APOGEE PHOTO MAGAZINE: Product Review of Fuji Neopan 100 Acros Black

Fuji Photo, a company better known for their sharp and saturated color emulsions, has just released a brand new 100 ISO black-and-white emulsion--Neopan Acros. At a time when most new photographic products are either digital cameras or scanners, it’s comforting for traditionalists like myself to think that there’s a future in black-and-white photography beyond selecting “grayscale” in PhotoShop!

While there has been a movement toward T-Grain (e.g. Kodak TMax) and chromogenic (C41 process) black-and-white films in past years, here is a good, old-fashioned 100 ISO black-and-white film. A fan of Fuji Neopan films for many years, I was intrigued by the film’s release. Was it a replacement for the discontinued Neopan SS 100 (largely unknown due to lack of processing data) or the first of a new generation of black-and-white films? In their press release, Fuji claims to use “new proprietary Super-Fine (Sigma) Grain Technology” in this new emulsion, attributing it with the “world’s highest standard in grain quality among ISO 100 black-and-white films.” Hmm. We’ll see!

Architectural shot using Acros

As anyone who’s processed his own black-and-white film will confirm, grain is a fickle mistress--here one moment, gone the next. The appearance of grain is as dependent on the content of the subject matter as on the choice of developer, agitation method, temperature variations on other chemicals, etc. For this reason, manufacturers rate their films’ granularity as an RMS (Root Mean Square) average, which permits comparison between emulsions. Fuji Neopan 100 Acros comes in at a rating of 7 while TMax 100 scores an 8 and an ever-popular grainy film, Kodak HIE Infrared is 18! (Unfortunately, Ilford doesn’t publish granularity data for their films) This information means little, other than that, Acros is comparable, if not slightly finer grain than other 100 ISO emulsions.

Same scene as above using FP4

So, one Saturday, I set out with a few rolls of Fuji Acros and my old-favorite, Ilford FP4 Plus, to do some “field tests.” I shot and developed both rolls identically; reviewing both the negatives plus some test prints and scans done from both negatives and prints. By no means are my tests either conclusive or scientific, but they do give an idea of how the film works outside the “lab.”

My first image--a public walkway at Spencer Street Station, Melbourne--was shot using the “bright sunlight rule”—i.e. 1/125th second at f16 with the sun over my shoulder and ample shadow and highlight areas in the subject. The panels are made of red glass, the dividing walls of highly polished stainless steel--tricky on any film! Both films showed usable shadow detail--greatly improved at +1 stop. At +2 stops, highlights were obviously pretty dense but still printed well--something that couldn’t be said for T-grain films. Similarities aside, the Acros negative appears more “crisp”--partly due to the film’s very clear base. Although not necessarily a good thing, the clear base gives the film a slightly more contrast in appearance, regardless of processing.

Detail of above scene using Acros. Note finer grain than the FP4 below

Detail of FP4 example

Next, I photographed an abandoned building in an attempt to test Fuji’s claim of improved reciprocity characteristics. For those unfamiliar with the term, “reciprocity” is the film’s ability to maintain correct exposure regardless of the shutter speed. For example, an exposure of one second at f4 should produce exactly the same density on the negative as eight seconds at f11. In practice, this is rarely the case, with additional exposure becoming necessary to maintain sufficient shadow detail. According to Fuji, all you need is a half stop increase in exposure at two minutes to compensate for the loss of sensitivity. Closest rival, TMax 100 requires a full stop of additional exposure, while Agfa recommends +3 stops on Agfapan 100! These extreme exposure adjustments bring with them an increase in contrast, and a reduction in development is recommended to regulate this--a lot of fuss for a long exposure--but not with this film...

I exposed the interior for one second at f5.6, four seconds at f11 and sixteen seconds at f22 and observed little or no change in the amount of shadow detail. Ilford FP4 showed considerable, though expected loss of shadow detail on the sixteen-second exposure. Ilford’s data recommends an exposure increase of approximately two stops at sixteen seconds!

Interior shot, 16 seconds at f22

The average hobbyist photographer might not see the relevance of reciprocity failure, but it becomes very important when shooting low-light landscapes (e.g. rainforest), astrophotography, night architecture, and large-format photography where apertures such as f64 aren’t uncommon. The nice thing with this new emulsion is that you can forget that the reciprocity problem ever existed. Just shoot away to your heart’s content.

My third and final test subject was a small forest I found on the edge of Melbourne. To test sharpness, tonal range and grain, I photographed white trees against a mid-gray background. To maximize sharpness, I chose an aperture in the middle of the lens’ range (f8) and a high shutter speed (1/125). I also used a lens hood to minimize flare.

Printed full-frame onto Oriental VC paper using a diffusion head enlarger, the image is beautifully detailed with absolutely no visible grain and a high degree of apparent edge sharpness. Next, I printed a small section of the negative eight times larger, and scanned (at 1600 dpi) an even smaller section of the print to examine the grain structure. Without a doubt, the Fuji Acros image appears to be finer grain while FP4 resembles a sandstorm. The two films simply have “different” grain structures, as does TMax 100 and Agfapan 100. Fuji Neopan 400 has always been known for its grain, though not necessarily, it’s graininess. Confused?

Here is a simple-to-use, high-quality film, which is unlikely to disappoint. Fuji claims stable processing across a range of chemistry and backs it up with processing times for at least thirteen developers in various dilutions. For the purposes of this test, I chose Ilford ID11, an industry standard fine-grain developer that’s been around for years (also known as Kodak D-76). Even finer results can be obtained in Ilford Perceptol or Kodak Microdol-X, while Agfa Rodinol is your best bet if you want “golf-ball” grain—although, I highly doubt you’ll get it with this film!

For those who don’t like the grain structure of Kodak TMax, but want its smooth tonality and reciprocity characteristics, this is your film. For everyone else, give it a go. It’s really not that bad!

Extreme enlargement of above scene using Acros

Same as above showing increased grain in FP4 negative.

All photos are Copyright © Chris Groenhout. They have been digitally watermarked and may be used for your on-line viewing pleasure only. No other uses are allowed without expressed written permission from Chris Groenhout.

Product Review: Fuji Neopan 100 Acros Black-and-White Film

Product Review:
Fuji Neopan 100 Acros Black-and-White Film