, the grain, the sharpness and the tonality of the traditional film are absolutely gorgeous in the right hands. The tones are very difficult to duplicate in a chromogenic. The control is also a huge plus. You don't really need a darkroom just to process the film, though my wife isn't crazy about chemistry in the guest bath.