Has anyone tried either Ilford XP-2 or Kodak 400+ chromogenic films? The characteristics (wide latitude, fine grain, and high speed) make them appear perfect for the Minox.

-- John Sonewald (jsonewald@aol.com), November 21, 1999

Answers

Yes, the Kodak T400CN has some nice pros for being used in the Minox. The grain is very uniform, so it is clearly to see, but not disturbing in 13 x 18 cm enlargements. This, of course, also depends on the subject being photographed: fine details are not the field of this film. Developement can be done in the minox tank with the C41 process. The disadvantage of giving the film away for machine processing is that they are often scratched. These micro-scratches are not a matter with enlargement factors of 4 or 6 (as used with 35mm-film), but are real nasty at factors of 12 and more. The minox-tank needs careful pre-warming, otherwise the little amount of developer is cooled down a few deg C right after being filled in!

Kodak recommends overexposure of 1 to 2 stops for finer grain, so it is a good idea to use this film with ASA 100 - 200 whenever possible. Use the ASA 400 setting only when there is no other way to get a picture.

-- Oliver (pyper@fks.chem.tu-berlin.de), November 22, 1999.