I have just been testing Ilford XP2, and got the results back today. You might be curious to have a look. I have the results posted here:
Gallery -- Black and White film testing
You can compare the results at a full range of exposures in the test, from 6 stops under to 8 stops over exposed. I established the "normal" box-speed exposure by spot metering off the grey card, and confirmed by a separate incident light meter. With XP2 rated at ISO 400, that gave me f/8@125th of a second. You can see that exposure in picture number 7. The rest of the pictures are incremented one stop at a time.
This roll was processed by Downtown Camera, who I trust for reliable, high quality C41. It was scanned on a Noritsu scanner at 6 megapixel. I have uploaded much lower res pictures, but they give a very good idea of the results you can expect.
Please note that this is NOT 35mm, it's 120 film shot in a 645 camera (Bronica.)
I have had to look for a new black and white film, because my absolute favourite is Kodak BW400CN in 120 format. I find the grain-free highlights, coupled with very soft contrast and a flat characteristic curve, to be perfect for portraits. No blown out highlights on skin tones and no unsightly grain on the skin either. (Grain looks good in the grittier shadows to me, not highlight areas like sky or skin.)
Unfortunately Kodak has cancelled BW400CN in 120. (They still make it in 35mm.) So I am testing a whole bunch of different films, including XP2, traditional cubic grain films, and newer tabular grain films (Delta).
Last edited by filmamigo; 11-22-2010 at 08:20 PM.