Last few days of 2023, and our Discord group of photographers managed to one last photo walk in. Sometimes it is so hard to find a few people to come shoot, but once in a while, everyone happened to be available and down to shoot. I shot three rolls of Ilford BW film, namely XP2 Super, Delta 100 (this post) and HP5. It wasn’t really my plan to shoot only Ilford, but we might be able to see if there are any difference in these film stocks. I’m on the cynic camp when it comes to BW film – they are almost the same especially post editing.
Camera settings: Internal light meter determined rough exposure. All were shot at 1/160s at f/2.8 and f/4. Ilford Delta 100 is the slowest of three film in that line that also includes Delta 400 and Delta 3200. All of them are tabular grain (T-grain), which apparently is found commonly in color film. I have no idea if that’s good or bad. Tech spec is too scientific for photography, which is for the heart.
Our goal is to cross the Willamette river via the Hawthorne bridge. We started from the west bank, walked along the traffic (on the foot path), and ended up below the busy highway next to OMSI on the east bank. Similar to before, the river is calm, and the city is mostly quiet.
I prefer Delta 100 over XP2, but very slightly. It has a little more contrast, but still mostly flat. Which also means I don’t like Delta 100 all that much. To me, Delta 100 vs. XP2 is like choosing between naval and mandarin orange, when I want is an apple. Actually, what I really want is chocolate, which is not even a fruit (or is it?). Why aren’t doctors prescribing a chocolate every day keeps them away?
Date: Dec 29th, 2023.
Issue 87. Volume 14. Chapter 6. MA206_P67