My photographic habits wax and wane to some degree. One thing that doesn’t seem to pass is my interest in exploring new directions with materials and equipment. I suppose that makes me a photogeek.
I’ve always enjoyed tinkering with different films. I certainly have my favourites (Ilford’s triad of Pan-F Plus, FP4 Plus and HP5 Plus are ones I use a lot). However, in addition to using Kodak’s films I’ve also played with Fuji, Foma, Efke, Forte, Shanghai, Era, Lucky and Agfa films.
Kodak is certainly the best-known film manufacturer, but not many still photographers are aware of its Eastman arm. Eastman produces motion picture film – and as it turns, 35mm motion picture film is essentially identical to still film in the same format. (The first 35mm still cameras used respooled motion picture film, in fact.) And one film that Eastman makes that you can’t buy in a still-photography cousin’s form is Double-X, or, as it’s better known (by its Eastman product code), Eastman 5222.
Double-X is an ISO 250 black-and-white film that comes in 400′ and 1,000′ cans. Yes, this is a lot of film. (Figure on 80 36-exposure rolls, approximately, from the smaller can.)
I’ve shot half a dozen rolls of it so far and I like it. It has a nice tonality, and really fine grain for its speed (I’ve been shooting it at EI 200 and developing it in Kodak HC-110 Dilution B). I’ve gotten nice 11x14s out of it.
The big problem is that it’s hard to get. Apparently you can buy it directly from Kodak. I got my can from a fellow photographer in Vancouver. You can also get short ends from places like Film Emporium.